PSac: good points.
God is not a good Samaritan
by peacedog 79 Replies latest jw friends
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PSacramento
My epiphany was more about the *irony* in Jesus telling the parable of the good Samaritan when all the while God is passing us by just like the priest and Levite.
The older I get, the more the idea of a loving God who permits suffering seems like an oxymoron.
I used to feel that way too, still do sometimes I have to admit.
I would LOVE for God to take over and fix things, but I also knwo what that would mean and I also knwo that WE can fix it ourselves, with God's help.
I never ask God to do anythign I can't do myself, I do ask for his help though, for the strength to DO IT.
I mean, if we stepped in a took over for our kids, what would that acomplish in the long run?
I know a few kids that are not adults my age that have had parents liek that and they are, well...uesless members of society.
What I said was harsh, yes I admit, but it was nevertheless accurate.
It is about what WE can do WITH God not about what GOD can do without US.
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tec
I don't think trade is the right word. I certainly don't mean to bargain for eternal life by suffering in this life. Nor have I had a lifetime of suffering. Only that an eternity of peace would certainly be a comfort to that suffering. Its more like looking at the long view. Sometimes we suffer for a little while, to gain something better.
Childbirth. Adolescence. High School. Those rough patches in marriages. Things like that.
None of this is to say that my faith does not bring me comfort and peace now. It does - through good times and bad times. (Sorry, cause that sounded like a song lyric)
It's kind of like God saying to all those good or innocent people who have suffered and died, "Don't worry. I've got your back."
Tammy
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peacedog
Good comments.
PSac: Generally speaking, you do make a good point. But in the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus didn't refer to 'doing everything for someone'. The situation was very specific: a man had been robbed and beaten and was left to die at the side of the road. In the parable, two men came by who had the power to help this person in his sorry state of suffering; yet they chose not to. In the same way, God (who has the power to help those of us who are suffering - some of us even literally lying at the side of the road waiting to die) chooses not to. For whatever reason, he chooses not to. For whatever reason, he is not a "good Samaritan".
Sometimes I wish I could ignore the fact that God allows suffering. I wish I could accept that it is beneficial in some unknown way, or perhaps God will take care of everything at some future point in time. But do these viewpoints help those who are suffering now? Who here would sit back and allow their child to suffer and even die when they the power to prevent it? Who would do it even to their pet? And yet the omnipotent God of the universe, our "Father", does this to us every day.
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jaguarbass
Today, God pretty much seems to work through men.
We have the bible telling us to be good Samaritans, the more people that read it and believe it the better off
we all will be.
I dont like suffering and I'm not crazy about the way God does things.
But I do the best I can and try to stay out of trouble and I pray to God about the things I have no control over
that may affect me and leave the rest to him.
Thats 50% what an atheist would do, 100% what an atheist in a fox hole or life boat would do.
I know sooner or later my suffering, my life will end, I find it more comforting to hope there is something better after
this life, but if it is eternal sleep, which the atheist believe, thats still rest and peace.
I think its a miracle that we are all here and concious and based on that miracle, I will hope for something better
today, tomorrow and for eternity.
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PSacramento
PSac: Generally speaking, you do make a good point. But in the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus didn't refer to 'doing everything for someone'. The situation was very specific: a man had been robbed and beaten and was left to die at the side of the road. In the parable, two men came by who had the power to help this person in his sorry state of suffering; yet they chose not to. In the same way, God (who has the power to help those of us who are suffering - some of us even literally lying at the side of the road waiting to die) chooses not to. For whatever reason, he chooses not to. For whatever reason, he is not a "good Samaritan".
The parabl;e had actually nothing to do with what was done buT WHO did it, it was a lesson on hypocracy and how those that SEEM superiour because they act that way and blieve themselves to be so, are not and those that we normally wouldn't even associate with, are the ones that may "save us".
You say that God has the power to help those who are suffering and many will tell you God has, as some will tell you he hasn't, that is surely a matter of faith, but lets not look at that, lets look at the WHOLE of the picture.
God is in a interesting spot, God gives us what we NEED and not what we want so that WE can accomplish what we need, not what we want.
The problem for us is that God doesn't FORCE it on us, it's up to us to "recieve it and use it".
If being what we NEED at the time.
God is perhaps the greates Samaritan because he does NOT force US when he CAN and allows US to choose when he doesn't have to.
We may not like this, but the fact is, do you really want GOD to take over?
God does not ALLOW suffering, no more than he allows tsunamis, earthquakes, the spread of diseases, etc.
Somethings are the way they are because they can be no other way in an evolved world and others are the way they are because WE MAKE them that way.
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elder-schmelder
God is a Jerk !!
Gods main goals
1) Kill people
2) Make sure that we trim our PeePee's
elder-schmelder
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BurnTheShips
God is not a good Samaritan
You're breathing, aren't you?
BTS
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peacedog
jaguarbass: Great comments. Great attitude.
PSac:
The parabl;e had actually nothing to do with what was done buT WHO did it, it was a lesson on hypocracy and how those that SEEM superiour because they act that way and blieve themselves to be so, are not and those that we normally wouldn't even associate with, are the ones that may "save us".
True enough. I'm just saying there was a "good Samaritan" in the parable whom we are presumably expected to imitate and yet I don't see God acting as the Samaritan did.
God does not ALLOW suffering, no more than he allows tsunamis, earthquakes, the spread of diseases, etc.
If one has the power to prevent or remove suffering and yet he does not, I think it can be said that one is ALLOWING suffering.
Good comments, Thanks.