Prayer?

[Faith No More]

Why do you believe suffering is something that God is always obligated to alleviate?

I don't think he is obligated to alleviate all suffering, because some suffering we bring upon ourselves. When the suffering we bring upon ourselves, however, causes innocent people, i.e. children, to suffer, then he should feel obligated. If my neighbor is a raging alcoholic, I may choose to try to help that person, but I am not obligated to do so. If that neighbor has a child that is being adversely affected by that neighbor's alcoholism, and I am aware of it, then I have a duty to that child to do what I can to alleviate its suffering.

It's not a 'gottcha question.' Either you want to be under the authority and control of God or you do not. This is not a what if question. This is the foundational element of the 'free will' we have been given, so we all may personally answer this question for ourselves. If you do as you say, the surrender/humble yourself to God, accept the attonement offered by Christ, and pray for his Kingdom to come/Pray for the second comming of Christ.

You seem to be forgetting that all of my answers are hypothetical. After all, I am an atheist.

While I am agnostic towards the existence of a deity in general, I fully reject the existence of the Christian god. I cannot humble myself before something that I do not believe exists.

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Scratch that. I do believe god is obligated to alleviate all suffering. Suffering comes from our ability to sin, which he allowed A&E to bring upon the world even though at the time they had no way of being able to comprehend the consequences of their actions. I can tell a child not to touch the hot stove, but that doesn't mean I'm allowed to just turn around and not pay attention to whether they touch it or not. I am still obligated to watch them, because they are not able to fully comprehend the consequences of not listening to me. To be responsible for something, such as bringing sin into the world, we must be aware of the consequences. Therefore, we are not responsible for bringing about evil into this world that did not exist until god sat idly by and watched us do so.