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Ya, but when something bad happens or a human fails they never put the responsibility on "god" who they claim created EVERYTHING including those flawed huumans...
These haphazard assignments of divine credit is one of the more annoying aspects of Christian dynamics. A year or so ago one of my neighbors was in an automobile accident and wound up with some busted ribs and a few severe cuts. I went to visit him and at the hospital I encountered his wife and friends/family members gathered and staging some sort of prayer ceremony. Turned out that they were thanking Jesus for sparing her husband, an event they attributed entirely to their prayers on his behalf.
These are nice people, we've always gotten along fine, so I didn't say anything beyond the usual polite expressions of concern and wishes for a speedy recovery. Of course what I was thinking was why they were willing to credit Jesus for the "save", but never contemplated for a moment the idea of blaming Jesus for the accident in the first place. I seems to me that if Jesus favors anyone, it is the people who were not in accidents, didn't have broken ribs and were not hospitalized....like me for example at that moment.
The same sort of thinking marks those people who on one hand will tell you that god has a plan for us all, followed immediately by a story about how some prayer was answered. If god does indeed have a plan, and you are beseeching god to alter that plan in your favor, are you not defying god's plan? And if god's plan can be altered by an individual or group petition in the form of prayer, it can't be a very important plan, can it?
These haphazard assignments of divine credit is one of the more annoying aspects of Christian dynamics. A year or so ago one of my neighbors was in an automobile accident and wound up with some busted ribs and a few severe cuts. I went to visit him and at the hospital I encountered his wife and friends/family members gathered and staging some sort of prayer ceremony. Turned out that they were thanking Jesus for sparing her husband, an event they attributed entirely to their prayers on his behalf.
These are nice people, we've always gotten along fine, so I didn't say anything beyond the usual polite expressions of concern and wishes for a speedy recovery. Of course what I was thinking was why they were willing to credit Jesus for the "save", but never contemplated for a moment the idea of blaming Jesus for the accident in the first place. I seems to me that if Jesus favors anyone, it is the people who were not in accidents, didn't have broken ribs and were not hospitalized....like me for example at that moment.
The same sort of thinking marks those people who on one hand will tell you that god has a plan for us all, followed immediately by a story about how some prayer was answered. If god does indeed have a plan, and you are beseeching god to alter that plan in your favor, are you not defying god's plan? And if god's plan can be altered by an individual or group petition in the form of prayer, it can't be a very important plan, can it?
Great points and show how convoluted their thinking is....no reason, no logic.
In my personal life I don't bring up my atheism but one time I got a little mad at a friend ...she's a recovering alcoholic who blamed herself for her addiction and gave "god" credit for her not drinking!!!!!
I told her that whoever or whatever created humans it wasn't her! She didn't create herself or she would've been perfect. I asked her why she blamed herself for her failure and gives "god" credit when it was her own strength, intelligence and courage that got her to quit drinking NOT "god's" !
I wasn't trying to convert her but at least she thought about what I said....
Well, I was in the convenince store, and God drew my attention to the Baby Ruth bar (there is no reason it would have caught my eye otherwise). I wondered if this was a sign that I should consume it, so I offered up my hunger to God, and prayed on it. It was clear that God was drawing the Baby Ruth bar and I together, so I bought it and ate it. Hallelujah!
Well, I was in the convenince store, and God drew my attention to the Baby Ruth bar (there is no reason it would have caught my eye otherwise). I wondered if this was a sign that I should consume it, so I offered up my hunger to God, and prayed on it. It was clear that God was drawing the Baby Ruth bar and I together, so I bought it and ate it. Hallelujah!
He is obviously a personage who cares deeply about my personal fulfillment and is willing to put the time and effort into making me happy. You can keep your noodly appendages, my god has HFCS!
There's this thing in sports where if a player does something good, he points up, supposedly as a tribute to a deceased parent or some past relations who are in heaven. I'm no sports person but even I've seen it once or twice.
A few weeks ago I was out playing miniature golf with my boyfriend when he sank a putt for a hole-in-one. Jokingly, he immediately pointed up. Then, a second or two later he said, "Oh, wait," and pointed downward. "I forgot, I wasn't thinking of my relatives."
The same sort of thinking marks those people who on one hand will tell you that god has a plan for us all, followed immediately by a story about how some prayer was answered. If god does indeed have a plan, and you are beseeching god to alter that plan in your favor, are you not defying god's plan? And if god's plan can be altered by an individual or group petition in the form of prayer, it can't be a very important plan, can it?
This is the kind of question to which I never received satisfactory answers in all my decades of being a "Bible-believing Christian." I got answers like, "Well, we don't really understand it, but God's Word says "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much" so we need to keep on praying."
I also got this answer, "Hey, I don't understand how my air conditioning works, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop using it just because I don't understand it."
Or the ever popular, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." That was the "one-size-fits-all" answer to any Christian teaching that made no sense to the human mind.
I kept thinking that one day I would make sense of it all...until I realized that no one can ever make sense out of nonsense.
I also got this answer, "Hey, I don't understand how my air conditioning works, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop using it just because I don't understand it."
:
If someone tells you the above, tell them, yeah, but someone could explain and demonstrate how the air conditioner works.
or..."I don't understand how my air conditioner works either, but I don't think that means I have to worship it."
He helped me find my car keys this afternoon after I searched for about 20 minutes. : )
You must strive to place yourself in a higher state of grace...and then next time you will find them in only ten minutes.
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