"Stupid sexy Flanders!"
Posted on 08/15/2006 7:35:13 AM PDT by Salman
"Stupid sexy Flanders!"
That's correct, it was initially caled GRIDS for Gay Related Imuunodeficiency Syndrome. Then the gay activists threw a hissy and the medical community changed the name. This was in the same period of history that homosexuality was removed from the rolls of the abnormal psychology books out of sheer political correctness.
And God created Satan, right? So, ultimately, evil is a product of God.
God created people with free will, meaning that we can choose to love and obey God or not.
And yet God knows at the moment of our creation which way we will choose. God created Adolph Hitler knowing what a monster he would be. Why couldn't God have created Hitler just a little differently so that he would choose good rather than evil. Surely God has that ability. Why is God compelled to create people who choose evil?
If He only created people who "choose" good, then free will wouldn't really exist, would it? Without evil, how could we actually choose freely?
Besides, What Hitler meant for evil, God used for good. If Hitler hadn't done what he did, and WWII didn't occur, there would be no Israel today.
"Besides, What Hitler meant for evil, God used for good. If Hitler hadn't done what he did, and WWII didn't occur, there would be no Israel today."
Wow. Just, "Wow!" The existence of Israel today justifies all the deaths of WWII. That's a hell of a burden.
That's fine for those people that choose good. Sucks to be those that choose evil. I still don't see the difference here between "free will" and "predestination" since God knows what you will choose when he creates you.
If Hitler hadn't done what he did, and WWII didn't occur, there would be no Israel today.
So God couldn't come up with a better way to create Israel than the suffering and death of millions? Well, since it's all for the greater good then I suppose it's OK.
"Besides, What Hitler meant for evil, God used for good. If Hitler hadn't done what he did, and WWII didn't occur, there would be no Israel today."
So we can thank God for His role in creating Hitler and allowing the execution of 6 million Jews?
"I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things." Isaiah. 45:7.
Why God? Why?!?
Satan, unlike the other angels in heaven rejected God, and God threw him out of heaven.
And yet God knows at the moment of our creation which way we will choose. God created Adolph Hitler knowing what a monster he would be. Why couldn't God have created Hitler just a little differently so that he would choose good rather than evil. Surely God has that ability. Why is God compelled to create people who choose evil?
Unlike you, I don't question the motives of The Creator.
What I said was that God used a terrible tragedy to create something good.
You can thank Evil for that. Using a terrible event for something good is not the same as causing it.
As far as allowing something to happen, God is not our Guardian Angel. He allows things to happen for various reasons. I do not personally know His mind, so I cannot comment on what those may be.
"Unlike you, I don't question the motives of The Creator."
Why not? He gave us brains to think rationally, no? Frankly, He doesn't make sense a lot of the time. Am I supposed to ignore the incongruities?
To us, that's correct--much like parents don't make much sense to young children who don't see the whole picture or cannot plan for the future.
Since we don't see all of history (including our future), what we may think of as nonsensical is, in reality, perfectly sensible, We just don't know all the facts as He does. This is where faith and trust come into our lives. Do you trust your Father, or not?
Right, and going around questioning evil or putting blame for evil squarely at God is pointless, a waste of time, and not our (as mere humans here on earth) purpose in life.
God isn't evil. God doesn't create evil. God as The Teacher permits evil to exist to teach all of us a lesson.
Good evokes an image of light and happiness. Evil brings about thoughts of darkness. Go into a dark room that you've never been in before, there's a chance you might stumble over the couch and fall and bang your head on the wall or the floor or stub your toe. Go into a brightly lit room, you can make it to the couch without injury.
"As far as allowing something to happen, God is not our Guardian Angel. He allows things to happen for various reasons. I do not personally know His mind, so I cannot comment on what those may be."
Is it legitimate to question His mind, motivations, character? We are told in the Bible that He is holy, loving and just. Yet he boasts of creating evil. I have a hard time meshing holy, loving and just with evil.
Which doesn't answer the question: Is God ultimately responsibile for evil because He knew that, by creating Satan, evil would be brought into the world.
Unlike you, I don't question the motives of The Creator.
I wasn't questioning His motives. I'm trying to understand His motives.
God knows what we will do before we are born, but He creates us anyway. Even the worst person has value in God's eyes and plays a part in His plan.
We may not like it. . .we may not understand it. . .but it's the way it is. He's God and we are mere humans.
Yep.
Frankly, He doesn't make sense a lot of the time. Am I supposed to ignore the incongruities?
Nope, but you could learn from them.
Of course. There are multiple instances of people questioning God. However, we should be VERY careful our motivations in doing so. If it's to blame Him for the evil going on, then no. However, to know His mind for righteous reasons , I think it would be fine (and encouraged) to do so.
Again--think of a parent/child relationship. The parent causes some sort of punishment/discipline on the child. If the child honestly questions the reason so as to better himself, then the question is seen by the parent as on opportunity for teaching. However, if the child questions his discipline in such a way as to transfer all blame to the parent, the parent gets even more mad at the child. The question was not legitimate, and closer to just screaming at the parent.
Yet he boasts of creating evil. I have a hard time meshing holy, loving and just with evil.
That verse has been misused a lot. I believe in the original Hebrew, "evil" actually means distress/difficult times/etc. Not Satan-type evil. Does that help?
"Do you trust your Father, or not?"
At one point, I did so w/o question. Now, I'm trying to understand Him.
It is the problem of evil. I don't understand why He allows it to persist if He is our loving Father. There is a point at which "tough love" can be taken too far and seem out of proportion to the offense.
A little more mercy would be nice to see.
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