Truthfully...Do you believe in luck?

[My Own Eyes]

Originally Posted by Eliseus

Now that's out of our systems (hopefully) let's look at this.

Why do bad things happen?

First, let's eliminate consequences of choices. So then, we have no need to blame God if you get drunk and mow down a parade of nuns. That was YOUR fault.

Also, if you die lost, who's fault is that? 'Ain't nobody's fault but mine...'

So, let's move on to things over which we as humans have no control.

How about the weather? Tornado rips through town, killing hundreds of innocent people.

Oh wait... are those people really 'innocent'? See, for the Christian, this is alrgely a no-brainer... all have sinned, therefore there are no 'innocent' people (as far as 'accountable adults' goes, I'll get to the babies in a moment). 'We all deserve hell, but God in his grace...' etc. Well, if we all deserve hell, surely death by tornado strike is mild in comparison. We don't have any claims on God, so we can't DEMAND that God protect us from that F5.

And if a person is a Christian, and died in the tornado strike... well, they gave themselves over to Christ, they are not their own, they have surrendered their destiny to Christ, to do with as He sees fit. So again there are rational complaints possible.

Now, about the babies. The babies are innocent, right? Therefore they don't deserve a tornado strike. Do they?

Does being innocent mean it is morally wrong for anything bad to happen to the person? Who would argue that?

Is it morally wrong for God not to intervene? Why?

Is God obligated to all children everywhere? Who created the obligation? Where's the fine print in the contract that creates that obligation?

Is God morally obligated by love for mankind to intervene and prevent any and all suffering or pain? Did God fail those hypothetical babies? Or any real babies who have died tragically?

Is death the end? Is it the worst thing that can happen to a person? Is all suffering bad for the soul?

If death is the end, then by all means God is guilty as charged. But then again, if death is the end, the final end, then there is no God worth worrying about.

Again, if morally innocent people (children, for example) are going to be given eternal life... then their death in the tornado seems more an act of mercy than anything else... God spared them the opportunity to SIN AND BE DAMNED, He spared them the opportunities to LEAD OTHERS INTO SIN. He spared them the opporunity to be possessed by selfishness to the extent they wind up ruining other people's lives...

And - perhaps most importantly - IF God is real, then we had better be about the business of re-aligning our judgements to be in step with His, rather than judging God for not being what we want Him to be.

And if God is NOT real, then who in tarnation cares one way or the other? Eat, drink, and be merry, cause it's all pointless anyway, in the ultimate scheme of things.

Eli ~

I will take pity on you and save you a whole bunch of time and effort. I can't speak for Timmy, only for myself. But you are working under a bunch of assumptions that you think are self-evident to all Christians, i.e. that God is good, in the inerrancy of the Scription, in the belief that mankind is innate sinful. But they are not self-evident to me.