Do you believe in luck, fate, God?

[bear]

"The harder I work the luckier I get" of course!
Free will,........... cause/effect...........of course!
Blah....Blah...God is not responsible for Super Bowl winners...
I've lived long enough and hard enough (and I certainly would not consider myself a sheep) but the Lord is my shepherd...and I don't need to get lucky anymore...not in any way!!!
I create my own light through Him ..... my days are very sunny and I share that light with others........period
Life is good .....God is good! and its all written for those who CHOOSE to follow... AND the harder I follow the luckier I get..

bear

 

[bjfinste]

You hear that Marine, you heathen? You enjoy burning in hell!!!!!

 

[smurphy]

Luck - Yes

Fate - No

God - Maybe

 

[marine]

LMAO!

May the bridges I burn light my way!


Ok, so there just might be a god. Please tell me why "your almighty heavenly being" allows wars of atrocity, genocides, world hunger and poverty... the list goes on.

So the millions of people starving in the deserts... god is testing them and doing it for a reason?

or

As the late Sam Kinison would say - "THEY LIVE IN A F*CKING DESERT"
Think that has anything to do with it?

 

[saint]

LMAO!

May the bridges I burn light my way!


Ok, so there just might be a god. Please tell me why "your almighty heavenly being" allows wars of atrocity, genocides, world hunger and poverty... the list goes on.

So the millions of people starving in the deserts... god is testing them and doing it for a reason?

or

As the late Sam Kinison would say - "THEY LIVE IN A F*CKING DESERT"
Think that has anything to do with it?

So if we believe in an "almighty heavenly being", as you put it, why is it up to the believers to justify what he chooses to do? I never heard the part that said to have faith means you have to justify what your God does. I thought that is what made him the heavenly being...who am I to question what he does.
:shrug:

 

[marine]

:yup :yup

Do onto others as you would have done to you.

kneifl

You don't have to be a religious guy to live by that motto.

I certainly give it my all to lead a fair life and treat people with dignity and respect and go out of my way to give time and extras in my life to charities I see fit.

Folks, I've got some amazing news for you. You do NOT have to believe in god to "do the right thing"

When I die, they are going to put my body in the ground, and I will rot away.
That's it, end of story.
Religion is a way to bring people together with a common theme, much like baseball.
It's a way for people to deal with death.
I think the thousands of various religious themes out there should be justification enough that "god" doesn't exist (wouldn't there be just one religion then?)




On the religion kick, to all you "believers" out there. The next person I hear riding the metro say "praise god" after the end of every fvcking sentence. I am punching you.

 

[marine]

So if we believe in an "almighty heavenly being", as you put it, why is it up to the believers to justify what he chooses to do? I never heard the part that said to have faith means you have to justify what your God does. I thought that is what made him the heavenly being...who am I to question what he does.
:shrug:

Well, I dunno about you, but I certainly have a difficult time VOLUNTARILY worshiping someone that will send down hate, war, death and violence on a pretty consistent basis.

 

[smurphy]

I'm really diggin Marine's comments on this topic.

Although I am not a follower of a religion, I've never used this angle of "Why does God let bad things happen" as an argument against him/her existing.

We have the power to create or halt misery on Earth. God doesn't cause wars or even tornadoes. Man and nature cause these things. We have the power and knowledge to avoid war altogether and minimize the destructiveness of natural disasters. We also have the ability to eliminate famine if we really wanted to. Imagine how far one year's worth of war cost would go to end global hunger. ....It would probably end it completely.

If God is there, he/she gave us the tools to create global utopia. We simply have chosen not to use those tools. We are too busy being greedy, violent, and stupid.

 

[marine]

Imagine how far one year's worth of war cost would go to end global hunger. ....It would probably end it completely.


But then we would have to worry about overpopulation of a planet that is already facing heavy burdens from the current population.
Think of war as a "population control" device.

If some hippie in white robes who created this planet and allowed the problems we face as a whole to flourish (even if he didn't create them himself, he kinda sits idly by and lets it continue) if that guy is going to judge me for eyeing my neighbor's wife a lil too much..

I'll gladly take the elevator straight on down to the ground floor


Or is the god fearing arguement - god created the planet and adam and eve and has a strict hands off policy? god won't intervene to create or solve major conflicts/issues/disasters?

