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Ugh, I know....I get soooo tired of hearing that. You know around here in the extreme bible belt south you hear it all the time and I've yet to understand it, even when I was a Christian. I mean, really? I'm still a closeted atheist because my "coming out" would pretty much cause major calamity and probably even exorcisms so I just have to grin and bear this nonsense.
I have a cousin that is constantly saying this, followed up with "I know that God has a better plan for me anyway". She loses job after job, never once owning up to the fact that it's nothing other than her own fault that it happens, but yet it all "happened for a reason and God has something better in store". So this God, like another poster mentioned, "allowed" all that horror to happen in Rwanda because he had something better in store?? GAWD!!!
everything happens for a reason is just a way to make you feel better about your misfortune.
But does it make everyone who thinks that feel better? Evidently, it doesn't, hence this thread.
Quote:
but if it does, i see no evidence of it most of the time. life seems to be a random lottery, and at any time,anything can happen
Often how things seem is based on the perceptions of the observer.
In any case, if believing life is just a random lottery makes someone feel better about their situation, I wouldn't begrudge them espousing that belief.
Unless, of course, one doesn't want to feel better about their situation ... I mean, who knows? Maybe there are people out there who actually want to feel worse about their situation. Humanity is a pretty diverse group, after all. In which case, I would advise thinking along whatever lines make one feel worse, especially if feeling worse will help them feel better.
Location: where people are either too stupid to leave or too stuck to move
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayjeena
But does it make everyone who thinks that feel better? Evidently, it doesn't, hence this thread.
Often how things seem is based on the perceptions of the observer.
In any case, if believing life is just a random lottery makes someone feel better about their situation, I wouldn't begrudge them espousing that belief.
Unless, of course, one doesn't want to feel better about their situation ... I mean, who knows? Maybe there are people out there who actually want to feel worse about their situation. Humanity is a pretty diverse group, after all. In which case, I would advise thinking along whatever lines make one feel worse, especially if feeling worse will help them feel better.
i didn't say it makes everyone feel better, i said its what people use to make others/themselves feel better and i didn't say calling life a random lottery would make someone feel better
i didn't say it makes everyone feel better, i said its what people use to make others/themselves feel better and i didn't say calling life a random lottery would make someone feel better
Yes, I realize that, which is why I had said "if" believing life is just a random lottery makes someone feel better about their situation, I wouldn't begrudge them espousing that belief.
My inquiry is this, though: this notion that "everything happens for a reason" troubles me. I know this sounds nice and makes people feel better, but what evidence is there for this? And does it not imply a reason-er (i.e., god)?
Please discusss? Is there an academic name for this nonsense? Why is it so popular? When I hear Oprah and others, state this, I find it annoying.
TIA
My opinion is that it seems that it is just something that some people say when they have nothing else to say or do not know what to say, they have no real answer. It is a copout.
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
Robert G. Ingersoll said:
In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.
which i think relates to that 'everything happens for a reason' none sense. I do believe that everything happens because something caused it to happen (ie. cause and effect)....but that's not what they mean when they say what they say :-)
I understand the basic idea by the Ingersoll posit, but I disagree. There are various rewards in the form of commensal, mutualistic, and in some cases even parasitic (the parasite does not want to kill the host) relationships. I mean, since we are talking about behavior....
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Originally Posted by pch1013
Well, everything does happen for a reason. Usually, that reason is physics.
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Originally Posted by pendleton42
the reason is cause and effect
As for the whole 'cause and effect', incidentally, that is why people believe in God and the Big Bang. The human mind cannot fathom an effect without a cause. The Universe was created by some manner.
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Originally Posted by Asheville Native
For those so deluded that they believe their "special friend" determines everything, I have one question;
Why do you look before you cross the street. If you are to make it safely across, as determined by your "special friend" then where is the "faith", just cross the damn street. If you look, then clearly you don't have any faith in what you say you have faith in.
I've used the chair example [sitting onto a chair without examine the chair prior to] to show how atheism is faith, too. Alas, I suppose these types of examples only work one way.
For those so deluded that they believe their "special friend" determines everything, I have one question;
Why do you look before you cross the street. If you are to make it safely across, as determined by your "special friend" then where is the "faith", just cross the damn street. If you look, then clearly you don't have any faith in what you say you have faith in.
I like that one!!
As many have said, if everything happens for a reason.....why world wars 1 & 2...hunger, rape, a-bombs, WMDs...this list can go on for ever.
For those so deluded that they believe their "special friend" determines everything, I have one question;
Why do you look before you cross the street. If you are to make it safely across, as determined by your "special friend" then where is the "faith", just cross the damn street. If you look, then clearly you don't have any faith in what you say you have faith in.
How about driving?
Imagine a religious person driving on a mountain and taking their hands off the steering wheel.
I wonder if there has been anyone dumb enough to do that and say "okay god, take over!"
Imagine a religious person driving on a mountain and taking their hands off the steering wheel.
I wonder if there has been anyone dumb enough to do that and say "okay god, take over!"
It's just one of the myriad of platitudes we have.
... trite, meaningless, biased, or prosaic statement, often presented as if it were significant and original
wikipedia
Saying something, no matter how trite, appears better than saying nothing at all supposedly.
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so I just have to grin and bear this nonsense. 
Maybe there are people out there who actually want to feel worse about their situation. Humanity is a pretty diverse group, after all. In which case, I would advise thinking along whatever lines make one feel worse, especially if feeling worse will help them feel better. 
