RE: The love of a God
March 18, 2021 at 11:59 pm
(This post was last modified: March 19, 2021 at 12:13 am by Ferrocyanide.)
(March 14, 2021 at 9:45 pm)Eleven Wrote: What parent hasn't lovingly said, This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you?
I haven't experienced that myself. Also, I was not a crazy kid however, I have broken a few things.
Anyway, I'm sure that there are a lot of parents that don't beat up their children.
--Ferrocyanide
(March 14, 2021 at 5:33 pm)Five Wrote: I had a friend bear his testimony to me today. He's someone who struggles with chronic pain and debilitating conditions, exacerbated by past injuries. He told me that when he was younger, he used to get irritated by people not moving fast enough around him and it caused him to feel a lot of contention and anger in his heart. So, he prayed to the Lord for patience. Then, not long after, he got into a terrible accident, injuring his spine and developed several other conditions that make it hard for him to move very fast. He said the Lord did this to/for him to help him learn empathy for those who used to frustrate him and to help him learn patience.
That's probably one of the things I'll have the hardest time getting over. This concept of pain and suffering being an example of God's lovingly delivered lessons. It makes me furiously angry to think about how much bad in my life I attributed to something I deserved and should be grateful for. I no longer believe there is a God but I am fiercely bitter over the indoctrination I received to believe that pain given to me by someone was love and for my benefit/for my own good. That suffering and tribulation were purifying and elevating tools because I was destined for a higher purpose.
I feel bad for my friend because his testimony, the thing that he feels empowered and enriched by, sounds like abuse.
This is what I would tell him:
We need to consider the various possibilities. We need to look at a diamond from every angle, not just the one that you chose for some random reason.
1. You got injured because some god decided to teach you a lesson
2. You got injured because you were being stupid on the road (I imagine that you meant that he got himself into a car accident). Let’s also assume the “god” character exists in possibility 2.
3. You got injured because you were being stupid on the road and there are no gods at all.
How did you select possibility 1?
Did you learn your lesson? Sounds like you did. Why is your spine still injured? Was it part of the “god’s plan” to keep you that way the rest of your life? For what reason?
If Possibility 3 is correct, then you will never get better unless medical science makes some breakthroughs.
Let’s add another possibility.
4. The “god” character cares about your well being and repairs people.
I guess you are going to have to cross that off your list.
Maybe you are tempted to add another possibility to the list:
5. God cares about you and also is mysterious and has some secret reason for keeping you with a damaged spinal cord.
in which case, I would say that friend of yours is getting desperate.
#5 is something that I have heard a bunch of times from christians.
Is your friend a christian?
--Ferrocyanide
