Thank GOD!

[Mag3.14]

I think it is completely annoying. When you see Britney Spears thanking God for that aweful and pathetic jingle that won her a grammy, made her millions whilst people all over the world suffer...
Yes, thank God for your talentless and poor example setting to the next generation. Why do some celebs think that God actually takes an interest in their materialistic lifestyles whilst ignoring how unfortunate and painful other human beings lives can be?

[twixcookie]

Ian,
I agree...like the girl who prayed for new prom shoes and got them (from god) and the POWs who were daily tortured in Vietnam who screamed out to God and were not helped.
People fabricate this stuff up, because they feel guilty they got something, so they try to make it noble by claiming it was God's Will, somehow, they somehow deserved it.
It's all a mental disorder. If God is good, how come good people suffer? (You'll get the "God didnt promise us a rose garden" answer every time.)

[PhillyChief]

What about people who claim to be healed by their god?

I'll tell you what's apparently beyond healing - loss of limbs. There have been claims of healing for numerous afflictions, but never anyone getting a limb back.

So the two clear things that are beyond the judeo-christian god - restoring lost limbs and iron chariots.

[twixcookie]

Philly,
Healings are always ambiguous. I haven't heard one medical doctor come out and declare something is a miracle.
All I have heard are hokey stories like "God works in mysterious ways" and the story about the surgeon who opened up a boy's chest and saw Jesus' face on the boy's heart. What would ever be the purpose of that? Is God a jokester? Why wouldn't this God save the poor kid from open heart surgery in the first place?

[Torn2pieces]

It doesn't bother me - I think it's over used in some instances.

[PhillyChief]

I brought up the limbs thing because no matter what, a theist can figure out how to credit their god for something. The prayer saved them, their god directly saved them, their god worked through the surgeon to save them, etc. When faced with the irrefutable, that no one has had a limb come back, then there's no way you can work a deity into the mix, unless saying he doesn't do limbs or the catch all, "he works in mysterious ways".

As for appearing on a heart, well, that is funky but there's all kinds of appearances reported, from tree bark to burnt toast. I wrote something about that recently in my blog. Of course the appearances are never too clear (is it Jesus or Grizzly Adams) but recently near me someone had a very clear image - they sliced open an eggplant and the seeds spelled "god". Lucky that eggplant showed up where people read English. Of course making an eggplant appear where people are starving might have been a cooler trick.

[twixcookie]

Philly, you have me laughing, that's funny....
Yes, it is all perception.
I remember when I was raised as a Catholic, we were told some girls had Mary appear to them at Fatima. This was hailed as a huge miracle, and some letter was given to them, which was then turned over to the Pope which contained some big secret for mankind. Many projected the letter might foretell the day of the end of the world, a cure for cancer, etc. Well, we never heard what was in the letter, and the whole thing went cold for years. Then, I investigated it as an adult. The letter contained ("drumroll, Paul, please....") the date of the death of a pope. <Insert dumbfounded disappointed look>
Is God a jokester?