Sethbag wrote:I don't believe that a God exists at all. But most faithful people are prepared to believe that God acts upon creation in such a profound way at the behest of the prayers of the faithful. I think that arguments such as yours are more a defensive apologetic than a constructive faithful approach - you acknowledge that there's no evidence that God does in fact intercede at all, and you seek to find a way to explain God such that this is precisely what we should see.
Drifting wrote: I'm glad to hear you are going to try harder.
Now, am I correctly interpreting your answer (don't want to put words in your mouth) that you believe God picks and chooses when to intervene physically? So for this family He didn't, but under a different set of circumstances, or for different people, He would?
God acts according to His Providence. That doesn't seem to be a particularly controversial position to take.
Drifting wrote: I'm glad to hear you are going to try harder.
Now, am I correctly interpreting your answer (don't want to put words in your mouth) that you believe God picks and chooses when to intervene physically? So for this family He didn't, but under a different set of circumstances, or for different people, He would?
God acts according to His Providence. That doesn't seem to be a particularly controversial position to take.
Is there some other way He should act?
So He picks and chooses whom He helps and whom He doesn't - is that what you believe?
I think it is, based on your response above.
Do you think a persons prayer can make a difference to wether God acts or not?
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Hoops wrote:4. God chose to not move this particular tornado to save this particular family.
Or in other words, God wanted this family to die for some reason. Just go ahead and say it, don't be shy.
God also wanted their baby to survive for a while, but then die of head injuries, for some reason. He also wanted the neighbor, Jason Miller, to barely survive.
That God. What a prankster!
Parley P. Pratt wrote:We must lie to support brother Joseph, it is our duty to do so.
Buffalo wrote:God also wanted their baby to survive for a while, but then die of head injuries, for some reason. He also wanted the neighbor, Jason Miller, to barely survive.
That God. What a prankster!
I know, right? It's a laugh a minute. Next time time a group of people are in mortal danger and pleading with me to help them, I'll just take a cue from the big guy upstairs and tell them to go “F” themselves. And the best part is, people like Hoops will love me for it.
It is disturbing indeed that God holds us to exactly the opposite standards to those which He displays. That might be our fault for expecting something different.
Whatever people view God as, one thing's for sure - He has left us to fend for ourselves down here.
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Drifting wrote: I'm glad to hear you are going to try harder.
Now, am I correctly interpreting your answer (don't want to put words in your mouth) that you believe God picks and chooses when to intervene physically? So for this family He didn't, but under a different set of circumstances, or for different people, He would?
God acts according to His Providence. That doesn't seem to be a particularly controversial position to take.
Is there some other way He should act?
Oh, I don't know, perhaps, say, ethically?
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo
Buffalo wrote:God also wanted their baby to survive for a while, but then die of head injuries, for some reason. He also wanted the neighbor, Jason Miller, to barely survive.
That God. What a prankster!
Yes, and to make the story even better (or worse), for two days the God-believers touted the baby's survival as a "miracle." It was all over the news: "Miracle Baby Survives tornado!" So God performed a "miracle" to save the baby, but then changed his mind to let it die. What a dick!
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo
