Random God Rant

I have a really difficult time trying to see how anyone can consider the whole garden of eden stuff to be fair. As GAW-Snow pointed out, before haveing a knowledge of good and evil, people are going to have a really hard time evaluating different bits of information. If god issues an edict (no eating plums), then he goes away and someone else says its actually okay, how can you properly evaluate the two conflicting statements without a knowledge of evil (which presumably includes lying and being nasty)? Without a knowledge of good and evil, one being's word is just as good as any other. I totally agree that it's like having a one-year old in dock, or on the gallows. It just doesn't seem fair. I'm sure this doesn't give you any problem - but still. It just doesn't seem to make sense to me. How do you reconsile this?

Unfair, we will do exactly the same to Andromeda... and the chances of a single stellar collision is astronomically small... except possibly as the nuclei interact which won't affect us much. However, I would expect significant asteriod/comet disturbance.But if we have any sense, we will have collonised other galaxies by then anyway, so no big deal. The very entity that gave us birth had to be that big to give birth to us, had to be that cold to give birth to us... Special to me means identifiably different in some way. As far as we can tell, we are the most complex objects in the universe, regions of the greatest density of "information". The eukaryotic cell is bang in the centre of our known length scales (10e-35m to 10e-4m to 10e27m).Our place in the universe is precisely the place that had conditions so extraordinarily well balanced that allowed us to be. If that's not special, I don't know what is... You have answered your own question... the bit in red. Think of the same universe without this capacity. That's what I think of when I think of "cosmic" relevance.BTW, none of this has anything to do with any faith I may or may not have... this is just my (scientific) observation on the universe I adore.

1) God, assuming He is all knowing, knew that humans were gonna mess up.
2) This messup must have somehow been part of the overall plan. Otherwise, Jesus coming to Earth as sacrificial lamb once and for all would never have been necessary.
3) Assuming, again, that God makes no mistakes, there obviously is a reason for all of this.
4) Options: a) Trust God. b) He does not exist in our belief. Trust humanity.I tend to think that it is deeper than some grand farside comic where the little fat kid with glasses directs the magnifying glass at the bugs, laughing gleefully. If God were so devious as to experiment with humans, (assuming He exists) there is nothing that we can do about it except rant. Options: a) Rant at God and establish communication. b) conclude His non-existance and do the best that you can in life.For those of you who believe that there is no God, it may still be therapeutic to rant at the wind! Stress relief!Two interesting observations:
1) Believers are obsessed with attempting to convert non-believers.
2) Non-believers love to declare that god does not exist as many times and ways as they can.Conclusion: Debate and argument among humans is alive and well! Lets do it in good faith. (faith in humanity, at least!)

Fair enough! Thanks for your prompt response.I don't really have a very firm opinion on the existence or otherwise of a Christian God (or, some to think of it, of Freya or Vishnu either). However, I do often get very bemused when I try to argue myself into believing, because it doesn't ever seem to make sense in my head.Its true that if a Christian god exists, and if it is all powerful and benevolent, then things are unfolding just fine. As you say - thats not too many ifs for you, but it is too many for me for me.I always find that gap between people who believe and people who don't really vast and pretty much un bridgeable, and it makes me sad for some reason. I disagree on one thing you say - I don't think this gap actually leads to very satisfying debate because there is very rarely, if ever, any give and take on the issue. I would love to be able to inhabit your outlook just for a minute, to see what it was like.

Really? From what I was reading it sounded down right catostrphic! It had a vivid description of the spiral arms being ripped off and many stars going Nova.But then again, the collision it'self will be spred out over millions of years, so go figure Hell ya! And I know your post wasn't particularly about religion, but I would point out that I think religions earth centric view of things, holds us back from persuing that noble endevor.I sometimes lie awake at night thinking about what would happen if the whole of humanity joined in a collective effort to go and colonize another star. How quickly would it be accomplished? I think I see what you are saying. That the universe, as it is, had to be the way it is in order for us to come about. Fair enugh, but that puts us on the same standing as rocks, dust, stars, and anything else that exists within it. While I find that wonderful, I also find it humbling. Fair enugh. But I don't belive we are special in a religious sense, that somehow the whole of existence was created for our benefit. It is special, I agree. I think it's fantastic! I just don't think we are it's "steuards" or whatever. Sounds a bit like anthropic theory to me.

I hope that someone else in the lab would have the sense to take away my little creatures before I demand that my creations start worshiping me.

I think to a large degree this is true, though it has been a passion of mine since... well, birth I guess! It needs to be done in stages. Back to the Moon, on to Mars and the asteroid belt. Then inter-stellar and finally inter-galactic. To me it's simply good risk-management: humanity's disaster-recovery procedure. Unfortunately, I think your point about "whole of humanity" is relevant, and I don't see that happening any time soon Well, we all have a common ancestor Hmmm... it's talk like this that gives rise to the Hovind definiton of evolution. Then again, I have some sympathy for that view (apart from the micro/macro distinction). I certainly view our evolution as starting at the "beginning" of everything. Yes, anthropic, but I didn't really mean in the sense of Strong or Final... just a sense that the Universe without sentient life to observe it seems a bit of a waste

In your pos, (the OP), you state that 1 in 100,000 are born with this terrible disease. You then say how terrible God is because of it. I'm a Christian so I obviously believe that without God nothing exists and so I would ask you if maybe we shouldn't have some gratitude for the 99,999 that are born without the disease.It is very easy to be critical of God for the suffering but take for granted the joy that is experienced in life. If we don't have suffering in the world we would have no knowledge of joy. As humans we are called to rejoice in the joy of others and to hate their suffering. On balance I suggest that there is far more joy in this world than there is suffering.Also as a Christian I believe that there is life beyond our current physical existence. From that point of view what does it matter how long our life is here if we are to go on to a life in eternity outside of this one, without the physical afflictions of this life.I don't have an answer for the question of divine healing. I'm inclined to believe that God interacts with this world primarily spiritually. I have to admit that I haven't been able to come to a conclusion on how often or when God intervenes in the ongoing natural functioning of this planet.When I get to the next life I'm definitely going to all the lectures.

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Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

It is very hard for me to discuss this further, I have to admit. Simply because "God" is so intangible. What is YOUR idea of God, what is the idea of God that I have in MY mind? And who's correct? And how will we determine that or even AGREE about HOW to determine it? Let me say a couple of things though.I don't think we can deny that (as science has shown), we can find "system" in this world. I mean that in the sense that most things that happen, don't seem to involve divine intervention, but are just the unfolding of laws of nature and evolution (or some "day-to-day", consistent, divine intervention if you like that idea more). "God" made a world and put it in motion.Seen in that perspective, the once-in-a-100000 occurance of EB, or any other "natural" rate of genetic diseases or natural disasters and such, is the STARTING POINT. That is the NEUTRAL situation, the things that happen all by themselves (and as such, can be statistically calculated/predicted by science). It is what we would expect to see in a world without divine intervention. It is exactly what we would expect because otherwise we wouldn't be here. Survival of the fittest, remember? And as such, I don't see any reason to show 'gratitude' towards some God for that. Is there ANYTHING at all that matters, if you reason like that? I know it wasn't meant this way, but doesn't this come awfully close to the mentality of suicide bombers? If you can come up with a good reason for God to allow something like EB to happen to innocent children and their innocent parents, you'll have the answer. Keep on searching, I would say...

None of those doctors believe in God either....What a BS statement.

The science they are practicing is Atheistic by it's very nature. When is the last time some scumbag line Benny Hin ACTUALLY healed someone?

Dear riVerRraT, I think you will find the quote doens't make that claim in the slightest.

I share in your fustration. Your not the only one to be that mad at God, many have cried out at God in anger, even in the bible itself. But is your anger righteous? I cried too when I saw the pictures on this web-page:
http://www.ebinfoworld.com/abouteb.htm
Look at the baby, he is smiling.We all suffer on this earth, some worse than others I guess, but the bible tells us we will, so no surprise there. "If" heaven exists, I would think that people with eb would have a nice place waiting for them. I think we also have to ask ourselves, just what exactly is it that causes all these deseases? Is it God? Well yes and no, because nothing happens except by the will of the father overall, but our free will can hold us liable for many of the deseases on this planet. We have screwd up this planet in a big way IMO, and that cuases deseases like cancer, and probably even eb.The first reconized cases of blistering skin deseases were in the 1800's. Did God put that desease here, or is it the result of someone doing something that really isn't God like, like polluting the earth with some chemical, and causing the desease? God gave us the earth to rule over, it would seem to me that we haven't done a good job of it. I also believe by God's grace he has given us the ability to make medicine, and cure these deseases.Luke 4:40
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.Maybe if you and me were more like Jesus, we could do that too, he said we would do greater things than him. I would love to be able to walk up to a person with eb, lay hands on him and watch the Lord heal him, but I am probably not worthy enough, nor am I ready to be responsible with that kind of power. I have prayed for people and they have been healed by God, so anything is possible, I guess. I'll keep trying.

What your saying is that people who believe in God do nothing to help sick people, and IT'S JUST NOT TRUE, so it's a BS statement.I will not judge what happens with Benny Hinn, I want to go see it for myself. Besides Benny Hinn doesn't heal anybody, it's the Lord who does the healing if it is indeed happening. Benny Hinn may or may not be a phoney, but the 80,000 people that go to his shows, believe in God, and that is where the power comes from, because God inhabits the praises of his people, and God will use the most unlikely situations, and even a fake like Benny Hinn to do his work.

As you can see by his reply, I knew exactly what he meant.