"God doesn't give us more than we can handle"

[Rev. Rye]

I think this idea originally came from the Stoics, but, of course, they did consider suicide an acceptable way of handling a situation, so, presumably, that could make more sense.

[Minimalist]

Theists make up all sorts of excuses for why their god is a prick. It does not help. If he existed he would still be a prick.

However, since he apparently does not exist the world can be reduced to the phrase "shit happens." And sometimes it happens by the metric fuck ton.

[TaraJo]

Suppose for a second that god actually did give people more than they could handle: how would he do it? I mean, the world as it currently exists has people who kill themselves out of extreme despair. There are people who lose fights with debilitating diseases (and sometimes those suicides are a result of knowing they're going to lose against something like Parkensons). There are even people who are so stressed and upset by the world as it is that the stress itself kills or exhaustion kills them. There are all kind of natural disasters that are commonly refered to as 'acts of god' that injure and kill people and destroy lives of survivors.

So, really, if god actually were going to give someone 'more than they can handle,' what would it look like?

[vorlon13]

Winning the Illinois Lottery

[Cato]

So, really, if god actually were going to give someone 'more than they can handle,' what would it look like?

Suicide

[bladevalant546]

Well with me recent bouts with depression. I going to simply say this concerning this notion. Why the fuck did god even place hardships or immense pain to "test us" in the first place? That sounds like a sadist to me.

[Jacob(smooth)]

Hey look! A bunch a people God gave more than they could handle.

[TaraJo]

So, really, if god actually were going to give someone 'more than they can handle,' what would it look like?

Suicide

That's kinda my point, though: people commit suicide all the time anyway. Hell, I've attempted suicide a few times myself. Yet these people still continue to say god doesn't give us more than we can handle. If that, suicide, isn't "more than we can handle," what is?

[Rev. Rye]

That's kinda my point, though: people commit suicide all the time anyway. Hell, I've attempted suicide a few times myself. Yet these people still continue to say god doesn't give us more than we can handle. If that, suicide, isn't "more than we can handle," what is?

Once again, this whole point of view comes, ultimately, from Stoic thought, and one very important thing that tends to be forgotten is that Stoics actually said, that, given a particularly intolerable situation, suicide was, in fact, an acceptable way of dealing with them. Bear in mind that Cleanthes, one of the early Stoic philosophers, died because he chose to starve himself to death because of his stomach ulcer. In addition, Seneca the Younger and Cicero, two other famous Stoics, after getting embroiled in Roman political controversies, slit their wrists and allowed themselves to be killed, respectively.

With this crucial bit of context, the whole "God won't give you more than you can handle" idea makes perfect sense. Take it away, and you get a callous thought based on the unwarranted assumption that the world is just.

[robvalue]

Obviously some people have had more than they can handle, so this silly idea is actually falsifiable for once.

Whoops missed the date in this one sorry!