Then why does he keep helping all our NFL's wide receivers catch touchdowns and song artists win Grammy's?

 

[Phenom]

read the book "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, not saying you have to agree with it, but it may help answer some questions or at least give you a different perspective.

 

[marine]

PS - Smurphy,

While I don't believe in god, I still am a solid Republican. Don't get too excited.

 

[marine]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

CS LEWIS is a zealot!

No thank you.

I'd rather listen to the guy who smells real bad and stands on the box screeching on the corner here.

 

[Phenom]

Ok, stay ignorant, by the way, the statements you make that you try to pass off as facts are simply not true..

God doesn't make wars, and the atrocities we see on a daily basis, people do. FREE WILL!!! I don't pretend to know God's master plan, but he is not forcing people to love him, you are given a choice.. I will stop there and suggest you read something on the subject before you go spouting off the old stand by of atheists, "Why would GOD let this or that happen???....

 

[smurphy]

PS - Smurphy,

While I don't believe in god, I still am a solid Republican. Don't get too excited.

I like Republicans, just not the ones we currently having foundering our ship. Having this view makes me a liberal, and I can accept that in our oversimplified political spectrum. :SIB

I agree with Phenom about "Free will". Whether God is there or not, we have free will. As for the "Master Plan", well I have trouble with that co-existing with free will. If there's a master plan, then how much free will do we actually have?

This is a fascinating topic. I'm completely open-minded to virtually any religious outcome. Maybe the true faith hasn't even been invented yet.

 

[smurphy]

Imagine how far one year's worth of war cost would go to end global hunger. ....It would probably end it completely.


But then we would have to worry about overpopulation of a planet that is already facing heavy burdens from the current population.
Think of war as a "population control" device.

Well, that's a much better concern to have than the problem of people dying from not enough food.

As a planet, we do not face burdens we can't handle. It only seems that way because of the serious imbalance of wealth. We could solve problems of famine and malnutrition overnight if we collectively decided to. Then enough education will fix overpopulation. You don't see overpopulation as a problem in modernized nations. Money, food, education, technology tend to advance people enough for that not to be a problem.

 

[bjfinste]

How is it any more ignorant to think that God makes wars and atrocities, etc., than to say that he doesn't?

It's like the concept of the afterlife... I, like Marine, don't think there is such a thing. But no one will know until they're dead. Now religious folk will say, "No, I know there is an afterlife." No, you don't. And you won't until you're dead.

 

[Phenom]

How is it any more ignorant to think that God makes wars and atrocities, etc., than to say that he doesn't?

QUOTE]

Because of the what the statement presupposes, that their isn't a GOD, because of wars,etc.. You can't have it both ways... I would go more in depth, but it is very late, I am sure though there will be several pages on this thread by the time I wake up...

 

[Phenom]

How is it any more ignorant to think that God makes wars and atrocities, etc., than to say that he doesn't?

Because of the what the statement presupposes, that their isn't a GOD, because of wars,etc.. You can't have it both ways... I would go more in depth, but it is very late, I am sure though there will be several pages on this thread by the time I wake up...

 

[marine]

Ok, stay ignorant, by the way, the statements you make that you try to pass off as facts are simply not true..

God doesn't make wars, and the atrocities we see on a daily basis, people do. FREE WILL!!! I don't pretend to know God's master plan, but he is not forcing people to love him, you are given a choice.. I will stop there and suggest you read something on the subject before you go spouting off the old stand by of atheists, "Why would GOD let this or that happen???....

Phenom,
I've read plenty of books. Because I choose not to read the books that you have read does not make me any more ignorant than you.
Before you ask, Yes, I've read the old and new testaments within the past 5 years.

So to make sure I have this right, when things go right - we win an award, we win a game, something goes our way - We thank god for making it happen.

When things go bad, war breaks out, we lose the game. That's just people being people.

The only reason I bring that up, is - When someone wins, they thank god for making it possible.
So then obviously (simple math here) the loser was not in god's favor that day.

I hear people bring god into their daily lives all day every day. I am assuming we are only to thank god for the good things that happen?

 

[Hokie Fan]

My question is
Why is bad done to good people?
I watched my father in law die a horribley painful death
He was as religious a person as I have ever met.
Why would God let this happen, to him, to his family, to his friends?
All this but I still believe..
Religion may be the opium of the masses but some days i need a hit from the bong to make it through