Science Saved My Soul.....................

[Alien Allen]

They don't call it blind faith for nothing eh

 

[sexysadie]

Who exactly are they if you don't mind my asking?

 

[BornReady]

I agree it's not God's fault children are starving in Ethiopia. From what I understand, the problem there is an evil government. Government officials live in luxury while their citizens starve. Sending money doesn't help because the money ends up in the pockets of the government.

If I could stop the starvation then I would. I wouldn't have to give it a moments thought. I wouldn't think, well maybe someone else should take care of it. Unfortunately I am practically powerless. I can barely take care of myself and my own family. If there was a benevolent powerful God who knew what was happening to these children then he would have no choice but to act. Whose fault it was would not matter. Decency would demand he come to the aid of these children. But wishful thinking doesn't make it so.

Some people say God loves these children but has his own reasons for not helping them. Reasons that we can't understand. This is just another way of saying, "I have faith in God's goodness despite all the evidence to the contrary." This is called blind faith. Despite what your pastor might tell you, blind faith is not a virtue. It is a dangerous way to live.

 

[itsmeJonB]

You know. They

 

[sexysadie]

I agree it's not God's fault children are starving in Ethiopia. From what I understand, the problem there is an evil government. Government officials live in luxury while their citizens starve. Sending money doesn't help because the money ends up in the pockets of the government.

If I could stop the starvation then I would. I wouldn't have to give it a moments thought. I wouldn't think, well maybe someone else should take care of it. Unfortunately I am practically powerless. I can barely take care of myself and my own family. If there was a benevolent powerful God who knew what was happening to these children then he would have no choice but to act. Whose fault it was would not matter. Decency would demand he come to the aid of these children. But wishful thinking doesn't make it so.

Some people say God loves these children but has his own reasons for not helping them. Reasons that we can't understand. This is just another way of saying, "I have faith in God's goodness despite all the evidence to the contrary." This is called blind faith. Despite what your pastor might tell you, blind faith is not a virtue. It is a dangerous way to live.

You say that you can't help these children because you can barely support your family, but what does that mean? Do you have cable television, cell phones....etc? Do you think that a starving child would understand your excuses? We all have them, myself included, but are they good enough? Is that why you blame God because it would be easier for Him to perform a miracle in order to save these people rather than for you to give up your internet for a few months. What does God expect from us....do you think He's as disappointed in us as we express that we are in Him? I don't know.....you tell me. Why should God step up and perform miracles when we have the resources to help those people right here and we don't budge.....we just don't want to be inconvenienced, so it's easier to just blame somebody else............ it's even easier to blame God because it takes the pressure off of us. Patience is a virtue my dear.....faith is a gift. There are way more dangerous ways to live out there.......watch the news much?

 

[sexysadie]

You know. They

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh they!!!!

 

[Accountable]

Thanks for one of the more bizarre conversations I've read. That vid was very good, even inspiring. I am no longer religious but do believe there is a creator, and I can't find anything significant that I disagree with.

I assume God exists. I assume that God gave us free will. If the first assumption is wrong then the second one doesn't matter. If the first assumption is right but the second is wrong then the whole thing is a cruel joke & nothing matters. So, assuming that I have free will, the best way to show my appreciation for such a gift is to learn all I can about what I'm assuming God has created.

If God doesn't exist, then I definitely have free will, and I owe it to myself to learn all I can about this vast pachinko game that somehow randomly brought me into existence.

"Either way it's okay you wake up with yourself."
~ Billy Joel

 

[Alien Allen]

Who exactly are they if you don't mind my asking?

I think you know the answer

 

[BornReady]

You say that you can't help these children because you can barely support your family, but what does that mean? Do you have cable television, cell phones....etc?

I don't have cable tv or a cell phone. I could scrape up a few bucks to send them each month but it wouldn't do any good. Their problem is an evil government. I can not solve their problem. I wish I could. There is no way I would allow children to starve if I could prevent it. I do what I can for local children when I can. If you're able to help needy children and you're not doing it then I don't think much of you. If God is unable to help needy children then I don't fault him. But if he is able and doesn't then I don't think much of him. In truth, I don't believe in your god but if I did then I would think poorly of him.

 

[Aries]

You're asking questions that no human being can rightly answer. Is that how you win an argument, to ask the impossible?

I don't know why there's so much suffering in this world we live in, and I don't know how to fix it any more than you do, but what I do know is this, for God so loved the world that He gave us His only son, that he/she who believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. This world we live in is just a stepping stone to what is meant to be, and it's in this world that our actions get to speak louder than words. What kind of people would we be if God fixed everything? What kind of world would it be without faith?

Well said Sadie.:thumbup

 

[sexysadie]

I don't have cable tv or a cell phone. I could scrape up a few bucks to send them each month but it wouldn't do any good. Their problem is an evil government. I can not solve their problem. I wish I could. There is no way I would allow children to starve if I could prevent it. I do what I can for local children when I can. If you're able to help needy children and you're not doing it then I don't think much of you. If God is unable to help needy children then I don't fault him. But if he is able and doesn't then I don't think much of him. In truth, I don't believe in your god but if I did then I would think poorly of him.

I send money when I can, but it's not enough, at least, it's not everything. You have the internet, how much does that cost you? Are you saying that your internet should come before a starving child? What else have you done?
BR, I'm not judging you, I'm merely saying that we all have our excuses. We're just two people with a load of em, imagine across the world...lol.
I once watched an interview on television with Sylvester Stalone. This was a few years back but I never forgot it. They were taking a tour of his new house in Beverly Hills, I think it was, and the person doing the interview spotted this huge painting displayed on an enormous wall between staircases, it was like 3 stories long if it was an inch and it was hideous...lol. The interviewer couldn't help but stare at such a painting and naturally was under the impression that it came with a story or a past...but Stallone spoke up and proudly admitted that he wasn't really all that fond of it, yet he paid 3 million dollars for it only because it fit on that wall. Nuff said.

