If You're Responding To A Massacre At A Church By Mocking Prayer, Please Shut Up (ethic, claim)
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What I wonder is why the USA, one of earth's more religious countries has such a terrible problem with violent crime compared to more secular nations.....According to some fundies on this thread the opposite should be true.
Christians who worship guns--instruments of death--are the biggest hypocrites on the planet. Jesus was a pacifist who preached turning the other cheek. Pretend Christians preach that everyone should be packing.
They have bastardized his words to suit their ideology. Christ wouldn't recognize any of them as his followers if he came back today.
I do NOT believe in any god. I do not pray. That said, I think it is disgusting to tell these people who do pray that "it doesn't work". People pray for different reasons. It brings them peace in times of suffering. It helps them get through the day. Why is that a bad thing? Who cares if they want to pray? It doesn't affect me or you.
But it does. People should not believe in things that aren't true. We don't teach our kids that the world is made of green cheese. We don't teach our children that leprechauns or unicorns exist. We don't teach our kids to pray to and depend on unicorns to save them when the going gets tough. We should depend on ourselves, family, and friends to help us in times of trouble. It is vitally important to believe in things that are true, not in things that are false. Believing false things is not only harmful to the believer, but to others. I can't believe I have to point out such an obvious fact. Just because many people believe in God doesn't make him real; it only makes him popular.
I believe in God. I believe that God gives us free will to make our own decisions in regard to our actions and reactions. I also believe that God is there with us in our times of grief, as in our times of joy. I believe S/He hears our prayers and knows our desires. God's names include "Comforter" and "Redeemer". Both of those roles of God are very present right now.
And I believe that Christians are called upon to be the hands and feet of Christ in the World.
Mr. Rogers used to say, in times of trouble, look for the helpers. The helpers were there abundantly this Sunday after the atrocity. They are still there. Nothing will undo the horror of that day, but the ties of love are immortal and transcend death. Nothing on this earth can ever undo that love.
Is it just that evil seemed to prevail on Sunday in that small church? Is it right that innocents perished so violently? Was this God's will?
Of course not. This is not a perfect world, and human justice is helpless in the face of such evil. But the killer made his own choices - he terribly abused that great gift of God, the gift of free will - for his own perverse and irrational reasons.
Look for the helpers. Look for those who are loving. Be one of them, if you can. But even if you cannot, expressing understandable and justifiable anger at the situation by blaming God indicates a lack of understanding of how God could have allowed such an evil thing to occur.
God didn't do this. One of his creations, gifted with free will, did it. That man had provided ample indication of his violent, abusive, perverse and hate-filled behavior previously - but inadequate and uninforced human laws failed to secure him to protect those around him.
That's not God's doing.
God grieves with those who mourn. May they find comfort in the immortal and transcendent love they shared with their dear ones, love which cannot ever be destroyed by earthly might, and may they be comforted in the secure knowledge that those whom they lost are at peace and joyfully in the presence of God.
"I have never in my life been more disgusted than I am right now. Of course I'm disgusted first and foremost by the evil, pitiful coward who slaughtered so many innocent Christians while they worshiped on Sunday. But I'm nearly as disgusted by the reaction from so many people. A reaction that has included the gleeful mockery of faith and prayer.
Moments after the bodies hit the church floor, there were people -- including prominent people -- on social media practically gloating about it. "See? Prayer doesn't work!" "Prayer isn't enough!" "This is where prayers get you!" Etc.
There is never a good time for this ridiculous anti-prayer nonsense, but right after 25 Christians were murdered at a church is the worst possible time imaginable. So please, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, shut up: "
Well I guess we don't need to look very far to see where this evil starts. Many people out there are evil to begin with. Disgusting to comment the way they do.
Truly, the Christian bashing in the wake of a church shooting is pretty disgusting. Did we see such commentary when Dillon Roof shot up a church? Can't seem to remember such nonsense in that case.
So what's different about this one? Why no such insensitivity for the Christians who were praying killed by Roof?
Yes, that question that is older than time ..."Why does God allow such suffering." Well, whether prayer does any good or not, it makes a lot of people feel better in the aftermath of massive loss. Demeaning these people for that is wrong on every level. End of line.
I do NOT believe in any god. I do not pray. That said, I think it is disgusting to tell these people who do pray that "it doesn't work". People pray for different reasons. It brings them peace in times of suffering. It helps them get through the day. Why is that a bad thing? Who cares if they want to pray? It doesn't affect me or you.
What I wonder is why the USA, one of earth's more religious countries has such a terrible problem with violent crime compared to more secular nations.....According to some fundies on this thread the opposite should be true.
A lot of people in the US are not religious anymore. Some of the most irreligious states like New England states have the lowest violent crime rates. They also have loose gun laws.
But it does. People should not believe in things that aren't true. We don't teach our kids that the world is made of green cheese. We don't teach our children that leprechauns or unicorns exist. We don't teach our kids to pray to and depend on unicorns to save them when the going gets tough. We should depend on ourselves, family, and friends to help us in times of trouble. It is vitally important to believe in things that are true, not in things that are false. Believing false things is not only harmful to the believer, but to others. I can't believe I have to point out such an obvious fact. Just because people believe in God doesn't make him real; it only makes him popular.
So you are right and the believers are wrong? Interesting.
I block these idiots on here, and there are many! What can we expect from non believers? There is only one other influence in our world besides God- satan. They are doing his biding, and don't realize it.
Is this an example of the "love thy neighbor" commandment from Mark 12:31?
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