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Author | Topic: Random God Rant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Annafan Member (Idle past 4608 days) Posts: 418 From: Belgium Joined: |
I'm probably going to offend some people with this post. In fact, I already apologize in advance for any strong emotional language I might use. But I really can't help it, I just HAVE to vent this emotion somehow.
I post it in Coffee House but if admin thinks its suitable for Faith&Belief, by all means move it there. Yesterday evening I watched a TV show about people with a genetic condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). Basically, people with this condition lack a certain proteine which makes their skin "detach" from the underlying tissue very easily. About 1 in 100.000 children are born with it. There are different types and degrees, but in the most severe cases even a simple touch can make the skin come off. Large blisters appear and have to be opened, and these are equivalent to 2nd degree burn wounds. The report was about two adolescents. One 21 years old and the other 14. Actually, I had seen another report a couple of months ago about a British guy named Johnny Kennedy who had the same disease, and a foundation, and died at the age of 36. I also had the exactly same thoughts back then.. Anyway, EB in the highest degree is one of the most horrific conditions I ever witnessed. Even at birth the kids already have open wounds. Their parents can't even hug them without causing injuries. Most of the patients never get through their 30's because of skin-cancer or because their bodies become totally exhausted and/or poisoned. Their hands and feet are slowly reduced to clumps because with all the blistering and resulting wounds, the fingers and toes "melt" together over time. One of the fathers told how one day he was taking a walk with his kid (toddler back then), when the kid fell and when the father tried to hold its hand, the entire skin of the hand just came off.. Ugh! Their whole body becomes covered in blisters that not only LOOK like 2nd degree burns, but are just as painful as well. They also have blisters in mouth and throat, making eating very difficult and painful. The whole body needs to be covered in bandages to fight infection. Other than that, they start of as completely normal (no developmental issues or such, they are 100% aware of things) Here's a site with info: http://www.ebinfoworld.com/abouteb_misc.htm At one point, they showed how the mother of the 14 year old boy needed to remove the bandages to give him a disinfecting bath. If she didn't get help, it took her the better part of an afternoon to do just that. Not only that, but removing the bandages was very painful no matter how careful it was done, and the bath that followed after it.. Oh dear... Imagine how the kid started to cry and just kept repeating how painful it was. The mother and kid had to go through this routine each and every day. She told things just got worse over time, also. There was no progress, just downhill all the way. I am a grown-up guy of 33, I am not emotional, I have no kids of my own, but while I watched this (and even now that I'm typing this), I couldn't help but cry. If you want a definition of a continuous living nightmare, here you had it! The very next spontaneous thought was: how can some people claim that there is a benevolent watch-over-everybody God out there? How can they POSSIBLY claim this, knowing something like EB exists? A torture, both for a kid and his family, the most evil people couldn't even come up with if you gave them carte blanche? So yes, it's the kind of consideration one casually makes in case of for example natural disasters like Katrina or the Tsunami. There are countless opportunities, each and every day, to ask yourself that question. Most of the time, these thoughts subside pretty quickly. But from time to time, and I guess it has to do with the fact that it's about an individual and about an innocent KID, a threshold is passed. Yesterday was such a day. EB is such a trigger. I was raised mildly Roman Catholic and slowly became consciously atheistic/agnostic without being very missionary about it. It would be more accurate to say that religion never was an issue to me at all, that it simply never got any grip on me. I always had the "live and let live" approach. This is largely due to the fact that there really wasn't much "pushy" religion around me. Nevertheless, I can say that yesterday I had thoughts about killing "God" next time I would cross him on the street. And not "just" kill, I'd first do things to him that I possibly couldn't write down here. Really. And if someone would have been there while I watched the program, and mentioned a benevolent watch-over-us God, I would have punched him in the face as hard as I could without a second thought. It would have helped, I'm almost 100% sure. I'm almost sure I would actually have done it, because obviously the "God" is not available to cool your outrage on, because he simply plain obviously... DOESN'T EXIST. (that's why my bad thoughts didn't really shock me, either) The idea is not just nonsense, it is a SICK JOKE. It is idiotic, stupid, indefensible, moronic, inexplainable, just plain DUMB. I can't imagine what is responsible for the kind of brain-wiring that enables people to seriously consider the possibility. Before anyone points it out: I am aware that Johnny Kennedy, mentioned above, was actually religious himself. He reasoned that the purpose, assigned by God, of his life was to "learn something". I won't blame him. How could it ever have been possible for him to get through the next day with the idea that he was simply a cruel Darwinistic accident of nature? Maybe there is the one and only benefit of religion. - end of rant - At least I feel better now.
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AdminJar Inactive Member |
Thread moved here from the Coffee House forum.
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6525 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
Sing on Brother.
It's also interesting to note that the only folks who are really doing things for these poor people are the doctors and scientists striving to find cures and treatments. I ain't seen a god come down and fix them, which makes me think god must be a real asshole to doll out that all-powerfull healing hand so stingily.
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6525 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
The real sick 'mind poison' that is christianity, especially the fundamentalist variety, is the victim blaming mentality it encourages. It tells everyone that all these horrible things are 'our fault' that we 'deserve it'.
