How does religion explain birth defects?

[Anomalocaris]

Birth defects are part of life. It has nothing to do with religion. Anyone who can't undertand something as simple as that probably can't understand many other things, and should be spending their time actually learning rather than asking questions based on ignorance of the highest order.

Reality is part of life. It has nothing to do with god. Anyone who can't undertand something as simple as that probably can't understand many other things, and should be spending their time actually learning rather than asking questions based on ignorance of the highest order.

[Jaysyn]

Birth defects are part of life. It has nothing to do with religion. Anyone who can't undertand something as simple as that probably can't understand many other things, and should be spending their time actually learning rather than asking questions based on ignorance of the highest order.

Arrogance & ignorance all rolled up into one fairy-tale believing package.

[Captain Scarlet]

the god peddled out to the masses is a form of mass advertising. ive always considered organized religion as a power trip.
its not unlike the early days of a tobacco company. and again, my reasoning behind the hiding of god is to not distract us from
our purpose. which again, as a spiritualist, i believe each person has a purpose or a goal to accomplish.

Then you need to show some evidence or reasoning to beleive this proposition. I do not believe we are here for a purpose. Our goals are only those those imposed on us or adopted by us, by our interaction with humanity and the material world.

[Lethe]

If you murder someone, what happens? If you are found guilty, you get the consequences. The judge doesn't just go "oh, it's ok, we'll just let you go". You go to prison.

But God isn't just a judge. He is said to be the judge, the jury, the prosecution, the lawmaker, and the enforcer. Saying he's just doesn't make him just, and even if it did -- wouldn't he, being all-powerful, have the power to define justice as it suits his purposes? And isn't a self-defined, self-serving brand of justice the same as a vigilante's?

God actually has held back, because he loves us.

I don't find damning your 'children' to an eternity of torment in a fiery pit for questioning your existence grounds for having 'held back'.

We ALL deserve eternal damnation, because we are all sinful.

Yet it was God who supposedly created and defined this sin. You can say that sin was introduced because a woman ate an apple, but it was God who would have created that apple to begin with.

God could destroy us all because we have turned away from Him, and have sinned. He would be totally justified in doing that.

To himself and his followers perhaps, but not even a concept is exempt from the judgment of others.

One day everyone will bow before Him and acknowledge Him as Lord. If you don't choose to take His free gift, then you are choosing Hell. But you DO have a choice.

Why Hell? If he were all-loving why not let his beloved children choose their own path after death? Why not nirvana, reincarnation, or any of the other countless afterlifes? Why would a supreme being be so desperate for the praise and adulation of others that he would threaten torture for those who do not do so?

[Cando]

Birth defects are part of life. It has nothing to do with religion. Anyone who can't undertand something as simple as that probably can't understand many other things, and should be spending their time actually learning rather than asking questions based on ignorance of the highest order.

Arrogance & ignorance all rolled up into one fairy-tale believing package.

But birth defects only affect a small proportion of the population.

[Anomalocaris]

That's relevent how?

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

But birth defects only affect a small proportion of the population.

That doesn't justify its willing existence.

[WiiRHim]

But God isn't just a judge. He is said to be the judge, the jury, the prosecution, the lawmaker, and the enforcer. Saying he's just doesn't make him just, and even if it did -- wouldn't he, being all-powerful, have the power to define justice as it suits his purposes? And isn't a self-defined, self-serving brand of justice the same as a vigilante's?

In a sense, God can be viewed as all those things in one. But it isn't us saying he is just, He says that He is just. And He can't change the definition of justice, because He himself is just, and He "is the same yesterday and today and forever." He won't just up and change. It isn't in His nature.

I don't find damning your 'children' to an eternity of torment in a fiery pit for questioning your existence grounds for having 'held back'.

YOU are the one who chooses eternal damnation. God doesn't make the choice for you. And He gave you a way to become right with Him. You don't think that doing that instead of just destroying you is holding back?

Yet it was God who supposedly created and defined this sin. You can say that sin was introduced because a woman ate an apple, but it was God who would have created that apple to begin with.

