Thank God I'm An Atheist (Warning: STRONG Content)

[§outh§tar]

Remember folks:

1. [*]Because these children have commited despicable sin, God has no choice but to punish them so.
   [*]Because of free will, the loving God will not interfere with their suffering. In fact, He has been quoted as responding to their cries by exclaiming, "Hell no!"
   [*]In fact, because He has ordered Christians to be pious and Christ like, you can clearly see the pope adorned in rags and filth, mourning over the suffering of the children.
   [*]Suffering will force the sinful little ones to come to know Christ! Hallelujah!
   [*]Most importantly, God works in mysterious ways. Let us not question His indecision.
   

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:25-34).

Is there any Christian around who can give us a few reasons why these children should be thankful to God?
How long should they wait for Jesus to send manna before they realize the truth?

Ask and ye shall recieve; Give thanks to the Lord in your trials and tribulations; Glory be!

The pictures speak louder than what I can say. Now let us ask ourselves, should these children be asked to follow the advice given in the passage above? When they see the birds flying to find food while they themselves starve, shall we tell them to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord?

 

[surenderer]

In my opinion The Creator allows sometime some people to suffer to test others, how they react to them. When you see a person who is sick, poor and needy, then you are tested bythe Creator. Allah is there with that suffering person to test your charity and your faith. In a Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet -peace be upon him- said:

Allah will say on the Day of Judgment, ‘O son of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit Me.’ He will say, ‘O my Lord, how could I visit You, when you are the Lord of the Worlds.’ Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant so and so was sick and you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me there?’ Allah will say, ‘O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not.’ He shall say, ‘O my Lord, how could I feed you and you are the Lord of the Worlds?’ And Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant so and so was looking for food and you did not feed him? Did you not know that if you had fed him, you would have found that to have been for Me?’ ‘O son of Adam, I asked you for water and you did not give Me to drink.’ The man shall say, ‘O my Lord, how could I give You water, when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ Allah will say, ‘My servant so and so asked you for water and you did not give him to drink water. Did you not know that if you had given him to drink, you would have found that to have been for Me.’ (Muslim, Hadith no. 4661. Jesus -peace be upon him- is also reported to have said something similar. See Matthew 25:35-45)


So I guess what I'm saying is that it isnt The Creators fault it is ours.....to which I believe we will answer for when we Die...(hope that didnt come off as preaching it wasnt my intent) :m:

 

[SnakeLord]

In my opinion The Creator allows sometime some people to suffer to test others, how they react to them. When you see a person who is sick, poor and needy, then you are tested bythe Creator. Allah is there with that suffering person to test your charity and your faith. In a Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet -peace be upon him- said:

So you're saying these people are simply guinea pigs to test whether you're an asshole or not? And while you might mention charity, and some of us are full of it, it seems your god is fully lacking it.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it isnt The Creators fault it is ours.....

Of course. It was us who made the land unable to produce food. It was us who positioned it in such a place that the sun would dry the water, cause disease to the livestock, and prevent these people from having anything resembling a comfortable life.

 

[surenderer]

So you're saying these people are simply guinea pigs to test whether you're an asshole or not? And while you might mention charity, and some of us are full of it, it seems your god is fully lacking it.



Of course. It was us who made the land unable to produce food. It was us who positioned it in such a place that the sun would dry the water, cause disease to the livestock, and prevent these people from having anything resembling a comfortable life.

Instead of being hostile (as usual) you would understand that there is no reason for people to be hungry in the world today and the reason that people are is our (humans fault) It has always been funny (not in a HA HA way) that people need a license to drive a car but not to have kids. our sexually charged society is overpopulated and our sports athletes make wwwaayyyy to much money (a Quarterback named Micheal Vick just signed a 100million contract how many hungry people would that have fed). Stop trying to say I'm blaming them(the poor) because I'm not. What I'm saying is that these people dont have to be hungry if we did our share....<shrug> but thats just my opinion......unlike you I dont claim to have all the answers :m:

 

[zanket]

So you're saying these people are simply guinea pigs to test whether you're an asshole or not? And while you might mention charity, and some of us are full of it, it seems your god is fully lacking it.

