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??

@DeadbeatYoda its just the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I had sleep paralysis, so I got up knowing I was walking through my “dream” house. But it felt so real. I saw it sitting in the dark smiling at me. It was wearing my friends face. But the eyes were large and black. It was just as real as seeing anyone across from you in real life. It was so happy about how horrified I was. There was just this pure evil emanating from it

And to suggest that the second child is worth more because they might save a life or cure cancer, like their worth inheres in what they can do and not who they are. Imagine being that child and thinking “I’d better cure cancer when I grow up or my brother died for nothing”. The more I think about this post the more I can’t believe anyone would suggest it.

Oh for Pete's sake, I have no idea, I'm not either a Philosopher or a Theologian.

I was just curious where that statement come from "Evil comes from people keeping knowledge to themselves instead of sharing it with others and God."??

@Jackandjillswell, just a quick skim over your previous posts. I take it you are Christian? So why wouldn't your aim to be ultimately to have unity with God. In fact in this life have unity with God in Christ. The knowledge of Christ? God? So what bit of knowledge is exclusively anyone's?

@Jackandjillswell

That statement you quoted was from off paraphrasing my posts in her own unique style.

I really don't know what you're talking about.

So what bit of knowledge is exclusively anyone's?

I never said any knowledge was "exclusively anyone's".

FIBOG. That's what leads to belief in a God.

Fear, Indoctrination, Brainwashing, Obligation, Guilt.

People’s Bible knowledge is pretty ropey, isn’t it!

The serpent tempted Eve, it wasn’t Satan or The Devil.

God’s petulant response was to condemn all women to suffer and often die in childbirth for all eternity. Thanks, Dad Heavenly Father!

Lot welcomes strangers into his house and the mob want to sexually assault them so Lot offers up his daughters up for gang rape. Lot is rewarded for being a stand up dude.

His wife is turned to minerals for looking back at the destruction of everything and everyone she knew.

If by “God” we are meaning the Judeo-Christian God, judging from his work he was a twisted misogynist we’re best off without.

Tbh, although the sentences could have been shorter, I assume it was a flow of consciousness. It made perfect sense to me. I’m not sure what impact you thought having a philosophy degree would have though

@Jackandjillswell,

"I really don't know what you're talking about"

Which bit? You are not Christian or you don't understand what I am saying?

I never said any knowledge was "exclusively anyone's".

So it follows that knowledge is not owned by people. I would say that it belongs to God (I am Christian) So any real knowledge we have is shared with God. And it is His will that it is used for good and not for selfish purposes.

N.B. I think we have been talking at cross purposes. I am not trying to win an argument merely share my beliefs and thoughts on the subject. Feel free to read through my past posts for more clarification on these.

@GolgafrinchamB I’ve always felt I could be totally on board with Christianity if the whole
premise of it was “this guy Jesus was really nice to everyone, let’s all be more like him”. It’s God that puts me off.

How awful for you Annaishere and the absolute opposite of my sisters 'spiritual' experience when she was wide awake enjoying the beautiful view.

Replace god with the universe and it's the same. Religion benefits as it is organised and you have resource etc

@hoven Is it? As the post I quoted points out, God does not come across well in the Old Testament, and his biggest concern seems to be who believes in him and who doesn’t. The universe seems much more neutral on all sorts of matters.

@meanderingbrook Which bit? You are not Christian or you don't understand what I am saying?

I haven't a clue what you're saying, this is all above my head intellectually.

Well, are you asking about an Abrahamic version of God or a broader concept? If we Are talking about a divinity that created the universe we first need to ask why? Why did he create the universe?

One answer to this is so god could experience itself. God is supposed to be everything, there is no good or evil, right or wrong, God is a perfectly balanced entity. The downside of this is that it’s impossible to know anything about yourself if there is nothing against which to compare. God is nothing containing everything at this point.

Therefore if God wanted to know himself he needs to create something against which to measure and experience all the different aspects of itself.

Therefore he creates the universe which contains every single aspect of god’s being including What we consider the good and bad. But in order for God to know himself he needs to experience every aspect.

No comfort to those suffering, but that is largely one of the purposes of religion, not creation.

@Jackandjillswell, ok. All I can do is try to answer any specific questions the best I can. But beyond that there will probably some things we cannot easily share. Bit of a block in communications really.

According to the Bible, He is the Great I am. He has always existed and will exist and no one can say anything else

@ZebraDanios (nice fish, btw) I agree that Jesus as a social reformer was great - “let’s be nice and share and forgive.”

Kosher food rules are just good food hygiene for a desert region with no refrigeration.

But God with the vengeance and smiting and narcissism? No thanks.

The first commandment is “no other gods before me.” Literally the first rule - I, God, am the most important.
The next three are also “look how important I am.”

There are only 6 rules about being a vaguely decent person.

Realists doesn’t give a shite if you believe in it. It goes on being real.

God seems mighty concerned with who’s on his team, and punishing anyone who isn’t.

God just kept trying to kill us because we our societies were an abomination

Damn, that should say REALITY, not Realists

@GolgafrinchamB If by “God” we are meaning the Judeo-Christian God, judging from his work he was a twisted misogynist we’re best off without.

Well, no-one's forcing you (or anyone else) to have anything to do with Him.

You could always pick the Islamic God, Allah.

Or better still go to Hinduism, you've quite few to choose from there, Ganesh, Bramha, Vishnu, Shiva.

The Chinese have a few as well The three gods of the Sanxing are Fuk, Luk, and Sau. These gods are also known as the three immortals or three wise men. Other spellings, depending on the dialect, include Fu, Lu and Shou or Fuk Luhk, and Sauh. And that's just for starters, there are about a hundred more, so knock yourself out. 🙂

Because we are not controlled by god, like puppets. We have free will, and freedom. God is there and watching to give comfort, but isn't 'responsible' for the actions, or the accidents that happen. I would find it much worse to think that I was here and only acting at the whim of a higher power. That no aspect of my life was mine or a surprise, whether it's good or bad, it plays out as it does and comfort is provided by God, not control

If you feel like that then don't believe in a god.

Problem solved.