Believers in God like to say how powerful he is, and point to the world and the universe as his creation and proof of his power.

But really, there are so many things that God can't or won't do. Some people point out his occasional inability or unwillingness to cure illness. But I think more glaring is the fact that he cannot build his own church buildings or finance his own organizations. He can't or won't make an airplane or an automobile or even something so simple as a pencil.

Why not, if he's so great?

Because he is testing you! (J/k) He wants to kill off all the people who didn't have enough faith, don't you know.

Other options:

He's malevolent
He's impotent
He's indifferent
He went senile
He died

If there is a thinking God at all, I think He is an utter psychopath.

This is important: there are alternatives to weak or lazy, including utter insouciance regarding his creation and, simply, evil. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, the suffering in the world would persuade a jury in about 15 minutes.

in b 4 ~



plz repent RfM ~

in b 4 ~



God should repent ~

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> in b 4 ~
>
>
>
> God should repent ~


I remember when God used to be humble enough do that--like he did here:

"And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (Genesis 6:6)

(Granted, it's not exactly the vote of confidence one would hope from from one's creator.)

Yeah, the consequence of that "repentance" was not very encouraging either. More like a frustrated child overturning the checkerboard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2021 02:23AM by Lot's Wife.

Well, he can go into minute detail regarding the financing of the Nauvoo House, but can't be bothered to reveal (in his code of *health*) that water should be boiled to avoid cholera and other diseases.

I vote for both.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy god.

On dichotomous (black-and-white) thinking...

Philosophers, theologians, and scientists have been debating that one for millennia. The poet William Blake noted, "The Creator of this Universe is a very cruel being." John Milton wrote of "Justifying the ways of God to men"; well, you get the drift...

From my point of view, the Almighty (who apparently has a sense of humor in my book) must be pretty compassionate to tolerate the "excesses of his children."

That assumes a Creator/First with consciousness, of course. Then there's the "Man created God in his own image" crowd.

Take your choice. My experience has been that faith and grace can be powerful instruments for change in "surviving the human condition," even if their reality may be illusory.

The creator is not responsible for his creation, the father for the welfare of his infant child?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2021 04:42PM by Lot's Wife.

Woody Allen once said, “If it turns out that there is a God...the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.”

HH =)

Compassionate and giving of opportunities without number through his preeminent grace.

Compassionate with opportunities without number to his preeminent grace.

Despite what my ignorant tablet says that should read prevenient.

Can't speak and acts crazy too!

God is like a mother sea turtle. Gives us life, then disappears never to be seen by us again. Except baby sea turtles don't have to worship that parent for the rest of their lives.

Also, most die before they reach maturity.

I'm not dead yet. I must still be immature!

That only applies to fruits.

If the peel fits.....

Umm...smoked peels.

Sure, but if they're no good for rope...

Not smoked, but I did make banana peel bacon a month or two ago. Its a real thing, recipes on the interwebs. It was actually pretty good. Marinate the peels and fry them!

You are restating “the problem of evil”

‘If an omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient god exists, then evil does not.

There is evil in the world.

Therefore, an omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient god does not exist’

I believe in the god of the physicists, Einstein, Sagan, Hawking and Kaku, IOW, nature, which isn’t what I describe as an ‘omnibenevolent god’. Although do I believe nature is, on balance, benevolent, in as much it created the conditions for life to exist and thrive in the universe, over the past 3.7 billion years, uninterrupted.
As to the problem of evil existing in the world.
I think ‘evil’ doesn’t exist in nature, that it only exists in humans, who violate nature and each other. I’ve never seen an evil animal, other than humans.
That god doesn’t intervene to stop humans from being evil doesn’t seem like a problem to me. It’s a problem for the victims of evil, but it is inconsequential in the long run. It’s not going to break the 3.7 billion year long uninterrupted existence of life. Even if we blew ourselves up with nukes, we wouldn’t wipe out all life forms. Extremophiles (tardigrades) can withstand 1,000 times the radiation it takes to kill us.
I do however believe god (Nature) is omnipotent, omnipresent and ingenious. I wouldn’t say it is omniscient however, since ‘knowing’ seems like a human characteristic and I do not believe in a personal ‘God’.

…feel better now?


You’ve kept that bottled up for quite some time!

