I participate on another site that has many different discussions. Several times I have seen where people remark that god is punishing Japan.
I feel this is absurd, as I understand it God does not interfere anylonger with events on earth, free will. People have to choose to accept the salvation through Jesus. God doesn't punish anyone who chooses not to belive, he hopes we all will accept in time.
I want to know if anyone agrees that the Japanese are being punished? If so , then where in the new testament is there anything to support this line of thought. I feel these so called Christians are misrepresenting the ones I know to be good people. Am I wrong??
Only the pathetic and truly pitiful folk that worship an evil disgusting God would think such things.
I am not going to say God is evil or disgusting, since I am atheist then saying so would equate to me admitting he exists. I do feel that these people are misrepresenting what the god of Christianity is represented as being. I just don't understand how anyone could interpret the teachings of Jesus in such a way. I would like to hear some Christians take on this? I value the input and am not trying to discuss whether God is real or not, I only want to know if there is any reason for these people to think different than the Christians I see who are praying for these people who have lost so much.
Ithink this vido best explainshow both sides aproche the mater
Frako my friend....thank you... I should ve had this in my original post, I didn't want to mention another forum group and didn't take the time to find other sources I felt comfortable citing. If you are ever in NC USA I will buy you dinner...lol
I just cant understand how one religion using the same book can differ so much on how it views these events?? Is there something they read in bible I missed? Is this What Jesus teaches??? If so then I know in my heart I have made the right decision regarding my beliefs.
I often wonder about how many of these "Bible quoters" have actually read the Bible, it seems that what they spew is second hand rhetoric.
That is why I started this topic, I know there are some Christians on here who seem like good people and I was wondering what they thought. I really didn't expect to see the hate I have seen elsewhere, thank goodness. I didn't actually expect anyone to be able to justify these nuts actions with any relevant passages from the New Testament, although I wasn't 100% sure as my knowledge of bible is not as good as it could be.
To many people, every bad thing that happens is a "punishment from God." There's no need for very much thought to be put into it - did something bad happen? If yes, then it was a punishment from God. There you go. Natural explanations be damned.
Sadly the same is true for lots of good things too. I cant tell you how many times I heard somebody say that US Airways flight 1549, that went down into Hudson river, and nobody died, was a mirical....BS....The pilot did a good job, well the crew did a good job.
Edited by fearandloathing, : No reason given.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
And secondly people are made tougher then they look and can withstand more punishment then one would think so there are bound to be some that go even beyond that norm and survive the seemingly unsurvivable. some examples at around 10 degrees Celsius one can survive 10 days without water, at 50 degrees 2 days, one Irish prisoner survived for 73 days with no food. <--- park.
This makes me think of my grandmother who lived 29 days, no food or water after her life support was stoped.
Many of people around said " it's gods plan"....I say BS.....
Edited by fearandloathing, : No reason given.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
So why have there only been 8.9 quakes at the plate boundaries for 4.6 billion years?
Well that's not exactly true, 4 of largest quakes in North America occurred in the New Madrid seismic zone, an intraplate quake producing zone. Though none were an 8.9, some were as large as an 8.
This is still no proof of anything though, and is off topic.
Fankly I thought that you opened this just as a means to put down Christians. It seems however that wasn't the case. It's my faith, which I contend is scriptural, that God is pained by what happened in Japan and suffers as does all who are affected.
The only part I see God having in it, is in His working through his created people. He has given us the wisdom and the will to be able to better anticipate natural disasters so that we are better prepared, and he has given us hearts to bring aid to those that suffer.
And so there is no misuderstanding, I'm not saying that He only works through Christians.
I have no desire to put any religion down, much wisdom lies in the teachings of JC , Buddha , and many religious sources.
I have always felt that a closed mind breeds intolerance, racism, hate, and fear. CNN I think is going to have a special " Unwelcome, the Muslim's next door", it may contain some further insight into intolerance which, you never promote.
I have been told by a friend more than once that I don't have to belive in God, but he believes in me.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
You are exactly rite, and I meant that my remark was off topic, not yours.
Some people will always see the hand of God in disasters and miracles. I just find it interesting how different 2 christians interpret the same book. One puts it in a positive light and the other sees god the destroyer punishing non believers.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
This is one of the big reasons why I became an atheist. I was taught by my family that the only people who get to go to heaven are Proper Christians, those who worship God in the correct way. Then I learned that some people believe that God is a kind and loving God. Then I started hearing about how God punishes people just because they don't believe in him. And if God is a kind and loving God, why would he punish people for small offenses? Because it's tough love baby some people say.
And to top it off, God is a megalomaniacal genocidal maniac who suffers from Munchhausen Syndrome and is possibly schizophrenic to boot. And I mean this in all seriousness.
So why would I want to worship or serve or work with a person like that?
Might makes right?
Hmm, no, I don't believe that. Which is also contradictory to the meek shall inherit the earth.
If God is so perfect then why are there so many different interpretations of the Bible? The Bible is so poorly written it can be used to support any belief. Wouldn't a perfect and Omnipotent God know how to avoid this problem of alternate interpretations to support beliefs he doesn't like?
And of course, if we're supposed to blindly follow and worship god to the letter of the law, then why give us free will? Free will allows us to come to our own decisions. Blind worship and servitude negates free will.
There is a few scant morality in it that i do agree with, such as not coveting thy neighbor's things and some passages like that, but other than that, the Bible is one of the most confusing works of literature of all time.
And I do not want to be confused and I do not want to be connected with a psychopathic killer, and I don't understand why other people do.
I am going to go out on a limb a little bit here as I don't belive in any god.
As I understand the bible, god doesn't punish anyone anymore, the laws of the old testament were meant for the children of Israel, and with the coming of Jesus they no longer apply to his followers, Galatians 3:23-25. This is where free will comes into play, you can choose not to belive and wont be punished for it, well not directly. If you don't belive and live life as JC wants then you will not go to heaven, but I think this has even been disputed in a topic on here.
No offense, but the way you speak of god might lead one to belive that you reject god, but still belive he is real.
I find many good things in the teachings of JC, tolerance, love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, do unto others...ect. I also find many good things in other religions also, but I don't accredit these things to the word of any god.
Edited by fearandloathing, : No reason given.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
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