Absolutely. It's the view that the suffering and deaths are the result of some known or unknown purpose of God, which purpose is presented as good and merciful, to which I object. That kind of purpose is the same as the terrorist's. Someone once told me life is like a tapestry....we only see the backside of it..all the knots and crossed thread...we will not see the pattern of that tapestry untill we are in heaven
The back side of a tapestry is not pretty. I would expect the hidden purposes of a benevolent God to be beautiful. In any case, what this analogy really says is that no one knows what they are doing or why they are doing it. It's "fate" or "predestination." No wonder Christians can be so easily terrified.
Hank
Unsubstantiated generalization.
Hank your life has a purpose..my life has a purpose..so should not our death?
We see all these parents and loved ones that have a tragic family death start up funds or movements so that the death has a purpose..(or as in the case with Chandras parents ,dealing with the unknown)....
God knows the purpose...we dont need to know.For everything there is a season...those are reassuring words .
I lost a toddler grandson in May Hank,as my family talks and remembers one of the questions asked is would it have need easier..better if he had never been born.We would have been spared the pain of the seperation...but we also would have been denied the joy of knowing him...such is the paradox of life and death..
We do not understand the mind or plan of God.Some will say it is a national rebuke and warning,some will say it is the beginning of the end times..some will say it the devil did it...some will say it was just a sign of evil in the world. No matter what you believe this was a horrible thing to see,and it is awful for those families.
I know that this is part of Gods plan,because not a sparrow falls to the ground with out His knowlege.I think that is a comfort..the world is not out of control..