God sucks!

[Locutus]

This thread is a continuing thought that sprung from the Tammy Faye's farewell thread in the Church Lady's corner.

Here is the case of a woman, regardless of her past actions, who honestly believes she has served her god to the best of her abilities during her life.  We all know of countless other people who have served god, loved god, professed god, and lived their life according to their understanding of god's wishes.  Yet when it comes time when they need god, in this case for healing, all they get from their deity is the "middle finger" so to speak.

From my own personal observations, and ongoing examples such as  the one I cited from the Church Lady's corner, I'm left to draw the conclusion that in the best case, god simply sucks, or in the worst case he's just a prick who enjoys fucking with people.

Any thoughts?   

[Bo D]

There is a mystery about the concept of God that none of us will ever understand. I don't know the answers you are looking for. None of us do and if we say we know....well, faith is a strange concept, too.

[awol]

i got lots of thoughts in that area, but you seem to subscribe to this one:

"You know when you wish for something you want really bad?  God is the one that ignores you." - Steve Buscemi in "The Island"

however, all of that assumes that what you're going through is a "bad thing", or a "good thing" when seen through the eyes of god.


(keep 'em coming, oh king of borg!)

[Bo D]

I watched my Dad die of lung cancer, and you are right about that. That last year was horrible. But through it all I saw in my Dad a tremendous strength and at the very end a sense of peace that inspires me to this day. And he never, never through all of that, faltered in his faith.

[Locutus]

There is a mystery about the concept of God that none of us will ever understand. I don't know the answers you are looking for. None of us do and if we say we know....well, faith is a strange concept, too.

I agree about the mystery of the concept.  My point is that there is extraordinary evidence that god, if he exists at all, has gone along his merry way and is no longer concerned with the whole "human" business.  So why the ongoing dependence on the concept?

[pariann]

Not to mention that other thought, "God always answers your prayers, sometimes, he just says No."

[Bo D]

I agree about the mystery of the concept.  My point is that there is extraordinary evidence that god, if he exists at all, has gone along his merry way and is no longer concerned with the whole "human" business.  So why the ongoing dependence on the concept?

And that's part of the mystery after all, isn't it? I don't know if I subscribe to a "conventional" view of God as taught by organized religion. So I don't have a canned answer. But I'm still working on it.

[awol]

So why the ongoing dependence on the concept?

this is almost a thread in and of itself...

the short answer:  it's not the dependance on the concept, so much as the sharing of the concept and exclusion of those not associated with it.  you hardly ever hear of anyone belonging to a church of "one".

[Locutus]

Not to mention that other thought, "God always answers your prayers, sometimes, he just says No."

Ah, you forgot that one little catch all used by all of those who depend on some deity for guidance.  From what I recall from growing up, I was told that "god" always answers prayers.  His answer is either yes, no, or in case neither of those fit your particular circumstance, then his answer must have been wait.  Given those 3 possibilities, the gullible ones who believe in such, are left with the idea that god, in his infinite goodness and knowledge of what's best for them, has acted in their best interest.  This conclusion is drawn regardless of a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

[Locutus]

i got lots of thoughts in that area, but you seem to subscribe to this one:

"You know when you wish for something you want really bad?  God is the one that ignores you." - Steve Buscemi in "The Island"

however, all of that assumes that what you're going through is a "bad thing", or a "good thing" when seen through the eyes of god.

And it also assumes that the person, who expects something of their god, is going to draw the only conclusion that they can possibly draw.  That being that an omniscient god is going to do what's best for them regardless of evidence to the contrary.

(keep 'em coming, oh king of borg!)

[pariann]

hmmm...I actually was never taught that he sometimes says wait. it was either, yes or no.   And since I rarely ask for anything, in prayer, I just believe whatever happens is just plain meant to be.

[Bo D]

this is almost a thread in and of itself...

the short answer:  it's not the dependance on the concept, so much as the sharing of the concept and exclusion of those not associated with it.  you hardly ever hear of anyone belonging to a church of "one".

Maybe not. But what's wrong with that? I sometimes feel that my beliefs are unique. And because I haven't formulated them yet, I find it too dificult to share them with others.

[Locutus]

hmmm...I actually was never taught that he sometimes says wait. it was either, yes or no.   And since I rarely ask for anything, in prayer, I just believe whatever happens is just plain meant to be.

And I would suggest that there's a big difference in believing something is meant to be (as in a natural sequence of events), as opposed to believing that there's some mystical god tweaking the switches of your life to fit them to some obviously flawed divine plan.

[Bo D]

And it also assumes that the person, who expects something of their god, is going to draw the only conclusion that they can possibly draw.  That being that an omniscient god is going to do what's best for them regardless of evidence to the contrary.

But what if we are wrong to expect anything of God? What if He simply created everything and then just sat back and watched?

[pariann]

And I would suggest that there's a big difference in believing something is meant to be (as in a natural sequence of events), as opposed to believing that there's some mystical god tweaking the switches of your life to fit them to some obviously flawed divine plan.

And I still believe that there is a Creator of some kind, that most of us refer to as God.  I believe is a Celestial Being, and I'll stop there before I get accused of blasphemy. LOL