The children are not guinea pigs, but if they and other bad stuff did not exist then our lives would suck. We’d have no way to assess the good stuff as “good.” We want contrast so we can enjoy the good and enjoy resolving the bad. That we have what we want is an indication that God is charitable.

Were the hunger problem resolved we would focus our attention on the next most bad thing on the list and over time see that as just as bad as we did the hunger problem. Were thousands of problems resolved this way, to the point where a stubbed toe was the worst problem, whenever we stubbed our toe we’d wail, “Why me God?! What did I do to deserve this?!”

Note with this tsunami and any other disaster how lucky the survivors feel. Every disaster causes good feelings along with the bad. This contrast keeps life from being a numb experience and we can thank God for that.

 

[one_raven]

Human suffering (especially starvation and such ailments) has nothing to do with God or lack of God at all.

These are problems that, if not wholly caused by humans, can be resolved by humans.

I imagine God (if there were one) sitting back watching us saying, "Why the fucx would I help you if you refuse to help yourselves? If you do not consider the suffering your brothers and sisters, then you do not consider me your father, because they ARE MY children!"

 

[marv]

From the last paragraph of the last chapter of A. E. Haydon's "The Biography of the Gods":

"For too long, we have put off unto the gods those things that we should be doing for ourselves."

 

[Athelwulf]

In my opinion The Creator allows sometime some people to suffer to test others, how they react to them. When you see a person who is sick, poor and needy, then you are tested bythe Creator. Allah is there with that suffering person to test your charity and your faith.

That is so unbelievably fucking CRUEL!

Even that doesn't quite express it! Did you not see those pictures??!!! Those are innocent people! They are suffering for no reason! And you have the nerve to say that your "Creator" is doing this JUST TO TEST ME??!!!

You deeply sicken me!

Any "Creator" that lets people suffer just to test me WILL NEVER DESERVE MY WORSHIP!!!!! Unlike you, I have morals!

 

[one_raven]

Try looking at it from a slightly less Earth-centric point of view....

If Heaven is the paradise tha Christians claim it to be and we go to Heaven to be in pure bliss for ETERNITY...

Any suffereing you could experience in this lifetime would equate to little more than a hangnail.

Besides, Heaven, with eternal bliss would be boring, maybe people come here, knowing how difficult it is, simply for the excitement, knowing what they have to come home to in such a short time.
One lifetime is the blink of an eye in contrast to eternity.

 

[Godless]

a Quarterback named Micheal Vick just signed a 100million contract how many hungry people would that have fed)

The Vatican is worth BILLIONS! Imagine how many people THEY can feed!.

The do-gooders, don't do freaking shiet for a every dollar sent to Churches to feed the hungry only .10¢ goes toward the actual purchase of food and aid, the rest is spent on "administration fees".

For all the Money that are in the coffers of Pat Robbinson,(the 700 club) every kid in Africa would eat for a life time!. This asshole is a BILLIONAIRE!.

Godless.

 

[one_raven]

for a every dollar sent to Churches to feed the hungry only .10¢ goes toward the actual purchase of food and aid, the rest is spent on "administration fees".

Not that I doubt you (in fact, I think you may even be being generous), but do you have a source?
I would very much like to see the breakdown of the numbers.
Thanks.

 

[§outh§tar]

Try looking at it from a slightly less Earth-centric point of view....

If Heaven is the paradise tha Christians claim it to be and we go to Heaven to be in pure bliss for ETERNITY...

Any suffereing you could experience in this lifetime would equate to little more than a hangnail.

Besides, Heaven, with eternal bliss would be boring, maybe people come here, knowing how difficult it is, simply for the excitement, knowing what they have to come home to in such a short time.
One lifetime is the blink of an eye in contrast to eternity.

Oh no, that doesn't do justice. Did you see the passage I quoted from the Bible? I think that is very specific on the topic here, God has said Ask and ye shall recieve, and also "do not worry about tomorrow". Judging from the pictures, God has been slacking off.

