Hmmmm.... rape victims? I know of people who took prescription drugs, went through counseling, went through psychiatric help their whole lives (still believing in Jesus), but still couldn't overcome it, eventually leaving Jesus.

If I ask a Christian/Mormon why would God do something like that to someone, they will always avoid my question...

This is the most bogus piece of information I ever received growing up in the church. It only works for people with great lives.

I don't know who made that up. It's so ridiculous! People have things happen to them all the time they can't handle. If that were true, there wouldn't be a church,shrink, or mental hospital on the planet.

If they did answer, it would be along the lines of "Guess you didn't have enough faith".... that and other ways of wording it are what I heard most. Bah.

There wouldn't be a need for doctors or surgeons. We can't handle cancer or car accidents--that's for sure. Sometimes we can't handle childbirth. Not without help, that is. I mean, we need help other than God's help.

If we relied on only on God's help, most of us would be dead by now!

for me, several times over

I'm sure people who say these kinds of things don't ever really think about the truly heinous things that happen on a daily basis. I don't know of any man who when forced to watch his wife and children being raped, tortured, and killed in front of him would make the assertion that this was all part of "god's plan."

Usually people who make idiotic statements like this are commenting on losing your job or something like that.

I wish I knew what words to say to someone in situations that are beyond anyones control. "I'm sorry" seems so empty. "Can I help you" seems so lame. When I see people in these situations, I want to fix things, but often can't. I feel so sad about that.

When I thought I was going to die, the thing that brought me the most comfort was people promising to look after the ones I left behind, and then laughing about funny things we did when we were younger. One day a friend laid in bed with me all day, just to watch the fall leaves turn color. I didn't think I would ever see them again. These kind people taught me how to die gracefully. But then I didn't die. I guess I have it all worked out if I go that route again.

Let me get this straight, I shouldn't tell people that God won't give them anything they can't handle, but I can tell them that laughter is the best medicine? I need to sort out my cliches. :)

I guess you do have a point! hahaha. But it's not guaranteed, unlike what you hear at church!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2011 03:18AM by fancypants.

Possibly one of the dumbest things that TBMs tell each other.

"Would God cook a Burrito SO HOT that he couldn't eat it?"


same principle, methinks.

Of course, I don't say that to other people about their problems, but it works for ME.

It's a helluva lot better than thinking that the crap that happens in life is part of God's grand design or test. That makes God seem like a real jerk, if you ask me.

It was a particularly bad year that convinced me that He wasn't up there planning this stuff, divvying up rewards or punishments, and he MOST certainly wasn't intervening or assisting in any way.

At the end of that year, after I lost my faith in the church, I decided he wasn't up there at all. And it brought me comfort to realize that the crap that happened, just happened. All at once.

This is one of those "blame the victim" things that are rampant in Mormonism. If you have any failures, then it's YOUR fault. Because, hey, "God would never give . . . " etc.


Cult, Cult, Cult.

One of those effing irritating bland cliches I hate.

The whole point of conditions like PTSD, depression, and various other mental conditions, are that your natural compensatory capacity is overwhelmed and you decompensate.

No-trial-is-too-great is pure narcissistic drivel. Telling someone that they can and must compensate for ANY trial is a disservice equivalent to telling them they can fly by flapping their arms. SOME are going to take it literally and step off a cliff.

The truth is that there are a VERY MANY things that ROUTINELY happen to people that they can't handle, nevermind the rare things.

I'm sure that's what those poor folks who jumped to their deaths to avoiding burning to death on 9/11/2001 were thinking.

9/11 Victim: "God, I thought you said ..."

God: "What, you couldn't handle splattering all over the sidewalk? Looks to me like you did a pretty good job!"

Sheesh!

Timothy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2011 07:40AM by Timothy.

... which suggests that its all pre-ordained which futher suggests god is one sick f**k.

But he loves you.

Timothy

False promise that causes more pain and guilt when it doesn't work.

Seven years ago my best friendly wisely told me that she no longer believed in God after I said this to her. She had suffered the craziest onslaught of body failure I have ever witnessed. At 39 she was a single mom and telling me she didn't think she was going to make it. I did not want to accept this. Her youngest had just started Jr. High. It's cruel to take a mother away from her children. But after a tumor on her parathyroid, a stroke, kidney failure and now congestive heart failure within 3 years my dear friend is telling me she can't take much more.... can she was trust me to take her Tommy dog?

She calls me to say she had just gotten out of the hospital AGAIN. She was now going in so frequently that she didn't bother alerting me until after she was released. Her oldest son was graduated high school and could drive her. I want so much to tell her those comforting words that that I had told her before..... God will give you no more....

But she has told me she's had enough. She can't take any more. And I am weary from wondering how much more can one person stand? I swallowed those words that used to feel comforting realizing I needed to validate what she had endured. She died too soon. I was waiting to visit her that day. She had called me the night before and said she would call me in the morning after she had showered to come visit. She lived about 5 miles from me. I planned my errands for the day in her neighborhood to be available as soon as she called. I has my 2 year old son with me and we just finished lunch when the phone rang. It was her sister in law telling me my friend had passed moments ago. My knees got week. The news was more than I could handle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2011 07:54AM by Taddlywog.

