Let me see if I understand... the problem isn't that there is suffering. It is that there is too much suffering. Do I understand you?
If so, how do we decide what level of suffering is appropriate and what level isn't?
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
Let me see if I understand... the problem isn't that there is suffering. It is that there is too much suffering. Do I understand you?
If so, how do we decide what level of suffering is appropriate and what level isn't?
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
so the other day i was walking through the huge local regional outlet shopping mall.
i see this sign "how do deal with anxiety" didn't take very long at all to confirm it was a jw booth.. that sign bothered me.
do jw actually think they have something to say about anxiety?
So the other day I was walking through the huge local regional outlet shopping mall. I see this sign "how do deal with anxiety" didn't take very long at all to confirm it was a JW booth.
That sign bothered me. Do JW actually think they have something to say about anxiety? Do they think they can help?
or
Are they actively recruiting people with mental health problems? Do they see them as an easier mark?
For most here I know how they answered the question "how do you deal with anxiety". They left the cult!
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
I am sorry you are confusing me...
"I have never asserted that all and any suffering tells us anything about god"
"Suffering proves the god of christian theism does not exist. It is a point worth repeating. Please stop trying to change the subject."
How do you reconcile these two statements? Are you saying suffering disproves "the god of the bible" but dosn't necessarily disprove of some other type of God?
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
Freemindfade I don't know exactly how to answer that without going way off topic. Let me think about how to answer this correctly :)
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
Your problem isn't with God... it is with who wrote the bible. Humans (with inspiration of course) pinned it. They did the best they could to explain and understand as they could but... Human minds are limited and we have greatly grown in knowledge since biblical days.
I believe the bible is truth but it must be understood through the culture and experience of the human co-writers.
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
Suffering could prove we don't understand God.
Suffering in no way proves if God exists or doesn't.... it is a separate argument.
..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
"I have never encountered an atheist who was sufficiently facile to make this challenge.
This is another straw man."
Maybe I don't understand your argument... but that is what I am hearing. If we have an all powerful all loving God he would eliminate suffering... There is suffering so therefor no God.
How should I understand this statement then?
"Suffering proves the god of christian theism does not exist. It is a point worth repeating. Please stop trying to change the subject."