God is not a good Samaritan

by peacedog 79 Replies latest jw friends

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  Justitia Themis

  "Sufis [a Muslim sect] tell the story of a saintly man who travels through many countries and is deeply affected by the poverty, pain, and injustices he witnesses. One day, when he sees yet another poor, starving, orphan child covered with sores and shivering in the cold, the man breaks down and cries out, "God! How can you allow this misery? I beseech you, please do something!" The answer is silence, but that night God appears in a vision and says to the man, "Beloved one, I did do something. I created you."

  a quote from Out of Darkness, Into Light: Spiritual Guidance in the Quran with Reflections from Christian and Jewish Sources, by Jamal Rahma (Muslim contributor), Kathleen Schmitt Elias (Judaic contributor), and Ann Holmes Redding (Christian contributor), p. 214.
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  booby

  I really do like to read the stuff that can/could/perhaps even should be inspirational like some of what various ones like aguest, Justitia themis and others provide here. but to thoughts such as these "By compelling those who HAVE heard to help her..." I would have to say, so how's that seem to be workin out?
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  AGuest

  so how's that seem to be workin out?

  IMHO, great in some areas/things, dear booby (again, peace to you!)... not so much in others. I.e., we can do better.

  Again, peace to you!

  A slave of Christ,

  SA
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  Justitia Themis

  I would have to say, so how's that seem to be workin out?

  There is definitely room for improvement, Booby. Who did you help today? A question we all can, and should, ask.
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  Pistoff

  There is no end of the rationalizations, the excusing of God's failings by true believers.

  Why does he not end suffering? He wants us to do it.

  Why does it exist in the first place? Satan raised an objection, and God is so enslaved to his concept of justice he is willing to subject billions of humans to suffering so that he can win his court case.

  The problem is not that we cannot explain God's allowance of evil; the problem is that we have the WRONG paradigm. Concepts of ethics and justice evolved over a long period of time; they have been ascribed to God in an attempt to add weight (ie, my group got them on stone tablets!), but this explanation makes no sense when we have to resort to special pleading to explain the presence and persistence of evil.

  Humans conceived of ethics and justice, tried to add weight to them by claiming divine authorship and we can't seem to let go of it; can't seem to shed ancient superstitions about why things happen.

  Case in point about the evolution of justice and ethics, and that MEN can claim authorship: secular law is leading and schooling respected religious bodies, incuding the Catholic Church, JW's et al, regarding child sexual abuse.

  God is CERTAINLY not leading the way; his reputed channels more resemble God's archenemy, Satan, in this matter.

  P
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  AGuest

  his reputed channels more resemble God's archenemy, Satan, in this matter.

  "Reputed", yes. Which could be why their rightful description is "imposter," "false christs," "false prophets," "offspring of vipers," and the like, dear PO'd (peace to you!).

  A slave of Christ,

  SA
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  Justitia Themis

  There is no end of the rationalizations, the excusing of God's failings by true believers.

  I'm not so sure I even believe in God. Since I am not sure s/he exists, I don't dwell on her/his "failings." I just use the writings of the three Abrahamic traditions to help make me a better person, which leaves me less "Pistoff"...pun intended. :)
• 

  CandleSurgeon

  Who's god?
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  PSacramento

  Well, if a person asks those that believe in God, their opinion on why God does or doesn't do things, of course they will get just that, opinions and with that, rationlizations.

  If a person doesn't want to hear rationalizations about something, don't ask about it.
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  tec

  I loved the quote you posted, Justitia. Just wanted to say so.

  My question it, if God just ended suffering and set things right -however you think He could do that- then what is to stop all the suffering from simply happening all over again?

  Tammy