Body & Soul2 mins ago
Is God Benign
58 Answers
Various religions describe God as 'benign'.
Christians and Jews describe God as good.
Muslims describe God as 'Most compassionate' & 'Most merciful' etc.
However, the *reality* of the world as it is and the descriptions of God by the faithful don't mesh.
So either
a) God doesnt exist, or
b) He/She/It is not benign (in fact, he, she or it. is positively evil)
The arguement that suffering is the result of ''The Fall of Man'' is laughable.
What has the present pandemic got to do with a couple, eating a piece of fruit, thousands of years ago?
What has the zebra done to deserve being eaten alive by a pride of lions?
What has a city done to deserve being swallowed by an earthquake?
What has an innocent child done to deserve being raped by a pedophile?
etc!
Where was this *benign* (and merciful and compassionate) God in all of this?
I would love for there to be a benign father figure looking out for me. But there isnt...
Better to accept reality for what it is (Red in tooth and claw) and try to live your best and protect the innocent, rather than come out with nonsensical platitudes about the Deity that you believe in.
Christians and Jews describe God as good.
Muslims describe God as 'Most compassionate' & 'Most merciful' etc.
However, the *reality* of the world as it is and the descriptions of God by the faithful don't mesh.
So either
a) God doesnt exist, or
b) He/She/It is not benign (in fact, he, she or it. is positively evil)
The arguement that suffering is the result of ''The Fall of Man'' is laughable.
What has the present pandemic got to do with a couple, eating a piece of fruit, thousands of years ago?
What has the zebra done to deserve being eaten alive by a pride of lions?
What has a city done to deserve being swallowed by an earthquake?
What has an innocent child done to deserve being raped by a pedophile?
etc!
Where was this *benign* (and merciful and compassionate) God in all of this?
I would love for there to be a benign father figure looking out for me. But there isnt...
Better to accept reality for what it is (Red in tooth and claw) and try to live your best and protect the innocent, rather than come out with nonsensical platitudes about the Deity that you believe in.
Answers
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nailit - // //Why can't you just let it be?//
Because if i did then why should any other question and answer site exist? //
I don't think that point is valid.
If I have raised a query in Technology, someone has answered it, almost every single time. That's easy, I a posing a Question to which there is an answer - it's just that I don't know what that answer is, but someone else will, and will help me. That's what has kept this site, and similar (but obviously inferior!) sites going.
The difference with your theology threads, interesting though they are, is that there is no definitive 'answer' - just a selection of viewpoints which separate into two categories - Christians and Atheists.
Each post their view, and debate it, but as you and I both know from long experience, virtually no common ground is reached, and no views actually change on either side.
That is what makes threads like this pointless in terms of obtaining an answer, merely interesting if going over the same old ground day in day out blows your skirts up.
I for one am tired of Theland and co taking the undeserved moral high ground, and have said so on many occasions, and do not feel at all inclined to start again.
It's the Sisyphus situation, and I am sure we all have better things to do with our enforced leisure time than to push our virtual rocks up virtual hills any more.
That's why I am reluctant to conclude that this thread is pointless in the sense of a Q & A - you can offer one, but you will never get the other.
Because if i did then why should any other question and answer site exist? //
I don't think that point is valid.
If I have raised a query in Technology, someone has answered it, almost every single time. That's easy, I a posing a Question to which there is an answer - it's just that I don't know what that answer is, but someone else will, and will help me. That's what has kept this site, and similar (but obviously inferior!) sites going.
The difference with your theology threads, interesting though they are, is that there is no definitive 'answer' - just a selection of viewpoints which separate into two categories - Christians and Atheists.
Each post their view, and debate it, but as you and I both know from long experience, virtually no common ground is reached, and no views actually change on either side.
That is what makes threads like this pointless in terms of obtaining an answer, merely interesting if going over the same old ground day in day out blows your skirts up.
I for one am tired of Theland and co taking the undeserved moral high ground, and have said so on many occasions, and do not feel at all inclined to start again.
It's the Sisyphus situation, and I am sure we all have better things to do with our enforced leisure time than to push our virtual rocks up virtual hills any more.
That's why I am reluctant to conclude that this thread is pointless in the sense of a Q & A - you can offer one, but you will never get the other.
Nailit I seen a guy riding a ladies shopping bike the other day. He was riding along Church St. in Stoke. He was pedalling like he had just stolen the bike and had a massive pack of toilet rolls in his basket. He was wearing a tee shirt and printed across the back was ..
''Then I saw his face .. Now I'm a believer''.. with an image of Christ in a crown of thorns.
It was you .. wasn't it ?
''Then I saw his face .. Now I'm a believer''.. with an image of Christ in a crown of thorns.
It was you .. wasn't it ?
vulcan42
\\But not constantly and about something you don't believe in.//
On the contrary, If there's something I think doesn't exist and somebody keeps telling me it does yet doesn't provide any proof, then I'm definitely intrigued.
If nailit was quizzing say Theland on a Theland thread ok.
However, nailit seems so obsessed if Theland doesn't post a thread he will post one himself to fulfil his needs.
Maybe he really, really wants to believe.
\\But not constantly and about something you don't believe in.//
On the contrary, If there's something I think doesn't exist and somebody keeps telling me it does yet doesn't provide any proof, then I'm definitely intrigued.
If nailit was quizzing say Theland on a Theland thread ok.
However, nailit seems so obsessed if Theland doesn't post a thread he will post one himself to fulfil his needs.
Maybe he really, really wants to believe.
Nailit, if you’re searching for a benign God within the fables of the Abrahamic religions you won’t find it - but you know that because you’ve searched. Religion is all about self. This selfish God says worship him or woe betide you, and the cowardly do as they are bid lest they compromise the safety of their souls in defence of truth. If man was made in God’s image it shows. What a selfish, self-obsessed creature he is.
Some of my Gods are benign some of the time.
Athene for example often responds to my libations, as does Apollo.
Poseidon on the other hand can be a bit of a bustard, as can Haphaestus when his foot is playing him up.
Janus is two-faced so cannot be trusted, but Aphrodite was very good to me before I turned 70.
Hermes is very useful during the lockdown, delivering sustenance to my home.
And dear old Zeus has yet to aim a thunderbolt in my direction.
Athene for example often responds to my libations, as does Apollo.
Poseidon on the other hand can be a bit of a bustard, as can Haphaestus when his foot is playing him up.
Janus is two-faced so cannot be trusted, but Aphrodite was very good to me before I turned 70.
Hermes is very useful during the lockdown, delivering sustenance to my home.
And dear old Zeus has yet to aim a thunderbolt in my direction.
//it's just that I don't know what that answer is, but someone else will, and will help me. That's what has kept this site, and similar (but obviously inferior!) sites going. //
I don't think you're right. Answers to yes/no/technology questions you can get from Google and Youtube. What keeps sites like this going is exactly this kind of discussion, where we can all argue about some unanswerable point or other, whether it be related to politics or religion.
I don't think you're right. Answers to yes/no/technology questions you can get from Google and Youtube. What keeps sites like this going is exactly this kind of discussion, where we can all argue about some unanswerable point or other, whether it be related to politics or religion.
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