And so we may ask, if God's promises here on earth don't come to pass, what makes anyone think they will come to pass with respect to heaven?

 

[surenderer]

The Vatican is worth BILLIONS! Imagine how many people THEY can feed!.

The do-gooders, don't do freaking shiet for a every dollar sent to Churches to feed the hungry only .10¢ goes toward the actual purchase of food and aid, the rest is spent on "administration fees".

For all the Money that are in the coffers of Pat Robbinson,(the 700 club) every kid in Africa would eat for a life time!. This asshole is a BILLIONAIRE!.

Godless.

I agree Godless(wow never said that before )

 

[§outh§tar]

That is so unbelievably fucking CRUEL!

Even that doesn't quite express it! Did you not see those pictures??!!! Those are innocent people! They are suffering for no reason! And you have the nerve to say that your "Creator" is doing this JUST TO TEST ME??!!!

You deeply sicken me!

Any "Creator" that lets people suffer just to test me WILL NEVER DESERVE MY WORSHIP!!!!! Unlike you, I have morals!

You see, this is why I chose to post pictures of children. To show that any of those absurd claims that God is punishing them for their sin are just that, absurd.

I shudder to even think about it, but if we are to suppose God uses children as guinea pigs, while as you see, the pope is adorned in gold and billions upon billions of dollars, then we are in deep isht.

 

[one_raven]

And so we may ask, if God's promises here on earth don't come to pass, what makes anyone think they will come to pass with respect to heaven?

Perhaps other human beings wishes are contrdicting your own?
What makes your wishes more special than, say, G Dubya's?

Besides that, I still think my point stands...
Ask for relief from your pain, and ye shall receive in the form of eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Which, as I said, completely overshadows any pain you may feel on Earth.

Mind you, I am playing Devil's Advocate here (that expression fits quite well, don't you think? ) and I do not agree with the philosophy, but what I am saying is that the philosophy can stand on its own and not be self-contradictory.
It CAN be true (if, that is, you believe in God and Heaven).

 

[surenderer]

That is so unbelievably fucking CRUEL!

Even that doesn't quite express it! Did you not see those pictures??!!! Those are innocent people! They are suffering for no reason! And you have the nerve to say that your "Creator" is doing this JUST TO TEST ME??!!!

You deeply sicken me!

Any "Creator" that lets people suffer just to test me WILL NEVER DESERVE MY WORSHIP!!!!! Unlike you, I have morals!

I deeply sicken you? Well I wonder if you are also sickened by humanity's refusal to help these people. Do you give to help them? I do.....have you adopted any kids to help them? I have......Have you ever been to any of these impoverished lands to help with aid? I have ......dont talk like you know me dude cause you dont.... it is in your hands to help these people dont be pissed at me for telling you that

 

[§outh§tar]

Human suffering (especially starvation and such ailments) has nothing to do with God or lack of God at all.

These are problems that, if not wholly caused by humans, can be resolved by humans.

I imagine God (if there were one) sitting back watching us saying, "Why the fucx would I help you if you refuse to help yourselves? If you do not consider the suffering your brothers and sisters, then you do not consider me your father, because they ARE MY children!"

Aaah, another good cop out. But you see, if you are to consider God to be a "father" and these kids to be His "children", then you can only see how absurdly stupid it is for Him to blame human beings for His own laziness. I have never seen a "Father" outsource His parental responsibilities to someone else.

Also we must remember that a fine lot of God's "children" are living relatively comfortably while the 'heathen' toddlers and five-year olds go starving and emaciated. In case God has forgotten, it is not human beings fault that He caused a drought; it is not human beings fault that He allowed the water to dry up. For Him to turn off the rains to kill children, and then blame human beings is absolutely absurd.

 

[one_raven]

Aaah, another good cop out. But you see, if you are to consider God to be a "father" and these kids to be His "children", then you can only see how absurdly stupid it is for Him to blame human beings for His own laziness. I have never seen a "Father" outsource His parental responsibilities to someone else.

