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I already pointed out to you that they don't. You ignored it, which I've had interactions with you before and that usually how that goes. A point that can't be easily twisted into a 'you hate Christians' comment is ignored.
So I'll point out again that the very article you link as a support of your claim quite clearly disagrees with it.
No, the article states as fact a position that agrees with my OP. Then they try to backpedal as opinion and say that religion or lack of itself has nothing to do with the suicide rate.
No, the article states as fact a position that agrees with my OP. Then they try to backpedal as opinion and say that religion or lack of itself has nothing to do with the suicide rate.
Were you able to access the original paper? I was not.
That image is heart rending, yet as is being implied, God does nothing.
It seems that the suicide rate may somewhat higher among atheists in some countries at least. What this tell us that Christians or religious people do commit suicide. The blows the argument that God only helps believers right out of the water. God helps no one.
Why should God have to clean up all our messes? Starving children are usually the result of evil men who hoard the food. There is plenty of food for everyone. God provides this. And God does bless and aid those faithful people who provide relief to the needy.
But of course like sinful men, you want things to happen fast, immediate and easy. God snaps the food into existence in front of them or something. God puts the burden of relieving the suffering of the world onto the believers because it blesses and helps us in return and He is not forced to interfere heavily with free will. Sin has consequences and unfortunately those consquences can cause other people to suffer. When the final day comes that God ends sin for good, there will be no more suffering. And what a glorious day that will be!
No, the article states as fact a position that agrees with my OP. Then they try to backpedal as opinion and say that religion or lack of itself has nothing to do with the suicide rate.
I probably know more about lack of religion and suicide than you do. Atheism does not cause suicide. Religion could help prevent suicide. Religion could also cause suicide.
My son had a fanatically religious mother who was also abusive to him. That abusiveness let to his distress and final suicide. Was it her religion that made her abusive? According to your OP conclusions, yes. But actually no, it was a personality fault in her that made her abusive.
On the other hand, her fanatical religiousness caused her to destroy our relationship and under those conditions we were not able to be there for my son, so in that regard, religion caused us to be unable to catch him in his hour of desperation. Then again, he was not religious so perhaps that absence deprived him of a support net that may have saved him.
One thing I can say for sure, her strong belief in Christianity was an emotional thing for her, not a way of life. She never practiced the teachings of Christ.
Having said all that I want to stress that she realizes her role and my son forgave her. She is a damaged person due to her own childhood circumstances which resulted in her adult behavior.
The better question is, if God is real, why doesn't he do something to stop all of these suicides? Why not show himself to these people who are so down on life they want it to end? Why let them all kill themselves, when he could just show them the light and stop it?
As the other poster said, it is as if he doesn't exist. Or maybe he just doesn't care?
Do you have a Bible? Do you adhere fully to it? Since you don't, and most won't, why call on a God who you disdain? So, you're whining sounds pretty counterproductive.
I have not read one word of this thread beyond skimming the OP and my first impression is this:
Correlation DOES NOT equal causation, and religion has absolutely nothing to do with this.
Our economy has been tanking for many years now and we have been at war. Millions of people have lost their jobs and homes, and their retirements. Young people cannot find meaningful work that pays a living wage. The war-veteran suicide rate is sky-high, and I'm going to assume the veteran suicide rate has not been differentiated from the general population in this unscientific "study."
Every society is filled with people who are suffering in the most unthinkable ways. The difference is that man made religions threaten people with eternal damnation and burning in hell if they commit suicide. The same people who feel good about humanely ending the life of their beloved pet, because it is humane, will not even consider that same level of empathy for another human being, because of their religion. People who live outside of this religious dogma would rather escape their miserable and unwanted life and put an end to their own suffering. neither you or I have a right to judge them.
Words, or do you have citations and references that confirm this?
That poor child is suffering because of all the godless people in the world, despite your futile attempt to blame God. God made it clear:
Deuteronomy 30
[15] See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
[16] In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
[17] But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
[18] I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
[19] I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
[20] That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
That poor child is suffering because of all the godless people in the world, despite your futile attempt to blame God. God made it clear:
You've just shot yourself in the foot. God is allowing that child's (and millions others) suffering. That is the bottom line. Don't go making excuses for God and blaming man. The buck stops here!
But if you had said God has nothing to do with it and it is the bad nature of man, then I would agree with you. You can't have it both ways. Either God create man and all evil or God didn't. If God did then God is solely responsible for that child's suffering! If not then God has nothing to do with creation or anything else. Godlessness has nothing to do with it.
Why do the godless hate their children? The would rather defy God than to help their children, now that's hate.
Stop blaming God and the godless. The godless are not defying god. By the way, do you know where that photo was taken? It's from the African near east where there are famines caused by the religious strife going on there. That tragedy is not being caused by the godless, it is being caused by the God fearing! In God's name!
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