To think if God does exist, he's a bit of a bastard?

[toptramp]

I am especially interested to hear from any Christians. I am not a Christian but I would describe myself as a spiritual person. I don't know if there is an after life, nor do I care. In fact if nothing happens to me when I die it would be a relief.
Some of you may have read my threads about how my mother is dying of cancer. The suffering is awful even though the pain is managed, it is hard to watch someone die and loose all her faculties. Also she is very young. How do you Christian folk justify the suffering, unfairness and pain that goes on in the world such as famine, children dying etc? I am searching for answers but I just cannot find any comfort at the moment.

YANBU.

If he/she/it does exist, i wouldn't mind a word.

justkeeping this is what I don't understand about the power of prayer . What makes one persons prayer answered and another's completely ignored ?

Where is the loving God then ?

Mollys maybe there's a Godsnet.

Sorry about your mum, its very difficult

I would suggest you may find some comfort in going speaking to a vicar. They will not try and brainwash you but you may find some answers.

Thanks to this thread I have finally finally found the parable I've been searching for for many years. Thank you.

Paul Coelho has written it down pretty well - it's called "Two Angels in Brazil".

"I still feel that the world is unjust" - I think the parable says it might not be as unjust as you think

Apparnetly lots of people in my mum's old church are praying for her; but she's still in a hospice.

The bhuddists say that when you are suffering imagine all the people in the world who are also suffering and extend your love and compassion towards them. they are alos similar to the christians in that they believe that when we suffer, we suffer from all mankind and by taking on all the suffering in the world, our suffering is aleviated. Very noble but i still don't feel good about it.

If you don't ever stop to thank 'God' for the wonderful things that have happened in your life, why is it OK for you to blame him for the terrible things?

Very noble indeed , but the fact remains , shite things happen to really good people and really good things can happen to really shite people .

Makes no sense to me which is why I can't believe in the power of prayer .

Murder for example is evil and cancer is 'evil' but it is not caused by us being evil (or indeed by the wrong lifestyle) it just is. It is nature gone wrong. I havkne own very fit and healthy people die of cancer. It just dosn't make sense.

thebest so do you think God only repays when you thank him ?

I thought we did nice things because it was a good thing to do not because we receive gratitude .

the best. I wouldn't say that I pray and thank god but I can now see that life is wonderful and we have to cherish every minute of it. I can see now that we should not take it for granted. It is important to give thanks for life, even when we are suffering but I am not sure thatI can give thanks to a traditional Christian God i'm afraid. I just don't want to be bitter. Counting blessings IS important.

I certainly don't believe that illness for example is a punishment.

Why aren't prayers answered? No idea. What makes one person's situation in to a miracle and another in to a tragedy? It's beyond me tbh.

I have heard the tapestry analogy before and yes it provides comfort in some situations - but it's also jolly annoying. Our human instinct is to plan, to control, to know. we don't do very well when those things are taken away.

I do think that we apply a human personality to God. We judge him like one of us - flawed, absent minded, cruel? I think that's where our difficulties mostly lie tbh because we are judging by human standards and cannot see the whole picture. My faith leads me to believe there is a whole picture. At the moment I see only a part of it. Knowing it's only a part doesn't make anything more bearable though.

Does my faith strengthen me? Yes probably but only in the sense that it holds me. It is my roots. It doesn't make anything easier.

I think I am trying too develop an attitude towards all the bad stuff to justify what is happening and to make it more bearable.

Toptramp - has anyone said that people are to blame for their own illnesses?

Ponders why on these sort of threads it's always ok to ridicule what christians believe.......and how you rarely see christians doing the same thing towards others who don't believe what they believe.

