(April 9, 2015 at 4:26 pm)robvalue Wrote: If I was a christian, I'd really think my God was responsible for how shit this world is. I'd be more depressed than I am now. I'd think he was an utter bastard and I'd hate his guts. Making a suffering world and then helping me cope with it is not love, it's horrific sadism.
To me, what you describe is a placebo effect and a false sense of confidence based on undemonstrated premises.
How would that help me to pretend he exists?
You didn't answer, do you think he's omnipotent?
Yeah. I think he is omnipotent. An omnipotent being is able to say that he is allowing his created beings to make choices for themselves. He can also decide to allow them to suffer consequences for those choices. He can also create a world that has diseases and natural disasters. He can also decide to be with us and bring us through that suffering. If he is omnipotent, then he knows what is best for us. And we, being not omnipotent, can't always perceive what is best for us. There is no doubt in my mind that the suffering I've gone through with OCD has made me a better person, and that reliance on God is a huge part of what has taken me through.
As far as helping you pretend he exists--that wouldn't do you much good anyway. The only to believe is to go to him with an openness and a willingness to accept the answer. You won't get an answer in words, but you will be convinced. If you've already done that and you have received no answer, then I must assume you don't really want to know or that you just don't want to follow him.
