by FMZ 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
This question seems to be getting thrown around in the earthquake threads, and is asked a lot... so, what is your opinion on why God allows bad things to happen? Also, did you stop believing in God because he allows it?
I will throw my two-penneth in when I have a little more time tonight.
FMZ
Personally, I don't think he does.
The question could be replaced with:
None of them exist. They do not 'allow' things to happen just as they are not capable of preventing them.
Perhaps a better question is why some people think that god allows bad things to happen when they imagine he can stop them but do not believe that the myriad of other imaginary works of fiction can?
Maybe God is so big and powerful it's no big deal when these things happen?
I mean, when did anyone rush out in the garden in the middle of a downpour to erect a protective moat around a threatened ant's nest?
You didn't? How could you allow that to happen?
Englishman.
I think about this a lot, often it crosses my mind. Lately what I have ben thinking is, god created us, gave us a wonderful place to live. What happens after that can fall into the time and unforseen occurances.
Oddly enough, my favorite answer to this question doesn't exactly come from the Bible. It comes from a Playstation game called Xenogears. A few of the game's characters have entered a cathedral, and they see two statues -- one-winged angels reaching out to each other. The Holy Mother explains the meaning of the statues in the context of her church's teachings:
Margie: Did you notice that the two great angels only have one wing each...? According to a legend handed down in Nisan, God could have created humans perfectly... But then, humans would not have helped each other... So that is what these great single-winged angels symbolizes... In order to fly, they are dependant on one another.
Citan: Ah, so that is the reason for it. I see... On further inspection, the left angel looks somewhat masculine... while the right one looks somewhat feminine. Now that is an unusual feature, is it not? Usually these depictions are not gender-specific. But these angels are clearly distinguishable as having opposing genders. And the space between them is the path from where God advents... Or could it be the path leading to God? Well... I do not know, it could be either, or even both. ...Now I see! This all coincides with the teachings of Nisan.
Margie: Ha, ha, ha! Why Doctor Citan Uzuki! You are an amusing fellow!
Citan: Oh! Excuse me. It is a habit of mine...
Fei: The doc knows a lot about a lot of things... Sometimes I can't even understand what he's talking about...
Bart: ...Hah! Forcing them to fly together...? It would be less bothersome if they could fly on their own, don't you think, Fei?
Margie: Bart! You miss the deeper meaning and beauty of it. Someday I wish I could be of help to someone like that.
That's why I think bad things happen. They help us learn to love, and to be grateful for our blessings. And of course, there's always the old saying that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. *g*
Obviously, I haven't stopped believing in God.
~Rochelle.
God is allowing plenty of time so that mankind can realize that existance without His divine ruling is absolutely impossible.
I'm mad at him for doing this, but I still buy this line of reasoning.
DY
Simon... I actually agree with you on some level. Here's why:
I don't believe in God as some old guy sat on a throne helping those he likes and smiting those he doesn't. Otherwise, I think we would see a hell of a lot more smiting, and a hell of a lot more nice old people. It just doesn't work that way. I see God as more of a force, a light, which we control more than we think, through faith and love. Through love anything is possible.
Now, that is just a starter for my viewpoint, now for why bad things happen... What is "bad"? Well, let's take an current example, these people that died in the quake. Why is this considered a "bad" event? Because lots of people died, and families lost loved ones, family and friends, homes, possessions. It is human nature to mourn and miss loved ones, even the most enlightened people would cry at a friend's funeral. But, in the long run, my belief is that life here is fleeting anyway.
Death is necessary. The world just isn't big enough to hold everyone forever. But death doesn't mean the end, it merely signifies the passing from one "realm" to the other, and (coming from someone who has experienced this passing briefly) it really isn't that bad after all. Again, sure, if my wife died, I would still mourn and cry and feel it is a tragedy, but deeper down, I know it is just a necessary step in our evolutions.
All in all, is death really so bad?
FMZ
Sunchild... that is part of my belief system also.
To really learn to love and empathize, we need to experience pain. For instance (a slightly morbid example, but valid nonetheless), when I watched the video of the beheading in Iraq, I didn't have too much reaction to it, other than sadness. Whereas, when watching Jackass one time, they were giving each other paper cuts, and I couldn't watch, it made me want to vomit. Why the difference? I knew exactly what getting a paper cut felt like, whereas I had absolutely no reference point for having my head cut off.
Without losing someone close to us, I don't think we could ever really appreciate the pain that is felt in a time such as that. And through the pain of losing a loved one, we learn how it feels, thus teaching us the value of love in that particular situation. If we apply this to ever day life, no matter what we go through, we can "rejoice in trials" (paraphrasing from some 2000 year old book) and see everything as a learning and growing experience.
Sure, burning your hand on the fire was a bad thing when you first did it, but I'll bet you learned something important from it, didn't you?
FMZ
DY, but why do you think that God needs us to see that we need him? It's a bit like arguing with your children over why they should eat their fruit and veg really.
Saying that God has to allow us time to see that we need him paints him as weak and pathetic.
I wouldn't leave my kids in a burning house just to make them see they needed me!
Maybe in the next world, death aint so bad. In this one it's pretty horrible. That it is a fact that it happens, does not mean we need to make up stories about god or gods, nor do we need to minimize the horror of it.
Why does god let bad things happen? It's pretty obvious that either there is no such thing as "god", or, there is some first-cause-with-personality that could reasonably called "god", but has limited or no power to significantly alter life (or death) on earth.
A third alternative is that there is a god (in the commonly but illogically held "all powerful" sense) who is a petulant, unjust, inconsistant asshole. I find that highly unlikely.
