by hillary_step 44 Replies latest jw friends
Are you saying pain and negative emotions have always been and always will be, just so they can draw attention to God and things eternal?
No, not "always will be", for Christians believe in the second coming of Christ when all that suffering will cease.
Until then, pomegranate, we are bound to suffer.
But not all the time!
Cheers, Ozzie
As I asked: So what drew attention to God and things eternal before pain and negative emotions?
What about angels and demons? How is attention drawn to God and things eternal with beings who experience no physical pain? Besides, spirit creatures can SEE God, isn't that enough to draw attention to God and the eternal for them? Surely it is.
Why would God create us with pain and suffering, and to boot, not let us SEE him, all the while the spirit creatures in heaven do not feel physical pain and can SEE God? Sound fair to you?
What is your logical explaination for this seemingly bent scales of justice between to created beings of God? Heck, even just NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE GOD in itself is a very OBVIOUS tilting of the scales. Who has an advantage? The one who can FULLY see, or the one who was created partially blind? What's up with that?
Isn't SEEING God a better way to draw attention to Himself and things eternal rather than creating a being infllicted with life long torment (along with some good).
So why the pain for US? We were created with PAIN right from the beginning before sin. Our whole nervous system is a wiring for PAIN (Bad) and stimulation (Good). Our whole emotional system is the same way. God had to create that BAD in us inorder for us to KNOW HIM? That's very odd logic to me.
God created the body with good and bad CREATED IN IT. And yet, God called it VERY GOOD.
I believe we were created in a physical environment of "good and bad" because that was the very environment God was in in heaven spiritually with the evil created onslaught of Satan and his demons.
Edited by - pomegranate on 12 September 2002 7:28:57
Personally, I don't believe that the creators permit wickedness. But, they don't do anything to intervene as well. They just exist on an entirely different level than we do. Human beings have to live their lives and they are allowed to do so. Good things happen. Bad things happen.
The creators live on a different timetable than we do. Why when they "just" left us, the world was so new and mankind was given so much opportunity. Now, when they return, they will be able to see what has occured. I believe they have done this before on other planets, and so they know how long planets and stars "live". We just cannot fathom the enormity of it all, but there are clues. Remember, the solar systems in the entire expanse of the universe is their home. They know when to return, but upon each return, perhaps they find their "creations" at different stages.
All our lives we have been taught that we live in this solar system and that it will be here "forever". Yet, we know that other solar systems callapse and turn into themselves.(black holes) Our knowledge is so limited, but we have opportunities to "be like" our creators and to stay close to the good, so that when they return, they willl find us worthy of being with them.
We are such tiny specks. I am in awe of everything "out there". Emmisaries have come to us. Jesus was one of them. There were and are others. They teach us love and compassion. Truly, if we have those things, we will not find ourselves hurting each other. But, there is a large portion of mankind that has and will turn away from the good and move into darkness. We are all free to make that choice. But, never forget, our creators will expect an answer from each and every one of us. I believe their return is on the horizon. I hope we will be ready for them when they arrive.
Love and Light,
Sentinel/Karen
Good things happen. Bad things happen.
Good things are created. Bad things are created.
Nothing happens without some FORCE behind it.
That's what I believe.
When God is invoked, things can get really ugly. We can read any of the various accounts in the bible and see how foolish it is to try to place God in our back pocket. God cannot be a little charm to ward off evil. Ironically, when faced with the disastrous results of religious fanaticism (Islamic extremists, i.e.) people tend to continue in the same pattern.
People really need to examine themselves before judging the world around them. When we talk about 'the world', we are usually talking about human society. But, unknown to JWs and other groups, we are all part of the world. If you want things to change, you must change yourself.
By the way (now I am directing my comments to you, Hillary), why do you think that the concept of 'natural selection' is so dangerous?
I think that it is dangerous if embraced by people who still operate from a God-oriented worldview. In other words, they still think in terms of 'right and wrong' and 'supposed-to and should-be'.
So, yes, 'Social Darwinism' is very dangerous...many people have embraced this kind of thinking without dwelling on the implications of a world governed by natural laws and nothing more. But if more people come to understand that evolution is a description of our universe, and not a presciption for success in life, human society will be on the right track.
What are your thoughts?
cellmould
