by FMZ 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Sixy... I like option 2b, but rather than having no power to alter life and death, chooses to do nothing because he knows it is for our own good in the long run.
Taking your kid to get shots for instance. You know it is for his best, but it hurts him. You have all the power to tell the doc "Don't do it!", but you don't, does that make you a terrible person? Nope, it shows love.
FMZ
I like Eman's line of reason the best so far,,because it cuts right to the heart of the matter:
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?
I think we humans naturally put man as more important than other species of animals. When you think about it honestly this type of clasification is very very arbitrarry and has no basis in fact and highly prejudical. So if as they say in the Bible that man was created in God's image and we our of a different species than God,,then just like man he should care very little about what happens another species who is less important(arbitrarily) to Him,,the same way man cares very little about the cow from which his Mc donalds hamberger came from.
Why does God let bad things happen?
The same reason as the Easter Bunny...
All in all, is death really so bad?
YES!
I mean, even if you believe in God and the Bible, the Bible calls death "an enemy" doesn't it? (or is that just the NWT?)
And if you can say 'well maybe the 23,000+ people who have already died in the natural disaster in Asia and the many thousands more who will surely die due to horrible disease from unsanitary conditions are now in a better place'. well, what about the mothers, the fathers, the sons and daughters left behind? Why do they deserve to suffer this living hell?
Better that the 'loving' god had wiped them all out and let them all go on together to the wonderful afterlife, then. Wouldn't you say?
So to answer the original question. Yes, I have stopped believing in God because of suffering in the world.
Tell me what could possibly be the good of:
The deaths in this natural disaster:
AIDS Orphans
Chinese babies thrown out like trash or being left to starve in dying rooms in orphanages.
Rape of women worldwide. Men being kidnapped or murdered in many countries for no reason by bands of guerillas. Bride burning.
People flying airplanes into buildings and killing thousands in the name of God.
Take any one you want, I've got plenty more. Tell me what the short or long term good could be in any of these things. I just don't believe in fairy tales anymore.
No offense intended to anyone who does believe in God. Most of my friends do and of course all my family are JW's. I don't try to change their mind, I nod and listen when they share their faith with me. But for myself, I have found that in my life, the only thing that faith in God has brought me is pain and disappointment that frankly, I am just better off without.
~essie
Fleur, my apologies, I think you misunderstand me. Death is a terrible thing, and definitely an enemy while here on earth. But, it is also a necessary step in our existence.
Ever seen the movie Bruce Almighty? There is a hint of truth that we could all do with paying attention to... if we all got our own way, and no loved ones died, where would the earth be now?
FMZ
I think we humans naturally put man as more important than other species of animals. When you think about it honestly this type of clasification is very very arbitrarry and has no basis in fact and highly prejudical. So if as they say in the Bible that man was created in God's image and we our of a different species than God,,then just like man he should care very little about what happens another species who is less important(arbitrarily) to man,,the same way man cares very little about the cow from which his Mc donalds hamberger came from.
Frankie, this is interesting to me. Do you think then that God exists but he's just too busy to be bothered with humans? We're his preverbial ants, to use Eman's analogy? Or that humans don't rate high enough in the universe to a divine being to look over them?
Fleur, my apologies, I think you misunderstand me. Death is a terrible thing, and definitely an enemy while here on earth. But, it is also a necessary step in our existence.
Ever seen the movie Bruce Almighty? There is a hint of truth that we could all do with paying attention to... if we all got our own way, and no loved ones died, where would the earth be now?
I haven't seen the movie, FMZ. I understand the concept of death as a gateway to somewhere else. I wonder about it, I struggle with it. I ask myself that every day. But if there is another life after this, I think that it would be some kind of reincarnation and not something that God has anything to do with. If you take god out of it, and look at human souls as energy (which makes some kind of sense to me, don't know why) then kind of like the Force then after humans die, their souls continue to exist.
But I don't think that any kind of 'god' has any interest in interfering, if he/she/it does exist. I understand the concept that the earth couldn't hold all the people who have ever lived, etc. but who and why do the people who die, die? It doesn't set well with me to think that god picks and chooses who lives and who dies. I've known too many truly good people who died young and evil dictators who lived to ripe old ages. Somethings not right with that.
I hope i'm articulating clearly and in a non-confrontational manner, my brain is really f'd up today due to neurological activity i can't control so I likely shouldn't be trying to express myself at all today.
essie
Our death seems to be a tragedy,, but that is due to the egoic mind,,and this is so only because of we have evolved that way. Fear of death is what helps us to stay alive,,of course this fear is stronger in some than others.
Can a creationist explain to me how they reconcile a belief in a perfect God with his creation of a flawed planet? The standard answer for disease and death is Adam and Eve's sin and free will - fair enough, I suppose in the context of the Bible, but the earth was formed before Adam and Eve even existed... why do earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and extreme weather events occur? Tectonic plates, magma and air pressure/temperature don't have free will and can't sin.
Well, I typed up a long reply... but franky I'm tired of it all. I'll simply *pats FMZ on the head*, and hope that belief doesn't hurt you or anyone else too bad.
Fleur,
Frankie, this is interesting to me. Do you think then that God exists but he's just too busy to be bothered with humans? We're his preverbial ants, to use Eman's analogy? Or that humans don't rate high enough in the universe to a divine being to look over them?
I don't have a clue as to whether or not "god" exists. There could be a "god" that controls everything but if there is I'm betting he is not like us in any way,,being that he is not human or humanlike.
The post I made merely proceeded on the assumption: That God made man in his image,,so I carried the reasoning of man toward other so-called lesser species and applied it to a God that would reason like a man.