God didn't create the sin. Sin came about from disobedience to Him. If there was no disobedience, there would be no sin. Yes, he created the apple, but it wasn't the apple that caused it. It could just as well have been any other kind of fruit, because the sin was disobeying what God had told them. They knew that they could eat anything accept that fruit, and yet they disobeyed and ate it.

To himself and his followers perhaps, but not even a concept is exempt from the judgment of others.

I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean.

Why Hell? If he were all-loving why not let his beloved children choose their own path after death? Why not nirvana, reincarnation, or any of the other countless afterlifes? Why would a supreme being be so desperate for the praise and adulation of others that he would threaten torture for those who do not do so?

Because none of those supposed "afterlifes" could be as wonderful as eternity with Him. It isn't like He is sending someone to Hell for no reason. Every one of us has the ability to choose, and if you don't choose Him, you choose Hell. And while he is all-loving, he is at the same time just, so He will abide by your wishes to not be with Him, so if you don't want to spend eternity with Him, you will spend it apart from Him

---

For starters, a dog is not comparable to a child. If you every have a child you will better understand.

True overall, but you've needlessly dismissed Lethe's main point.

Secondly, you all seem to think that God is just this big, unfair dietitian who is damming all who don't follow His insane rules. If you murder someone, what happens? If you are found guilty, you get the consequences. The judge doesn't just go "oh, it's ok, we'll just let you go". You go to prison. God actually has held back, because he loves us. We ALL deserve eternal damnation, because we are all sinful. God could destroy us all because we have turned away from Him, and have sinned. He would be totally justified in doing that. But he hasn't. He has given us a way to become right with Him, though Jesus. You say that He is unjust in allowing children to be born with disfigurements. If those children accept Jesus' free gift of salvation, they when they go to heaven they will have a perfect body.

People enact laws to protect people from other people. What purpose does god's law serve except to prevent god from not allowing us to heaven and therefore being plunged into eternal torture?
You know who else offers 'protection' from their own rules and punishments?
Mob Bosses.

@ Jaysyn: Christians DON't have the absolute truth on everything. We still wonder, marvel at, and explore the world and universe. There is much we can learn, and find out. We do however, have the absolute truth about Salvation. Everything else will just lead you down the broad path that leads to destruction. It isn't God being unjust when you will go to Hell when you die. He has given everyone the opportunity to choose eternal life with Him. It is your choice, He won't make it for you. One day everyone will bow before Him and acknowledge Him as Lord. If you don't choose to take His free gift, then you are choosing Hell. But you DO have a choice.

Right. We have a choice between slavery or torture.

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell. And God's laws are for the same purpose, to protect us. A good amount of our laws today come from the Laws God has given us.

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell. And God's laws are for the same purpose, to protect us. A good amount of our laws today come from the Laws God has given us.

I think you don't understand just how well I do understand this.
What you need to understand is that my choices, according to your religion, boils down to either -
I can choose to relinquish all free will and thought and many of the things I was born to do (such as if I were born gay or quite literally unable to accept god's truth - such as from mental retardation or dying a horrifying and painful death at 18 months from Tay Sachs disease) or my other choice is eternal torture.

There is no positive outcome here. I do not have free will and my entire existence is meaningless in your religion except to satisfy your god's insanely jealous and vain ego or suffer a torment beyond my mortal understanding based on the actions I have over the course of maybe anywhere from zero to about 120 years of life for all infinity.

That is beyond assinine. My life, however small and insignificant on earth or generally in the universe, has far more meaning from my atheist point of view than even the religious one. I want my life to amount to more than how much better I can kiss god's stupid ass than the next douchebag.

Your god is neither loving nor merciful and pretending he's anything else shows an extreme ignorance of how the bible (new and old testiment) actually depicts this 'supreme' being. He's not worth my time because he is the most evil and despicable fictional character I've ever known who is also portrayed in the dullest and least interesting fashion.

[theVOID]

Seriously, my answer would be "The universe is a great machine but there are glitches. Clearly, God isn't perfect."

I agree the universe is rather mechanical in nature, but using the term 'God' if anything else implies intelligence, what reason do you have for thinking any such intelligence is present?