Why did God create pediatric cancer?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:*So you would create non-humans without their own thoughts and feelings.*

Sorry, the first sentence was mistyped.

I never said that. God can’t create a space or people with free will but no evil?

Well then heaven is gonna SUCK.

So how can people have free will if God takes the ability of humans to choose for themselves away?


Free will is free. Totally free. Free will is not predetermined, programmed, AI creatures that look like humans, talk like humans, but aren’t human. Humans are individual beings.


We are unable to fully serve God in this life due to sin, but in heaven "every curse will no longer be" (Revelation 22:3). We will not be under the curse of sin any longer, so everything we do will be worship in heaven. We will never be motivated by anything other than our love for God. Everything we do will be out of our love for God, untainted by our sin nature.

Heaven is a different place than earth. But really since you don’t believe in God, why do you care? You don’t believe in any of this stuff; why are you so worried about it?

This has zero bearing on your life, why is it so important you endlessly debate things you don’t believe in?

Answer this question: Is there free will in heaven?

Answer this question: Do you believe in God?

regarding your question: Adam and Eve had a choice to make in the Garden of Eden, and that shows beyond all doubt that mankind was created with a free will.


Humans has retained his free will, and we will retain free will in heaven.

In heaven we are completely conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28–30). We will not want to sin. In heaven there will be no temptation to lure us and no devil to deceive us. We will face no test; our moral state will be secure. Jesus has a truly free will yet is without sin, so will we retain a free will yet be without sin. We will be like Him.

(1 John 3:2).

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

So you refuse to answer the question?

Is there free Will in heaven?

Answer this question: Do you believe in God?

regarding your question: Adam and Eve had a choice to make in the Garden of Eden, and that shows beyond all doubt that mankind was created with a free will.


Humans has retained his free will, and we will retain free will in heaven.

In heaven we are completely conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28–30). We will not want to sin. In heaven there will be no temptation to lure us and no devil to deceive us. We will face no test; our moral state will be secure. Jesus has a truly free will yet is without sin, so will we retain a free will yet be without sin. We will be like Him.

(1 John 3:2).

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I asked you first, and you keep DODGING THE QUESTION. You are doing that and you know why. So does everything else reading the thread.

Answer the question: Is there free will in heaven to continue the discussion in context instead of ignoring what you can’t answer or no one will take anything you say as more than straw man BS. End period.

The traditional view of heaven holds that the redeemed in heaven both have free will and are no longer capable of sinning.

It has been answered in 4 separate posts in the last 2-3 pages.

No, no it has not been answered. It is a yes or no question. Just say "YES" or "NO"

But I will take your response as a "YES" as it is the closest so far.

So we have established things can be perfect and yet still provide free will, since there are none of those horrible things in heaven. Therefore they can exist on the world where I am god too. Argument over.

Now I will answer your question, as I promised: No, of course I do not believe in a god, because this simple logic leads to the logical conclusion that it is unlikely one exists. So until someone presents sufficient evidence to the contrary, I will not believe in one.

So you will use the non-existent God’s example of heaven as how you would make earth if you were a god?

Aren’t there any better gods you can copy? And why would you need to copy the example of the non-existent God? You don’t have better ways to do all this stuff?

It’s pretty weird you say He doesn’t exist, but say you would do what He does to make the world perfect.

Yes, in my fictional scenario where I am god we can use your acceptance of your fictional scenario as evidence that you accept my scenario is possible. Thanks for doing that, BTW. As I said, that part of this argument is over now.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious but here's the way of think of "why do bad things happen to good people": In a nutshell, God was juggling a lot of balls and dropped one. So when one kid gets cancer, God didn't notice because s/he was preventing an earthquake that would have killed thousands. Something like that. It's the only thing I've come up with that both feels logical and comforts me.

So why did God create an earth that has earthquakes?

Can't make an Earth that doesn't quake. It's impossible. It's like making something with a left but not a right.

Wha? Something God can’t do?

What else is on the list of what god can’t do?

(Also, any decent geologist would tell you how to make an earth that doesn’t quake. So, wrong.).