I don't believe in God anymore and to be honest, despite religious devotion, particularly, as a young teen I don't know if I ever really did. The way God was taught to me (I was raised a Catholic) was that although he was ever loving compassionate blah bla bla he was someone to be feared...don't piss that man off. Be good because if you are bad God will know, maybe my views are very different to others but from what I can now observe as an adult God was put in place to control...the church was really, God was just bandied about a bit and used for social control, don't do this, don't do that, if you are bad you will be punished so don't do it (never told don't do it because in and of itself the deed was bad just that you would upset God and make him punish you)
What I believe in now is the goodness of others, the love we can get from those around us and the compassion from absolute strangers (Mumsnet for example is full of good honest people wanting to help others in times of need)
If it is your belief that there is a God who pulls the strings wouldn't that make him a sicko when you read through some of the saddness and loss posted on here?
OP my advice is to seek comfort and strength from those around you. YADNBU.

The bhuddist attitude is one of non-attachment, including our attachment to the human body. Sorry to keep banging on about bhuddism when I have called upon Christians. Either way, I cannot come to terms with it atm.

This thread has reminded me of this:

"Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

My Granny had it on her wall. I've always found it very moving.

Like I said earlier, God listens to all our prayers, it's just that sometimes the answer is No, or not yet.

I wouldn't have chosen to lose two precious babies to miscarriage, or watch DS on a ventilator in Intensive care, but God's purpose is being worked out. I may never know why, but it's enough for me that I know my prayer is being heard.

Without the miscarriages, and subsequent investigations I wouldn't have DS. And he is a little ray of sunshine in my sometimes very dark world. On the days where my PTSD and PND are so tough to cope with, he is there and cheers me up. Doesn't mean it's not hard, but reminds me to be thankful.

I don't think it is ridiculing Sausages. I think there are too many disrespectful threads about Christianity on MN but this is not (yet) one of them. I don't think it is beyond the wit of man to understand that people find the notion of "God" a difficult one. I'm kind of undecided on the question of His existence it is more that I just don't care because I don't like Him if He does exist.

I don't thank God for the good things that have happened in my life. I acknowledge the bloody hard work that I put in to make them happen.

There is nothing good in my life that I just sat at home waiting for it to come a knocking while God sent it my way.

So no blame but equally no thanks.

sausages I for one absolutely do not ridicule what christians believe . I would dearly love to have such a strong faith . But I haven't .

That doesn't mean I have no respect for christians . After my son died our local church were brilliant . They knew I wasn't really religious but they cared , they looked after us . I still feel like I am getting a hug when I walk into our local church .

But I can't make the leap to a full faith .

The people that looked after us were truly good people but I felt looked after by them , not by God .

Molly....I know the poem well and hubs and I had the song as our first dance together at our wedding.

We had both been through unbelievable pain in the run up...and the song sort of summed up the way that God had carried us through.

Have had so many difficult times in my life....and so much pain but I can look back and see now why I went through what I did and how God worked his purpose out in my life.

And I'm not ashamed to say how thankful I am....

The church community can be absolutely amazing actually. I've seen them rally round people who are struggling in a way that would be very difficult to organise under other circumstances.

Although I don't believe in God I'm surrounded by people that do on a daily basis so it really riles me when people are disrespectful of religion.

is a song I listened to a lot last year when a dear friend was dying from cancer. She was a wonderful woman, I am still inspired by her faith. I know she is with God now but that doesn't mean I don't wish we still had her with us.

Travelling....I am so glad that you are getting such warm support. I really am...

Many christians are genuinely loving and warm people...but then so are many non-christians....in fact some of the non-christians I know are more loving, caring and warm than some of the christians that I know.

You've been through an awful time.....I don't want to say anything flippant but I do hope that you will be ok...in time.

When my Dad's dad died in the 50's the Catholic Church would not allow him to be buried in the Catholic area of the Churchyard over some technicality. My Dad was 9 at the time and still hates the Catholic church over what it put his family through back then. You would think things had changed but a couple of years ago when my other Grandad died there was an issue over his funeral because he was a Catholic but had divorced and this caused issues in terms of both a Protestant and a Catholic funeral. Can't believe that the Church can add to suffering in such circumstances with their silly rules.

Glad some of you have had better experiences but it is not always the way.