I can't even begin to describe how destructive, perverse, and egotistical that line of thinking is! It not only insults those who are suffering, it mocks their plight, and at the same time feeds our collective ego's that somehow our existence is of some cosmic importance! It's as if the christian has never even paused for a moment to think about our position in the universe. A speck of dust orbiting a normal star in an outer arm of some galaxy floating in a group of galaxies. In a few billion years Andromeda will crash into the Milky Way, and literaly tear our entire galaxy to shreds. A common event, seen thrughout the universe we live in. And somehow the christians would have us belive this is our fault? What aragoance! This message has been edited by Yaro, 09-09-2005 12:03 PM
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Annafan Member (Idle past 4608 days) Posts: 418 From: Belgium Joined: |
Let me point out that I don't really have much of a problem with religious people as such. Personally I have no desire for a higher being, but if anyone feels differently then I can respect that, for the most part. Certainly if that belief (like some sort of deism or even desire for intelligent design) isn't blatantly obvious in conflict with everyday observation.
I guess the thing that really scares the hell out of me is when, like in this particular issue, people (the ones who hold on to a benign watch-over-us God) illustrate how they can be made to believe and accept almost ANYTHING. No matter how totally obviously impossible and indefensible it is. Belief that causes almost unlimited blindness is what outrages and scares me. "Brains" like those can be "washed" any way you like....
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jar Member (Idle past 423 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: |
I'm glad you brought this up since it's a recurring theme here and in life in general.
Why do diseases exist? Why are there accidents? Why do bad things happen? As a Christian I'd like to try to answer your question. I like to start by refering back to an earlier discussion I had with Gilgamesh On Message 1. The section most related to this particular issue begins with a question on disease Gilgamesh brings up in Message 48. Disease and accident are part of our natural world. Just like humans, those things that cause disease have evolved following exactly the same set of rules and conditions as humans. The difference is that we do have the capability to do something about them. While there is an increasing body of evidence that seems to point to a few other critters actually self medicating, there are no other examples I know about of critters creating mechanical aids such as splints. Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6525 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
Jar,
With all due respect, what pourpose does your god serve if he refuses to interveen in these matters? Further, why would he create them? Why are we placed in such an insignificant place in the universe? Why is our destiny seald by a thousand destructive fates? We, our planet, our reality is not built to last, I just don't see what kind of god would bother with all of this.
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Phat Member Posts: 18348 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Leave the Christians alone, or we might just mention that science has not "evolved" enough to solve all of the problems in a godless universe. Tit for Tat rant.
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docpotato Member (Idle past 5076 days) Posts: 334 From: Portland, OR Joined: |
With all due respect, what pourpose does your god serve if he refuses to interveen in these matters? Further, why would he create them? The answer I usually hear to this question is that God doesn't want you to love Him like a robot. Which makes me wonder why God didn't make robots that love like humans.
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6525 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
Leave the Christians alone, or we might just mention that science has not "evolved" enough to solve all of the problems in a godless universe. Tit for Tat rant. That's not my claim. My claim is that at least the SCIENTISTS ARE TRYING! God could snap his finger, but he dosn't. That's because he dosn't exist.
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6525 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
The answer I usually hear to this question is that God doesn't want you to love Him like a robot. Which makes me wonder why God didn't make robots that love like humans. Exactly. What is the point? Again, it's another case of humanity taking an ego trip: "These horrible cosmic events are happening cuz we are soooo important, that some being is testing our capability of sustaining an irational belief thrugh all hardship. Praise The Lord!" Why is Andromeda gonna tear this galaxy apart in a few billion years? What did we do wrong?
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jar Member (Idle past 423 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: |
Honestly?
Because you are looking at the universe from a human centric point of view.
With all due respect, what pourpose does your god serve if he refuses to interveen in these matters? IMHO GOD is the creator. GOD Is. And IMHO he does intervene in those events. He has given us several capabilities for just that reason: He has given us foresight. We can look to the future, far into the future. He has given us empathy. We care about others and try to help them. This extends way beyond even our own species. Look at the example of Veterinarians. Look to the Endangered Species List. He has given us extraordinary intellegence so that we can develop medicines and techniques to intervene.
Further, why would he create them? Are you talking about critters that cause disease? If so, then the answer is that they are part of the evolved system just as you and I. It is the system that GOD created and it is very close to perfect.
Why are we placed in such an insignificant place in the universe? Well, I don't see where we are placed in such an insignificant place. It seems to me that our place is just about the same as every other critter out there, but with the added benefit of GOD giving us four unique capabilities, unique in having all four of them. (aside** you can wander through a long discussion that sidelined and I had on this in Message 1 beginning at Message 7)
Why is our destiny seald by a thousand destructive fates? Ah. But is it? Are we perhaps destined to move beyond those events? Why are we given the capability to even be aware that they exist? Isn't it wonderful that we have the capability to look at the universe and recognize trends that will arise in the future and prepare for them?
We, our planet, our reality is not built to last, I just don't see what kind of god would bother with all of this. If GOD was so small that Her reality revolved around us, I'd agree with you. Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Nevertheless, I can say that yesterday I had thoughts about killing "God" next time I would cross him on the street. And not "just" kill, I'd first do things to him that I possibly couldn't write down here. I don't care for this comment. The God I don't believe in is a good God, a just and loving one. Moreover, He doesn't care that I don't believe in Him.
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docpotato Member (Idle past 5076 days) Posts: 334 From: Portland, OR Joined: |
What did we do wrong? We ate fruit.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
We ate fruit. This was not just any old fruit, Docpotato. This was the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don't confuse it with your basic canteloupe. They could do anything they wanted to except that--walk around naked all day long, name animals,talk to serpents, and generally have fun. They just had one rule--just one. But they just couldn't restrain themselves. This message has been edited by robinrohan, 09-09-2005 01:11 PM
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