If there is a God...why is there...

[sentinent]

As advised by another poster, this post deserves a pot of its own. Something that's been niggling at me for a while now; for those who believe (or even not believe) in the existence of God/a higher power, (I firmly do believe btw), how do we explain children in pain, suffering, getting terminal diseases or being killed??

Equally with patents, the knowledge isn't patented, it's the resulting technology that is.

@meanderingbrook I thought of cats playing with prey too but I think I read they do that to tire it out before killing it. I was also thinking of how foxes will kill every chicken in a flock when they can’t possibly eat them all but apparently they do cache them if they get the opportunity.

I wonder whether it’s a bit meaningless to talk about cruelty in nature because animals can’t have much of a concept of other individual’s feelings? I guess when I think of evil or cruelty I think it’s inflicting pain or suffering on someone else for no other reason than to hurt them - I’m assuming there is some survival strategy behind what we would think of as cruelty when an animal does it…?

Equally with intellectual property, its discoveries, theories and research that is attributed to particular people. They don't own a phenomenon or the actual knowledge of it.

@MysteriesOfTheOrganism Isn’t rape amongst animals part of some sort of reproductive strategy though? Not that that lessens the suffering of the victim, but does intention matter? (I really don’t know!)

I will look up the chimpanzee war though, sounds really interesting!

I used copyright as it's the most broadly-known, easy-to-colloquially-drop-into-conversation part of intellectual property law, but yes, the parts of how society functions that are most affected by the above would be other parts of IP law, and practices around industrial secrets. I just wanted to point up how ridiculous this stuff sounds without getting into complex legal shit.

I mean come on. "Wanting possession and ownership of knowledge rather than sharing and using knowledge in harmonious unity with the Creator and the rest of Creation is what is evil." It's evil not to share everything you know or discover with everyone else? That's not Christianity, that's some sort of weird take on communism. Not that I'm against communism in principle, notwithstanding the outcomes of how it's historically been applied. But I don't think the poster really believes what they're saying.

"I wonder whether it’s a bit meaningless to talk about cruelty in nature because animals can’t have much of a concept of other individual’s feelings?"

@ZebraDanios

I don't believe that.

Equally, when human beings are intensely cruel I believe it is because their thought patterns and brain physiology is not functioning properly. Because we acquire and inherit flawed patterns of thought and physiology.

Really. It's a batshit take on Christianity, the Tree of Knowledge, and the problem of evil, even from within the construct of Christianity. "Evil comes from people keeping knowledge to themselves instead of sharing it with others and God." I mean, what?

off, evil is an emotive word. I use it to mean separated from God, not in accordance with His will. Not perfect. Not in unity or in harmony.

@off

"Really. It's a batshit take on Christianity, the Tree of Knowledge, and the problem of evil, even from within the construct of Christianity. "Evil comes from people keeping knowledge to themselves instead of sharing it with others and God." I mean, what?"

What makes you say this? Specifically?

God is not real

I think it’s like, humans were innocent, like animals before the fall. They could do things that could be considered evil from our viewpoint but i fact it would not be evil or sinful because they had no concept of tight and wrong. When you do have knowledge of good and evil then you can sin

the Tree of Knowledge, and the problem of evil, even from within the construct of Christianity. "Evil comes from people keeping knowledge to themselves instead of sharing it with others and God."

Where does this come from?

It isn't any Christian principle I've ever heard of.

She said she was transfixed. I'm sure if you have an experience like this it must be mesmerising, you wouldn't be in a state of mind to shout out. She kept it to herself because understandably she was afraid of being ridiculed 🤷‍♀️
Of course people will be sceptical,I'm not.

@Silverseas1 agree. I had a supernatural experience and didn’t tell anyone for about 10 years

I really like the way Sarah Bessey writes about this issue in her book "Out of Sorts".
"Sovereignty is a promise, not a threat. I no longer think of God’s sovereignty as what theologians call a “blueprint” plan for humanity. I can’t say things like, ‘Well, God ordained you to be poor.” Or, “God ordained for your baby to die.” I know that some people find comfort in believing that God’s sovereignty, his plan for all things, is behind their suffering and grief. It gives meaning to our grief, I get that. But I don’t think it’s true. In fact, I think it’s a crappy thing to say and a crappy thing to believe about God. God’s sovereignty is not an excuse or a reason for the bad things that happen in our lives: God is light and there is no darkness to him. No one will ever convince me that God made my babies die or that God killed our friend with cancer or that a hurricane is an act of God as punishment for sin. Instead, I think sovereignty is the promise that it will all be healed in the end. Sovereignty means that all will be held. That God is at work to bring redemption and reconciliation, that somehow at the end of all things, we don’t escape from the goodness that pursues us, the life we are promised, the love that redeems.”

Surely that's the other way around? We are taught to thank his on acts of worship for everything, kids are taught to sing about thanking his for the harvest / fuzzy wuzzy hair etc but when bad stuff happens it because mankind has been bad, it's retribution.

That's twisted! How do you know what potential the first child had? To dismiss their worth and diminish their loss as a necessary evil is just awful. How could you think that way?

Seriously? You actually believe that the devil is real?

I understand that 😊

Life can exist without death. There are definitely jellyfish out there that can go on regenerating forever.

@DeadbeatYoda I think I might have seen him. I hope it wasn’t, and just some other demon

Well, quite.

I'm fascinated @Annaishere, do you mind if I ask you to share your experience with me?

@off, and @Jackandjillswell, well, explain to me what you think Christian principles regarding knowledge are?

So you've fallen for it as well?

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire