Confused

[jakelafortParticipant]

No, Simon you did not answer any of the other questions.

You are helping somebody and divine help comes along and i am sure sometimes it does not come along…all the while incalculable and avoidable suffering is occurring. Brilliant! That is quite a conclusion you have reached. If you detect sarcasm you aint wrong.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

OK, but (speaking as an atheist), Christians sometimes talk about God being in the times when people need help, and help is willingly given.  I know that logically that’s somewhat nonsensical, because God is supposed to be everywhere, but people could think about it as something God finds desirable.

[jakelafortParticipant]

Simon, the external appearance to a blind theist of receiving help that is oft-cited by atheists as jawdroppingly obtuse is the one home and owner left untouched by an act of god. Standing among the ruin is the one mindless theist who praises god for saving her. One might ask if that theist has a theory of mind just as an ethologist asks about various animals. There was an occasion in which a news reporter asked a woman whose life and home were spared if she thanked god. She said she was an atheist. Priceless moment.

I have more to say but on reflection i will hold it in abeyance cuz it is just the same shit rehashed. How about this? Where is the beef? Where is the kale?

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

I think there is a certain logic to the Christian position that I have heard several times, that God manifests in the behaviour of the human element within a situation of adverse circumstances.  In other words, if Christians say that God is there when people come together to help one another, it makes a kind of sense.

[jakelafortParticipant]

Simon, that makes zero sense to me.

The universe as it is when people come together shit gets done cuz people are doing it. If shit got done when it is beyond our capability then you could say holy porcupine. Magical quills saved the day.

I just read a story about a 16 year old who came to the aid of a kid who was about to be beaten by a bully. A few days later the bully got a gun and shot/killed the kid who did the right thing. Thought I, there is god again!

[jakelafortParticipant]

Okay Simon i missed what you wrote. GOD MANIFESTS IN BEHAVIOR.

Same reaction here. We evolved as a highly social animal. If what you say is true you could make the same comment for predator and prey animals who help each other. Of course, it is not true. It is evolved behavior.

[UnseenParticipant]

So, where is Ivy? Do we know why she feels she has little time? (And, no, I don’t have time to read every post in this thread.)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Unseen.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

We evolved as a highly social animal.

It is evolved behavior.

Never mind God, this is behaviour that humans value – thriving, cooperatively.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@regthefronkeyfarmer

When you say you are confused about what you believe are you talking about belief in God or with something broader that involves trusting specific people and what they say?

 

honestly all of the above. Just everything. A paper and pen is a good idea. Right now I don’t know who to trust.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Maybe there’s nothing for it but to start from the very basics and build up from there.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I would not trust any self appointed “man of god” that is looking for money from you, especially if he is demanding only 10% of it.

I know that’s probably not it but still…….thousands of people get caught by this “prosperity” nonsense.

“Give me your money and the Creator of the Universe will repay it to you tenfold”.

Don’t trust people until they earn it.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

If I was in a vulnerable state I wouldn’t go near the Church.  Just sayin

Don’t trust people until they earn it.

That’s what I do.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by  Simon Paynton.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

If I was in a vulnerable state I wouldn’t go near the Church..

That is how the cults get the majority of their new recruits. They pray prey on the vulnerable.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Don’t trust people until they earn it.

That’s what I do.

Another thing I do is to trust people with something I can afford to lose, and see how they get on with that.

[DavisModerator]

Reminds me very much of George Carlin…who could not have put it more brilliantly:

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money!”

My favorite answer to this is this joke which I don’t think should be taken as a joke:

A guy wins the lottery. He decides to donate some to charity, some to God and will keep whatever is left over. First he goes to a charity and asks them how much they need to accomplish their mission. It’s a big chunk of the money but he hands it over and gives them a little extra. He then holds up the remaining money up to the sky and says: “God…tell me how much you need to achieve your mission and take it”. He does this repeatedly every day for a month but God doesn’t ask for the money nor take it. So he gives a bit more of the cash to the charity (who will obviously do a whole lot more good than the church ever could) and pockets the rest. And everyone lives happily ever after.

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