That was actually the first thought I had which made me begin to question God's existence. I thought to myself, "But people are pushed beyond their limits all the time, hence all the suicides in the world."

And I thought, "It's not true. God lied!" Reaching that 'aha' moment had a huge impact on me.

If so, are those around us who interact in our lives pawns in a grand scheme? And if so, how about their trials and surrounding players?

If God is so busy manipulating all these intricate scenarios it is no wonder he has no time to answer the screams of despair or the groans of suffering.

Rather, I suspect that this deity expects us to come to the aid of our fellowman and to be the source of each others strength.
Sh-t happens and people are given intelligence and compassion to help people deal with it, and God gives us teachers to show us how.

HATE, HATE, HATE that cliche!! So unfair to those who are experiencing the kind of trials that will never get better in this life. I had the same realization as Greyfort--if this were true, why do people commit suicide? Clearly what they were given WAS more than they could handle. The sad thing is, the number of times I've pointed this out to TBMs and they go into blame-the-victim mode..."Well, they just didn't have enough faith..." or "Well, THAT was THEIR choice..." UGH.

This is why DH and I lost our testimonies. Because that @$%hole in the sky could be bothered to help us out with the ongoing struggled we were having with our then-undiagnosed bipolar son--and all of his TBM minions kept telling us we weren't having enough faith. The other asinine cliche I hate is, "You chose this family in the premortal life. You chose to be his parents" or the similarly annoying, "God chose YOU to be his parents because he knew you could handle it." Really, because while we did get proper help 12 YEARS LATER, those first 12 years almost destroyed our marriage, seriously stressed our other children, destroyed our faith, and caused problems with extended family. Way to go god. Oh wait, I forgot, duh, he didn't give us more than we can handle. Must just be us then. Please.

Normal people would have gotten professional help ASAP.

Thank you for mentioning that other cliche! That one drives me nuts and well because why on earth would someone choose an abusive family!?my dad picked up on this one while in the church.

In addition to this thought, if we chose our families in heaven, does that not take away our free agency on earth?

This would mean we are all determined and not accountable for our actions as its all part of God's grand manipulation.

Quite a contradiction!

And yes, I think its really fowled up that someone would have to be a victim of pedaphilia, rape, or some other hideous crime of humanity to prove that God is challenging them.

I don't think my viewpoint is tolerated well, but maybe I can say this...

I don't like this statement. It is a childish and simple view of this life. YES, we WILL have trials we can NOT handle. But that is part of the deal. We are learning by everything we experience, including defeat, and denial, and pain we can't endure. Yes, I felt it, experienced it, seen it. It sucks, but in some longer term view it is all worth it. IMHO. Yea, I really believe what I said.

It only matters to me.

Tell that to 6m+ jews, gypsies, homosexuals, "non-aryan" & catholics, 7m ukrainians, 1m+ cambodians, a high percentage of any native population invaded by foreigners, a bunch of handcart pioneers and for good measure, young women "chosen" by the church's heirarchy to fulfill the "eternal principle."

More than I could handle actually caused me to give up on the belief in God.

I had spent a year helping my daughter save her own life from drug abuse. I prayed for help, and it seemed as if since things turned out I had help. For the most part my religious family ignored the situation. Even avoided her.

When things settled down, my back started to hurt. And I was left with no physical resources of my own. I figured as usual I had just overdone it. So I waited and prayed for help for me.
Guess what, my back hurt for 3 years every day and it took me 3 months of sleep and staying away from said TBM family to heal the rest of me.

I had always been taught you shouldn't yell at God. At the beginning of the 2nd year I did just that. Then I gave up.
My son who I raised with no religion and is very logical explained to me that the help I had with my daughter was a mothers love and strength, he watched it, and that I should seek out medical answers through science.

So I did just that, guess what MRI said God can't fix it.

Wish I had those 3 years back.

I hate this cliche. It's dismissive of people's suffering and problems.

I went through a horribly rough patch 7 years ago. I never thought the year would be over- It was one nightmare after another- When I started to think things might be ok, they kept spiraling out of control. Obviously I couldn't handle it because I nearly died.
After a month long stint in a loony bin, I started to realize there was no god helping me, it was ME who helped myself out. And my friends and family.

It's up there with praying. I'm not sure how begging to be relieved from one's problems is going to help one out. Changing perspective and attitude is what helped me.

I was handed that craptastic line of bull when I was taking care of both of my parents as they slowly died over a period of about 4 years.

I was also told that the opportunity to take care of them was a blessing.

I still haven't recovered, and probably never will.

The process aged me dramatically. I still have Post Traumatic Stress symptoms to this day. My immune system doesn't work right. My heart was damaged.

The difficulties inherent in the situation were compounded by well-meaning, mostly mormon, hospice workers. Their religion turned them into torturers of caregivers.

Are they clairvoyant ?

I have heard this line from christians and mormons alike. I have found that the people who are most convinced that "god doesn't give you more than you can handle" are people without any discernable struggles. I used to be like that, I even used to say those stupid things. Karma is a bitch!

This cliche not only fills me with rage but it makes it difficult to believe in God who will stand there and let you suffer and tell you it's for your own good.

This could be why you get people like the Pearls telling people beating their kids is good for the kids... It's warped.