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Thinking-man's thread on the gang rape of a 70-year-old Catholic nun in India got me thinking. (As a matter of fact, I suspect I've given this more thought than "Thinking-man ever has.)
Here are a sampling of a few of the things he said...
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
I guess, the question is why didn't god protect her....
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
hmm.....So tell me again why god (with all his/her/its infinite power) didn't just prevent the nun getting raped.....
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
Yeah, of course those who raped her are to blame....but you know...if i'm all powerful and all knowing and i could stop them from raping this 70 old virgin who had devoted her whole life to me, i'd step in and prevent those people from raping her.....
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
So....if you had the power to help a suffering 70 year old nun who was about to be repeatedly raped and abused, you would do nothing?
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
^ so, when a 70 year old nun is about to be raped, YOU would do more to help the poor nun, than your "all loving" god would? Well, that says a lot about your "god"!
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
Because he can do something about it but he won't! (according to you guys, he's all powerful & all knowing...right?)
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
the question is how many more nuns is your god going to WATCH get raped, as he/she/it does nothing!?
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
Sure....but i think it's just as likely for her to think "WTF "god"....why weren't you there for me when i needed you the most? oh, maybe you're not there! i'm OUT!"
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Originally Posted by Thinking-man
....if her "god" had only protected her like a "loving", "Caring", "all powerful", "all knowing" "god" should have done, this poor 70 year old nun wouldn't have to suffer as you suggested.
I'll say one thing for this guy. He's persistent. He doesn't give up. A dozen different responders answer his question and all he can do is continue to ask it over and over and over and over again. So anyway, now I have a question for Thinking-man and anybody else who believes as he does.
How exactly is this God you don't believe exists supposed to handle the situation? He sees a gang of men approaching a 70-year-old nun and, obviously knowing their intentions, does one of the following things. Which of them makes the most sense to you?
1. He strikes them dead before then can do anything to hurt her.
2. He strikes them dead after they've committed their horrible crime.
3. He miraculously causes the nun to disappear.
4. He gives the nun supernatural powers so that she can fight them all off.
5. He allows the act to take place, but gives the nun amnesia so that she doesn't remember it at all.
6. He drops three or four police officers down from out of nowhere just before they act.
7. He momentarily touches their consciences and they decide to find another victim instead.
8. He does nothing to intervene but will hold these men accountable at Judgment Day.
(P.S. I was going to post a poll, but had problems doing so, so this will have to suffice.)
yes, think our friend is the very quintessence and definition of "persistent" for sure, LOL.
interestingly questions and it will be fun to see what his answer(s) might be. FWIW, my take is that ANY of those scenarios MIGHT happen according to God's will and plan at a particular time (the bible seems to have a fair number of similar situations where the "good guys" were saved from apparently impossible straits--from the red sea parting to let the children of Israel escape from Egypt to the three young men surviving the fiery furnace, and yes, even Jesus rising from the dead---they are often called "miracles") BUT think most probably some variant of 7 or 8 is most likely.
Last edited by georgeinbandonoregon; 03-16-2015 at 11:11 AM..
Reason: more info.
I will say what I said in the other thread: In order for God to be fair, he must always intervene anytime anyone does or even thinks of doing something bad. That means we must be placed in a perpetual state of mind-control by God. If it is God's job to stop people from doing bad things, then this is the only logical conclusion.
I will say what I said in the other thread: In order for God to be fair, he must always intervene anytime anyone does or even thinks of doing something bad.
Not only that, if God stops the person before he does something wrong (particularly, if He stops him by striking him dead or some such thing), then what are you going to do about the outcries against "your god who kills innocent people." A rapist isn't guilty of rape in the eyes of society unless he actually commits the act, so God would have killed him for nothing. Once again, it ends up being all God's fault.
How exactly is this God you don't believe exists supposed to handle the situation? He sees a gang of men approaching a 70-year-old nun and, obviously knowing their intentions, does one of the following things. Which of them makes the most sense to you?
1. He strikes them dead before then can do anything to hurt her.
2. He strikes them dead after they've committed their horrible crime.
3. He miraculously causes the nun to disappear.
4. He gives the nun supernatural powers so that she can fight them all off.
5. He allows the act to take place, but gives the nun amnesia so that she doesn't remember it at all.
6. He drops three or four police officers down from out of nowhere just before they act.
7. He momentarily touches their consciences and they decide to find another victim instead.
8. He does nothing to intervene but will hold these men accountable at Judgment Day.
(P.S. I was going to post a poll, but had problems doing so, so this will have to suffice.)
Is this based on the God of the Old Testament, or the New Testament? Because the perceptions of men change, over the course of time.
Thinking-man's thread on the gang rape of a 70-year-old Catholic nun in India got me thinking. (As a matter of fact, I suspect I've given this more thought than "Thinking-man ever has.)
Well, to be completely fair, God didn't protect his own Son either. I think God let us all know right there that His primary interest is in seeing how we will treat one another, not in stepping in on every event initiated by people.
We value this life in a much different fashion than I think God does. He is looking at eternity. As people we may think we're going to dwell with Him, but I don't see anyone rushing to look into Eternity with God.
There are those who question having faith in God precisely because of the existence of evil. NT scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman says he reached his agnostic stance for exactly that reason.
I do not believe any Christian is spared from evil entering their lives. God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The difference for believers is that God is with us and, because of the suffering of His Son, we can be sure He understands suffering and suffers with us.
Last edited by mensaguy; 03-17-2015 at 07:14 AM..
Reason: fixed quote tag
My take on stuff like this is as follows: If God always intervened on our behalf, life would a utopia, right? But how would we know? Without pain, how would we know what pleasure was? Without sadness, how would we know happiness? Without death, how would we know life?
So without anything bad in our life, how would we know about what is good? If there is no opposite for comparison than we can never know what we have.
God has a plan for everything. Trying to make sense of something that is not understandable is for those with no faith. You have to have faith in the unknown, unseen and things that we don't understand. Those without faith have to place a value or have an exact answer for their questions.
Is this based on the God of the Old Testament, or the New Testament? Because the perceptions of men change, over the course of time.
I'm not sure what you're asking. The choices I suggested aren't based on either the God of the Old or the New Testament, but just on what it seemed to me would be God's options for dealing with the problem of evil.
I do not believe any Christian is spared from evil entering their lives. God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The difference for believers is that God is with us and, because of the suffering of His Son, we can be sure He understands suffering and suffers with us.
You really hit the nail on the head with this conclusion. Amen!
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