 

[sexysadie]

Well said Sadie.:thumbup

awwwwww Aries, you're a breath of fresh air....thank you.

 

[BornReady]

I send money when I can, but it's not enough, at least, it's not everything.

So we have established that you and I are not able to help much but we do what we can. Is God doing all he can?

I'm actually picking on God belief, not God. I think a belief in a benevolent, all powerful, all knowing god is counter productive. Such a belief makes it too easy to accept this world as it is. I think it's past time to open our eyes, recognize this world is a mess and God isn't going to fix it because either he doesn't care or doesn't exist. That is my personal experience anyway. I didn't develop my passion for fixing this world until I stopped believing in God and realized it's my world, not God's world.

 

[cam elle toe]

So we have established that you and I are not able to help much but we do what we can. Is God doing all he can?

I'm actually picking on God belief, not God. I think a belief in a benevolent, all powerful, all knowing god is counter productive. Such a belief makes it too easy to accept this world as it is. I think it's past time to open our eyes, recognize this world is a mess and God isn't going to fix it because either he doesn't care or doesn't exist. That is my personal experience anyway. I didn't develop my passion for fixing this world until I stopped believing in God and realized it's my world, not God's world.

WHy is it up to God to fix it, when he didnt create the mess!

We give our adult children free will, we help them as best we can, but if we run and fix every single little mistake they make, EVERY time they make it...how will they learn?

The answer is they wont. They have to learn to help themselves and fix their own mistakes...they have to learn BY their mistakes and not repeat them.
Unfortunately, us human "doings" are slow learners...and we are lazy and want "someone else" to take responsibility, whether that be "God" or "Government"

 

[Peter Parka]

What's the point of sending money? Fuck all of it gets to the needy anyway and goes straight into the pocket of evil dictators. Very pathetic picking on one person for having internet connection when your all powerful god could solve the whole problem with a click of his fingers but chooses not to. That is if he's all powerful as you claim.

 

[sexysadie]

So we have established that you and I are not able to help much but we do what we can. Is God doing all he can?

I'm actually picking on God belief, not God. I think a belief in a benevolent, all powerful, all knowing god is counter productive. Such a belief makes it too easy to accept this world as it is. I think it's past time to open our eyes, recognize this world is a mess and God isn't going to fix it because either he doesn't care or doesn't exist. That is my personal experience anyway. I didn't develop my passion for fixing this world until I stopped believing in God and realized it's my world, not God's world.

Without even realizing it, you're making God's point for Him. He wants us to step up and take responsibility for our own world and it's people...our neighbors, our children etc. I think you're wrong. I don't accept the world as it is, on the contrary, I ache to be able to fix that which is broken, it's in my nature. I've taken strangers home with me and allowed them to live in my basement until other arrangements could be made, i've given them food and shelter and even a key to my home so that they could shower and eat. I've shared my dinner table with them and trusted God would look after us....and He did. I don't accept this world as it is.......that statement is so far from the truth.

 

[Johnfromokc]

Religion summed up succinctly with humor:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

 

[sexysadie]

WHy is it up to God to fix it, when he didnt create the mess!

We give our adult children free will, we help them as best we can, but if we run and fix every single little mistake they make, EVERY time they make it...how will they learn?

The answer is they wont. They have to learn to help themselves and fix their own mistakes...they have to learn BY their mistakes and not repeat them.
Unfortunately, us human "doings" are slow learners...and we are lazy and want "someone else" to take responsibility, whether that be "God" or "Government"

Thank you! You are a sight for sore eyes. You're so right, and that's just what I've been saying camy....if everything was just handed to us where would we be as far as progress is concerned? We're being taught to fend for ourselves for a reason.....perhaps it's the same reason why we teach this to our own children. My mother coddled my brother and never expected anything from him for years, she allowed him to quit highschool and live totally on her....now she's living on an old age pension....supporting a middle aged man who thinks the world owes him a living. Right now if something happened to my mother, heaven forbid, he'd never survive.

 

[Diggin Deep]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't God reach out to all of these third world countries - the sick, the hungry, the less fortunate? Does he not call those who do believe in Him to go on mission trips. The participating churches, organizations, and colleges take up donations for food, clothing, medical supplies and go into these countries to help the people and spread the word of God. In my opinion, that is God helping his people...through his people.

Regarding Science proving or disproving God. We could go on and on about this...and we have in past threads. I know many scientists who believe in God, I've read many books on how science supports "God". I've also read many articles and books where science does not support "God". At the end of the day, science helped confirm my belief in God and Jesus saved my soul.

 

[Diggin Deep]

I do believe that God allowed cancer, disease, famine, disaster, etc. In my opinion, He allowed it as a result of the fall of man. That is a good enough reason for me. We did it to ourselves. However, it's not crucial to how or why I believe.

The wonderful thing is that even though in this life on the cursed earth where we are subject to diseases like cancer, we have hope. Psalm 103 has a wonderful passage that gives us a confident assurance that there will be an end to the ills of this world. Psalm 103:1-4: "Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion."

Does this passage mean that we are guaranteed that God will heal us of cancer or other diseases in this life? No, that is not the meaning of this passage. Rather, the same God who forgives us our sin will one day bring us to a place He has prepared for us (Matthew 25:34). His redemption preserves us from destruction, and then there will be no more curse and no more disease and no more death and we will be forever crowned with His goodness and grace. The final victory over the curse of sin is already ours in Christ.

Romans 8:28 contains some comforting words for those enduring hardship and suffering: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In His providence, God orchestrates every event in our lives—even suffering, temptation and sin—to accomplish both our temporal and eternal benefit.