|
Post by Question on Aug 23, 2007 6:19:01 GMT -5
Does everyone believe that God is fair and just??
Is it fair that some have to go through more struggles than others? Why do some have to deal with diseases and others don't? One of my biggest questions is why do some have to struggle with losing spouses or children? Is this fair? Why can't we all be given the same chance at happiness? How is this fair to those that have to go through such pain and questioning?
|
|
|
Post by bogoso on Aug 23, 2007 6:30:49 GMT -5
I can't believe that anyone in this day age actually believes that God is responsible for diseases, deaths in the family and/or daily struggles etc etc. Surely that kind of mentality was instilled in the masses by the church leaders of the "dark ages" to keep them under control??? Like be good or you and your family will be struck down or inflicted with pain and suffering.
The mind boggles.....
|
|
jubal
Junior Member
Posts: 91
|
Post by jubal on Aug 23, 2007 6:55:30 GMT -5
I can't believe that anyone in this day age actually believes that God is responsible for diseases, deaths in the family and/or daily struggles etc etc. What is God responsible for? Or is He just sitting on the sidelines watching?
|
|
|
Post by mirror on Aug 23, 2007 7:13:16 GMT -5
... and with the automatic anwering machine on.
«Eh, Uh, this is God, I cannot reply right now, please let your message (prayer) and I will come back to you at my convenience»
See Mighty Aphrodite by Woody Allen
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2007 7:42:58 GMT -5
There are few honest people who don't ask the same question at times. "Why me?" or "It isn't fair!" etc. are likely some of the most common first responses to human tragedy -- Tragedy that at first glance seems to strike fairly much at random. I have no patent answers to the question, but how we deal with adversity is an important aspect of life -- I have found a few little thoughts helpful.
1 - For one thing, it is not as unequal as it seems. A quick glance at the folks around us may give the impression that 'life is easy' for the general population -- but the more you get to know folks, the more a person finds that very few people escape a fairly major dose of tragedy in some form. Disease, injury, disaster in family life, collapsed economy, painful social conflicts, different kinds of personal isolation, etc -- either directly personal or amongst the people we love the most -- for the most part, is part of ordinary life. Its visibility is different, but the substance is far more equal than it seems!!
People may or may not talk about it ... and may or may not even try to ignore its existence -- but it is part of life -- and it is fairly universal.
2 - Pain, suffering, tragedy (even poverty) are all quite relative parameters -- and sometimes defy measurement as to 'more' or 'less'. Some people reap just as much suffering out of a squashed thumb as someone in a different situation may experience in the loss of a limb. Suffering (and sorrow) also seem to have a ceiling as to value. I met a woman who had just lost a child .. and I can guarantee that the sorrow and utter despair she was going through was no less than a neighbor who had lost 2 children in the same accident.
3 - God seems to have a most wonderful capacity and resource for equalization. I remember when the mother of my (then) 6 year old daughter passed away, I couldn't imagine an ounce of happiness for the rest of my life. At that time I experienced the turn of events as 'the end of the road' for both myself and my daughter -- leaving us with nothing!! However the Lord has definitely not left either myself, my daughter, or the mother that passed away the slightest bit poorer. One of the kindest things God can do, is to 'take us at our best '(which he did with Katarina) -- and neither Emma nor I could have more fulfilling lives than we have just now. Sometimes even tragedy isn't what it seems to be!!
Just my ramblings, Edgar
|
|
|
Post by diet coke on Aug 23, 2007 11:33:09 GMT -5
Where is that verse Johnny Sterling used to quote, "time and chance happening to them all"...the Bible surely got that one right. When we take a serious, critical look at things, we realize God is involved in very little of this world, if at all. And if He does not intervene, then everything is just the roll of the dice, and ultimately that is as fair as is possible.
Life is perfectly fair. And life is terribly unfair.
|
|
timber
Senior Member
Posts: 249
|
Post by timber on Aug 23, 2007 11:49:25 GMT -5
Some things are just beyond my comprehension, but the Bible does tell us that God is just. I'll go with that.
|
|
|
Post by my view on Aug 23, 2007 12:27:27 GMT -5
Albert Einstein once remarked that the most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. I agree, because how we view things tends to become self-fulfilling.
I choose to believe that life is inexorably fair - and if it doesn't appear that way to us - it is because we are not seeing the whole picture.
Do I have proof for this? None what so ever. But I like the effect it has on my personal experience of life.
|
|
|
Post by wingsofaneagle on Aug 23, 2007 13:56:12 GMT -5
Bad things WILL happen to good people. I dont care if you're sitting on Jesus' lap, you are still gonna feel pain just like the rest of us. I think God allows all these things to happen, he doesnt create them. What matters are the choices we make and what we can learn from each situation. There is not an experience in my life I have gone through that I have not stopped to ask God what he would like me to learn from it. I also think a lot of what happens to us depends on what kind of energy we're putting out. Some people just seem to have bad luck follow them around but if you stop to talk to them you will see that they keep making the same mistakes (repeating self destructive patterns). Its a true saying... what goes around comes around. Having said that, even with the most positive energies around us I still think we will face difficult situations at times but the difference is how we react to them and what we can take away that will help us constructively deal with the next one.
|
|