Also we must remember that a fine lot of God's "children" are living relatively comfortably while the 'heathen' toddlers and five-year olds go starving and emaciated.

Free Will.

In case God has forgotten, it is not human beings fault that He caused a drought; it is not human beings fault that He allowed the water to dry up. For Him to turn off the rains to kill children, and then blame human beings is absolutely absurd.

God didn't "cause" any of these things.
If anything, humans are more to blame for several reasons.
Global Warming.
Overpopulation of areas that can not sustain that level of life (animals move or are nomadic).
Not to mention the fact that with the scientific and agricultural advances we have at our fingertips and the vast resources we have to put those technologies into action, NO ONE on Earth has to starve of hunger or thirst (regardless of God).

 

[surenderer]

SouthStar,
Do you agree that it's within humanity's reach to help these people? Do you think that its "our" fault that these people die hourly? those pictures are nothing compared to the real thing let me tell you ( I had nightmares about flies after coming back from Africa) at one time 20% of every one of my checks was going to help kids in Africa.......I have never been one to post "off the cuff" on these forums so I will tell you honestly that I dont know why the Creator lets children suffer....this doesnt make me lose my faith though it makes me wanna help them.....<shrug> perhaps thats his plan I dunno As I stated before these are only my opinions....I could be wrong

 

[Leo Volont]

Dear SouthStar,

Why blame starving and sick children on God. Have the democratic Populations of affluent America, Europe and Japan voted to redistribute all of their Wealth to the Third World Nations in order to alleviate hunger and disease, BUT God intervened and prevented such charity? No.

And then it is not entirely right to blame the affluent and properous countries for the Poverty of the poor Nations. All you would need to do is visit some of these inflicted areas of the World and you could without a doubt identify many of the moral and economic dysfunctions which keep them poor.

It has long been my contention that Civilized People prosper, and that UnCivilized, or Barbaric People, do not prosper... at least not over the long-haul. I have also maintained that Religious Morality is the essential component of the Civilized Ethic, and that Selfishness identifies the Barbarian.

The Selfish Barbarian who has a Civilization to pillage may appear to do well while there is yet substance to pillage, but after everything of worth has been stolen and consumed, then Barbarism is reduced to the most sqaulid and violent of poverties, and Life becomes like, in the words of Thomas Hobbes, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short".

So examine the cultural references behind your dismal photos. You won't find God there. What you will find is the Primitive Culture of Tribal and Ethnic Conflict. These cultures of Poverty are effectively Pre-Civilized... it would be a big jump for them if they were Neo-Lithic, that is, if they reached that stage of Human Moral Development that Euro-Asians had reached ten thousand years ago.

Can a Barbarian Culture become Civilized, that is, Godly, all at once? I can't help but to doubt it. For instance, I am reminded of when Barbarian Hordes invade Civilized Societies... they quickly begin to convert to a Civilized Morality, and do so very sincerely, but for generations their almost biological Barbarism can stay just below the surface, ready to re-emmerge at the first stress of difficulty. Thus we have the Barbarian Impulses of the Mongol and Turkish Barbarians at work in the Near East today. We have the violence of the Slavic Barbarians causing trouble in Bulkans. We can look at Europe in History and see that much trouble came from the districts of Germany, and we can suppose this is because it was the German Tribes that were last to become Civilized.

Which People of the World are likely to become the Most Prosperous? Well, those who are, or have been, most Civilized for the longest -- whose Civilization is most genetically 'in the blood' so to speak. These are the Inhabitants of the Indian Subcontinent, the Chinese, and their younger sibling Catholic Europe. These people have gone generations suppressing their personal selfish urges for the good of the collectives in which they were born. They naturally cooperate. They naturally get along well with each other. It is as though they have physically incorporated God into their very being.

But this is no reason why the Civilizing Process may not be begun among the Primitive and still Barbarian People's of the World. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can put an end to these instances of self-inflicted poverty which are evinced by Atheists as an indictment against God, and not as they should be, as proofs of the futility of their own philosophies of amoral predation.