I absolutely believe in God...

@chaney3 removed their quoted post

True.

@fmf said
Contentchess seems to be angry with a creator entity that created "matter" and that's all. He has agreed with almost I have said to him with regard to his belief.

I don’t agree that’s God.

And I think the trials believers go through have a purpose that is more readily identified after we’ve gone through them.

@pb1022 said
I think there is a reason people refer to dying as “going home,” as in going home to be with the Lord. This life is not only not all there is, it’s a drop in a bucket compared to the oceans of eternity.

Maybe believing this kind of stuff will anesthetize Contentchess from the trials and tribulations of life and the world in general.

@fmf said
Maybe believing this kind of stuff will anesthetize Contentchess from the trials and tribulations of life and the world in general.

You’re aware that God helps us get through trials and tribulations on earth and not just by causing us to think about life after death, aren’t you?

@pb1022 said
You’re aware that God helps us get through trials and tribulations on earth and not just causing us to think about life after death, aren’t you?

Subscription to all the "revealed" religions has this psychologicsl effect on many or most of their adherents.

@chaney3 removed their quoted post

Maybe it's healthier, sometimes, to simply embrace one's lack or loss of faith rather than bending oneself out of shape trying to reconcile religious dogma one doesn't find credible.

@fmf said
Subscription to all the "revealed" religions has this psychologicsl effect on many or most of their adherents.

You can call it a “psychological effect.”

I call it reality.

Did you ever call upon God to help you when you were a believer and in a desperate situation?

@chaney3 removed their quoted post

I actually disagree with you here, chaney3.

There was a time when I had a significant medical problem - significant to the point of it being life threatening - and I didn’t trust God to get me through it and didn’t even pray (and I had plenty of uninterrupted time to when I was in the hospital.)

But God pulled me through, and I should note people were praying for me.

God remains faithful, even when we are unfaithful.

“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

(2 Timothy 2:13)

@fmf said
Maybe it's healthier, sometimes, to simply embrace one's lack or loss of faith rather than bending oneself out of shape trying to reconcile religious dogma one doesn't find credible.

I agree with you here, FMF.

God looks on the heart, and if your heart doesn’t believe, it’s pointless and unproductive to pretend otherwise.

@pb1022 said
Did you ever call upon God to help you when you were a believer and in a desperate situation?

Yes and the solace and/or mental fortitude that doing so gave me were psychological effects.

I don't dispute that these effects felt like reality to me. *

*Edit: the effect on me WAS real, I should say.

However, I don't think Contentchess is going "to call upon God to help" him, but, who knows, maybe the certainty with which you recite your religious beliefs will play some role in converting him.

@fmf said
Yes and the solace and/or mental fortitude that doing so gave me were psychological effects.

I don't dispute that these effects felt like reality to me. *

*Edit: the effect on me WAS real, I should say.

However, I don't think Contentchess is going "to call upon God to help" him, but, who knows, maybe the certainty with which you recite your religious beliefs will play some role in converting him.

<<However, I don't think Contentchess is going "to call upon God to help" him, but, who knows, maybe the certainty with which you recite your religious beliefs will play some role in converting him.>>

Yeah, I don’t know.

Trashing God and then asking God for help sounds kinda hypocritical and low class.

Maybe the OP oughta accept the fact he doesn’t know everything and doesn’t have all the answers and lose his know-it-all arrogance *before* he asks God for help. Might get a better response.

@chaney3 removed their quoted post

I had people praying for me (not that I asked them to; I learned after I got out of the hospital that people had been praying for me.)

I think God’s help or intervention seems random to us because we don’t see the whole picture - not only in present-day terms (omniscience) but also in terms of eternity.

I think humans trying to understand God when He is omniscient and views everything from an eternal perspective is a recipe for frustration.

@contenchess said
...and I absolutely hate the MotherF***er...

Born into poverty with alcoholic parents which caused a shyt life which caused many bad decisions...

Enough about me...What about them?

The kids born to die as kids.
The kids born with diseases.

What about natural disasters?

I saw a comedy western once and a girl said "what is Parkinson's?"

The reply was..."j ...[text shortened]... t another way for God to show us he loves us"

So where is this God Power?

Not on this planet.

Hey, let me ask you something.

If you think God is soooooooo horrible, well then where were you?

You mention, "The kids born to die as kids.
The kids born with diseases. What about natural disasters?"

Have YOU pitched in to help any of these people? Sounds a little hypocritical to me to bash God for not helping, when you can't even be bothered to lend them a hand. Don't bitch that they are not being helped, when you're right there with God, not helping.

I'd give your complaining about God some credence if you were in it up to your elbows actually helping the unfortunate. I also think that if you were, you might get to see some of God's handiwork firsthand.

But no, you'd rather sit back and bitch.