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It often appears that religious people ascribe all manner of good things to God yet many likewise deny God as responsible for events we might characterize as harmful or bad.

Should a God actually have set the universe in motion, is this supposed God responsible for anything?

Is such a God responsible for all that we consider bad? Can such a God in the same vein be responsible for all that we consider good?

Thor

Believers crack me up when they want to attribute anything good to their imaginary deity. But when bad things happen they either want to blame "Satan" or they say "God has his reasons".

A perfect example is when someone wants to praise "God" for giving us a beautiful, sunshiny day.

In this case, they are saying that "God" is responsible for the weather. Well, if he's responsible for a beautiful spring day, then he's also responsible for hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, hail storms, sub-zero temperatures, etc....

Which means he's responsible for people dying, being seriously injured and having their homes destroyed.

Either "God" is responsible for all of it, or he's responsible for none of it. Which means if he's responsible for nice weather, he's also responsible for horrors caused by bad weather. But if he's not responsible for the bad weather, then he's also not responsible for the good weather. So why praise him for a nice day?

**KichigaiNeko**

Thing that pisses me off is that this god thingy is our own creation ....
So where does THAT leave the blame game??

everythingafter

(28th February 2011 16:45)Thor Wrote: Either "God" is responsible for all of it, or he's responsible for none of it. Which means if he's responsible for nice weather, he's also responsible for horrors caused by bad weather. But if he's not responsible for the bad weather, then he's also not responsible for the good weather. So why praise him for a nice day?

Not only that: he's also all-powerful and all-loving. But he was all-loving, how could he possibly not using his all-powerfulness to save his creation from such immense suffering. The problem of evil was one of the most convincing reasons to turn me away from belief. It makes utterly no sense. Believers so delude themselves that they can't see these glaring inconsistencies in God's supposed character.

DiRNiS

I had a brief discussion about this with other family members, some being very religious. When I asked if there was a god, why would he allow so much suffering? Their answer was: "The Devil did it".

Then I proceeded to ask, but if god is all powerful and all knowing, why can't he stop the devil from doing all these evil things?

Their answer? God sometimes works in ways we do not understand...

I decided to just change the conversation. What's the point when all the answers you are getting are full of willful ignorance?

everythingafter

(1st March 2011 04:05)DiRNiS Wrote: Their answer? God sometimes works in ways we do not understand...

I decided to just change the conversation. What's the point when all the answers you are getting are full of willful ignorance?

That's the only answer they have ... to rely on not understanding his ways. I wonder: if we can't possibly understand "his ways," (which makes him capricious and unpredictable), how or why should we possibly worship him?

ozgoat

(28th February 2011 16:48)KichigaiNeko Wrote: Thing that pisses me off is that this god thingy is our own creation ....
So where does THAT leave the blame game??

I think the god thingy in this day and age can be blamed fairly and squarely on those that perpetuate the belief either by teaching it or by following it.

Hard to understand that something invented 2600 years ago by donkey nomads can still, in the 21st century have such a hold on 25% of the World's population!

~~Emporion~~

(1st March 2011 05:08)ozgoat Wrote:
(28th February 2011 16:48)KichigaiNeko Wrote: Thing that pisses me off is that this god thingy is our own creation ....
So where does THAT leave the blame game??

I think the god thingy in this day and age can be blamed fairly and squarely on those that perpetuate the belief either by teaching it or by following it.

Hard to understand that something invented 2600 years ago by donkey nomads can still, in the 21st century have such a hold on 25% of the World's population!

Only 25% of the worlds population? I thought it was WAY higher than that.

Minimalist

Quote:"God has his reasons".

Reason #1: He's a prick. ( Just read the OT)

**theVOID**

This reminds me of an email exchange I had a while ago that displays the very self-centered jackassery typical in theists, the willingness to claim a blessing was given to them while others perished - This woman I was speaking to brought up an example of how she was lost when she was hiking in the mountains, she claimed that she was blessed and that a force carried her through - This was her 'proof' for the existence of God, and it was completely unconcerned with the fact that tens of thousands of people have died in similar circumstances just in recent history, many of whom were a damn sight better than her in almost all imaginable areas.

It's the same thing here at the moment following the earthquakes, all the self-centered assholes who didn't lose friends or family saying they were blessed while completely ignoring the fact that 155 people confirmed dead so far and their families weren't so lucky - Complete fucking assholes, it's a slap in the face for all the families who weren't lucky enough to get the same 'blessing' from this fuckwit deity.