The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday (page 71)

adamah

EdenOne said-

If God interveines in a disaster of said magnitude, then he would be expected to act in a disaster of a smaller magnitude; then also in a little disaster; then again on personal disasters; then again in triffle situations of everyday life. Soon God would be expected to cure ingrown fingernails. If God would interveine to save the people in the asian tsunami, then others would ask fairly: What about ME? What about the people on that other volcano/flood/earthquake/ or whatever disaster ?

That's actually pretty funny: a "slippery slope" approach to theodicy, where if a perfectly just God intervenes for one person, He has to do it for everybody. After all, fair is fair, and we all know how 250k victims drowning in a tsunami doesn't violate God's sense of fairness in ANY form, IN THE LEAST....

zound

Dear tsunami victims, God cannot help you, otherwise people suffering from an ingrown toenail might accuse him of being unfair. Don't bother praying for help - just praise him for the heavenly reward he is offering you after you die.

Surely this is position #15 with an added element of ridiculously extreme universal fairness.

adamah

Zound said- Dear tsunami victims, God cannot help you, otherwise people suffering from an ingrown toenail might accuse him of being unfair.

After all, we all know how God flies off the handle whenever one of His underlings accuses Him of being unfair, and challenges Divine authority and fitness to rule!

Zound said- Surely this is position #15 with an added element of ridiculously extreme universal fairness.

Ah, I'm not so sure. I think it's original enough to warrant it's own mention:

God's recently-acquired sense of justice and fairness prevents Him from intervening on ANY appeals, since if He intervened on behalf of one person or 250k, He's going to then have to intervene for EVERYBODY!

(And that one makes perfect sense if we all just self-induce amnesia for a bit and forget all about the handful of people healed by Jesus in the NT, or Lazarus being raised from the dead (!), or even the ENTIRE concept found in the OT of God picking only ONE group of people to be His Chosen Ones, etc, etc. I mean, it's not like God has EVER played favorites before, right, or favored and blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob over the others, right? Once you start down that slippery slope, there's no telling WHERE you might end up!)

Adam

doofdaddy

Eden One

I thank him for the spirit that guides me to wisdom, which in turn allows me to run my business in a way that I can provide for my family.

but then Eden One said....

If God interveines in a disaster of said magnitude, then he would be expected to act in a disaster of a smaller magnitude; then also in a little disaster; then again on personal disasters; then again in triffle situations of everyday life. Soon God would be expected to cure ingrown fingernails. If God would interveine to save the people in the asian tsunami, then others would ask fairly: What about ME? What about the people on that other volcano/flood/earthquake/ or whatever disaster ?

So god provides you with spirit of wisdom in your business but won't provide spirit to prevent the death of 250,000 people in the 2004 tsunami? I see another Muhummad Ali foot shuffle going on....

zound

I would not credit business talents to god in any way - just as not crediting the tsunami to god. You are a good business man/woman probably due to education, hard work, self aquired knowledge, and maybe even some trial and error. Give yourself more credit.

I think Richard Branson is an atheist.

EdenOne

doofdaddy,

I'm sure that the subtle sarcasm of my comment to cofty hasn't escaped you...?

I can only conclude what the Bible allows me to conclude. Jesus promised that God would give his spirit to whomever asked for it. That's what I ask for. And I thank him for the food, yes, although I have no proof that He is miraculously puting food on my table. I'm grateful, there's nothing hypocrite about gratitude. Go ahead and ridicule it if you like, as Cofty does. But there's so much that I simply don't know about God, that I don't want to risk being a proud cock and fail to show some gratitude for him.

For example, I can be grateful that my government has established and keeps running a public heath care system. Do any of the politicians in the government even know who I am? No. (Ermm, I actually do know a couple of them..., but that's beyond the point) Do they care that I am but a number in their system? Probably not, unless those who would know me personally. Do they personally attend to my health issues? No. Yet, I can be correctly grateful that such a system is in place. I pay my share in taxes to support it, but I am sure that I've benefited more from the system than I actually contributed into it. So, why not feel grateful?

Eden