Does God Really Care (page 2)

Kenneson

I don't know why God allows bad things to happen, but what prevents us humans from doing something when they do occur? Maybe God motivates and uses us to reach out. Whatever the reason for suffering, what is our excuse for doing nothing? Yes, we can ask where God was when 6 million Jews were exterminated in World War II, but why do we not also ask where was mankind? Why didn't different countries take in the thousands and thousands of refugees? So when disasters occur, what is our response? I can't be physically present in S.E. Asia to help, but I can take risks in giving a donation to a charitable organization and hope that at least some of the money will reach its destination. If people don't take risks, no one would ever give and no one would ever be helped.

Balsam

I believe the way Deist believe that God created the earth, but has stepped back and does not influence how that life evolved. That natural events that happen and kill people are just part of life here on the Earth:

What is the basis of Deism? Reason and nature. We see the design found throughout the known universe and this realization brings us to a sound belief in a Designer or God.

Is Deism a form of atheism? No. Atheism teaches that there is no God. Deism teaches there is a God. Deism rejects the "revelations" of the "revealed" religions but does not reject God.

If Deism teaches a belief in God, then what is the difference between Deism and the other religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.? Deism is, as stated above, based on nature and reason, not "revelation." All the other religions make claim to special divine revelation or they have requisite "holy" books. Deism has neither. In Deism there is no need for a preacher, priest or rabbi. All one needs in Deism is their own common sense and the creation to contemplate.

Do Deists believe that God created the creation and the world and then just stepped back from it? Some Deists do and some believe God may intervene in human affairs. For example, when George Washington was faced with either a very risky evacuation of the American troops from Long Island or surrendering them he chose the more risky evacuation. When questioned about the possibility of having them annihilated he said it was the best he could do and the rest is up to Providence.

Do Deists pray? Only prayers of thanks and appreciation. We don't dictate to God.

How do Deists view God? We view God as an eternal entity whose power is equal to his/her will. The following quote from Albert Einstein also offers a good Deistic description of God: "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God."

Is Deism a cult? It's impossible for Deism to be a cult because Deism teaches self-reliance and encourages people to constantly use their reason. Deism teaches to "question authority" no matter what the cost.

Unlike the revealed religions, Deism makes no unreasonable claims. The revealed religions encourage people to give up, or at least to suspend, their God-given reason. They like to call it faith. For example, how logical is it to believe that Moses parted the Red Sea, or that Jesus walked on water, or that Mohammed received the Koran from an angel? Suspending your reason enough to believe these tales only sets a precedent that leads to believing a Jim Jones or David Koresh.

What's Deism's answer to all the evil in the world? Much of the evil in the world could be overcome or removed if humanity had embraced our God-given reason from our earliest evolutionary stages. After all, all the laws of nature that we've discovered and learned to use to our advantage that make everything from computers to medicine to space travel have existed eternally. But we've decided we'd rather live in superstition and fear instead of learning and gaining knowledge. It's much more soothing to believe we're not responsible for our own actions than to actually do the hard work required for success.

Deism doesn't claim to have all the answers to everything, we just claim to be on the right path to those answers.

stillajwexelder

NO he does not

BONEZZ

eyeslice...

You know damn well that those 6 million Jews were not inncocent! Just check out the rantings of the 2nd Pres of the WTBS...Big Joe Rutherford. According to the WTBS they had it coming.

-BONEZZ

peacefulpete

This question is as old as religion. Before religion there was magic. magic was the belief that secret laws af nature governed the world and that these could be manipulated if one possessed the knowledge of the magician. However it eventually failed to be a satisfying answer when the magicians were unable to reproduce results. Religion took over as it claimed that the 'will' of intelligent spirits controlled the world's events. this allowed for failure and disappointment. Failures on the part of the priests and shamans could be explained as the result of the whims of the spirits. Failure then only meant that the spirits needed more attention or devotion or that the wrong spirit was being appealed to. Since then humans have cried out to the spirits lounder and with greater earnest when suffering and distaster strike, wondering why the spirits are angry or aloof.

FairMind

Maybe one day we'll find out.

FM

Fleur

God is not responsible for our dreams of separation and death.

This phrase caught my attention and I wonder if you would elaborate. Like the Toltec 'Dream of the planet' Don Miguel Ruiz writes about?

eyeslice

when I think of all the billions of hours being given by witnesses in what they think is a great service to others -and that turns out to be just a sales pitch for an organization -wow - it boggles the mind what good we could have done as witnesses if good was what the organization had directed us to do - All the hours I put in service over 30 years - I could have really done some good for people with 'real' works of aid to them

AK - Jeff - ditto my friend.

I actually lived in the part of the world affected by the recent tsunami. My wife and I are planning to return to Asia when we retire in a few years time to do some kind of voluntary work. Like you I lost years pounding the streets as a JW.

Eyeslice

zen nudist

MY GOD cares, because MY GOD, the Generator Of Diversity, is all of us, actively conscious caring parts together as one whole and we collectively do care about many things in many ways.... does all of GOD care? no, just as your toes do not care about your liver... nor do your bones care about your nose....

I find no other GOD but the totality of reality, and no conscious living being can tell me that caring is absent from this whole without lying.

Does God Really Care

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