I believe the cosmos is cosmic, the universe universal, nature natural, and truisms true albeit trivially so.

How many clocks could a good god make if a good god could make clocks?

Mighta worked better with Glocks!

Through our interactions and imaginations, we create a view of the world and our place in it. Just because it isn't real or literal or verifyable or doesn't match someone else's view doesn't mean it doesn't guide our lives.

God's apparent inability to cure illness is what turned me off belief when I was 15 years old. My father - a kind, gentle, good-natured man died at 42 from kidney failure. It was an ugly, drawn-out death. His passing completely unstrung my mother. She started drinking heavily and lost her job as director of nurses at a large local hospital. She was also a very nasty drunk, so I couldn't wait to go away to university.

During the 3 years before I left home, she tried to force me to go to church. I wouldn't go. (Some decades later, I gave religion another try with Mormonism, and that didn't work out well, either.)

I have the same disease that killed my father, but it is gentler with females. I passed it to my son, who is on dialysis. My granddaughters almost certainly have it too, but they have not yet been diagnosed.

It is science that has made progress. Not God.

Whether God exists, I neither know nor care.

That's a rough story to read, catnip. Thanks.

Life isn't fair.

Hi, Catnip,

My sons inherited the vile blood that killed my grandpa and my mom --Triglyceride at nearly 1500. Doctors call them "a walking heart attack."

It was passed down to them through me. Sometimes, I'm afraid to answer the phone.

I'm so sorry you have kidney disease in your family. I know how you feel.

He “created” a world where many species cannot possibly exist without chasing down and torturing other animals as they rip them apart in order to get a meal necessary for their survival.
To me, that’s malicious and merciless. No thanks.

CateS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He “created” a world where many species cannot
> possibly exist without chasing down and torturing
> other animals as they rip them apart in order to
> get a meal necessary for their survival.
> To me, that’s malicious and merciless. No
> thanks.


Agree. And if we look at it as "those occurrences are just life and how it operates" then God doesn't even need to be involved. Because that clinical way of looking at the randomness and unbiased cruelty of death and suffering is how things look without a God existing.

That really bothers me too, CateS. Nature is so cruel. If a god actually made a plan for animals killing to live, that is sick.

Recognizing how evolution works makes it easier to accept, but how people can make excuses for a god making such a plan is baffling. Seriously, that is the best a loving god could do (but he LOVES you!)?

Humans have invented a God that they expect to cater to their individual needs. The Mormons in particular make this clear with the need to have their car keys located. Some believe God finally inspired technologies that would help with this situation to give his royal self a breather. Your wrist watch will now find your keys.

Christians in general believe in a book that explains that their God knows every hair on the head of every person who has ever existed. You don't get a much more personal god than that, now do you.

If such a creature had made a whole planet, I would expect said creature to be too involved with the big picture to worry about each and every care of every one of 8 billion people. This was illustrated in Jesus Christ superstar the movie when Jesus finally screams at those begging him to do something, "Leave me ALONE!" Makes sense.

So too weak? Too lazy? Or just better things to do? Being all omnipotent and omniscient wouldn't that come with a side of Omnisickofitall?

I still like God probably because I never tried to turn him into my personal servant.

He's resting.

He is very old and nods off sometimes.

When He wakes He is in for a big surprise. His church is not the socialist, sharing thing He restored.

But he probably already knew it. What are God's dreams?

There is a brilliant if controversial book and movie that ask precisely that question: what would it be like for a human to be God and what would that God's dearest dream be?

The Last Temptation of Christ, by a Greek man who thought deeply about the topics you are raising.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ_(novel)

I've not watched the movie but I've never had anyone recommend either. Looks interesting.

>> What are God's dreams?

God dreams about being a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy and having some real adventures killing off the bad guys.

Floods and plagues are so old fashion when you could be using a single arrow to pierce a multitude of them before they even knew what hit them!

I think god dreams about bacon and other smoked delicacies now and then too.

His problem is he never listens to his wives.

He is also a deadbeat, loafer that owes all his children a lot of back child support for letting people get so out of control.

He's spends all his time sitting on his deck on Kolob jerking off.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2021 06:26PM by squirrely.

So that's where I get those traits?

Yes. God is that man might be industrious and overworked, Man is that he might be weak and lazy when he becomes a god.