Gosh can these decent geologists fix our earth so it stops having earthquakes?

Can these decent geologists make us a new, perfect, earthquake free earth? Then we can all go live on their perfect earth and we can abandon this junky earth that had colliding plates and volcanoes and storms.

Stupid straw-mans from a fire hose here. No one is saying they can "fix it" - so stupid - but they can explain why they happen and tell you what the world would have to be like for them to NOT happen. You are making up more dishonest BS.

We are not here to teach rudimentary science to you fundamental creationist home school failures. Look up plate tectonics and then come back.

So geologists can tell us how the earth should be formed to prevent earthquakes?

Could you give us a quick synopsis of how geologists say the earth should have been created? Like with stronger materials or something?

Take a minute and go back and read what you typed. You clearly are not a serious poster. If you are this is very, very stupid. Especially since I essentially pointed you to the answer in the post you are responding to.

If you are sincere in what you typed, I respectfully and with good intent suggest maybe you not enter into these types of discussions as you are not suited for them and make religious people sound stupid (and most are not stupid). If you are not sincere in what you typed and are just trolling, please GFY.

That’s very rude and immature; how disappointing. It’s very hard to not let your emotions run wild and maintain your composure and dignity sometimes, but if you would accept that other people have different, valid opinions, and you respected their opinions, you would probably avoid becoming angry and hostile.


In the real world, most decent adults don’t curse each other during discussion. They don’t tell other adults not to engage in discussion and become enraged because they encounter different opinions. You can act that way online because it’s anonymous and you are typing on a computer, but irl it’s terrible behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious but here's the way of think of "why do bad things happen to good people": In a nutshell, God was juggling a lot of balls and dropped one. So when one kid gets cancer, God didn't notice because s/he was preventing an earthquake that would have killed thousands. Something like that. It's the only thing I've come up with that both feels logical and comforts me.

So why did God create an earth that has earthquakes?

Can't make an Earth that doesn't quake. It's impossible. It's like making something with a left but not a right.

Wha? Something God can’t do?

What else is on the list of what god can’t do?

(Also, any decent geologist would tell you how to make an earth that doesn’t quake. So, wrong.).

Gosh can these decent geologists fix our earth so it stops having earthquakes?

Can these decent geologists make us a new, perfect, earthquake free earth? Then we can all go live on their perfect earth and we can abandon this junky earth that had colliding plates and volcanoes and storms.

Stupid straw-mans from a fire hose here. No one is saying they can "fix it" - so stupid - but they can explain why they happen and tell you what the world would have to be like for them to NOT happen. You are making up more dishonest BS.

We are not here to teach rudimentary science to you fundamental creationist home school failures. Look up plate tectonics and then come back.

So geologists can tell us how the earth should be formed to prevent earthquakes?

Could you give us a quick synopsis of how geologists say the earth should have been created? Like with stronger materials or something?

Take a minute and go back and read what you typed. You clearly are not a serious poster. If you are this is very, very stupid. Especially since I essentially pointed you to the answer in the post you are responding to.

If you are sincere in what you typed, I respectfully and with good intent suggest maybe you not enter into these types of discussions as you are not suited for them and make religious people sound stupid (and most are not stupid). If you are not sincere in what you typed and are just trolling, please GFY.

That’s very rude and immature; how disappointing. It’s very hard to not let your emotions run wild and maintain your composure and dignity sometimes, but if you would accept that other people have different, valid opinions, and you respected their opinions, you would probably avoid becoming angry and hostile.


In the real world, most decent adults don’t curse each other during discussion. They don’t tell other adults not to engage in discussion and become enraged because they encounter different opinions. You can act that way online because it’s anonymous and you are typing on a computer, but irl it’s terrible behavior.

So then you admit you ARE trolling? Because if you aren't, then no harm no foul, right, as it would not apply? But since you do admit it now, GFY again. People like you are pathetic.

And how do you know what GFY stands for? Suppose I meant "Go Find Yourself?" I didn't, but how do you know?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What explains the suffering of children to people who aren’t religious? Is it just random terrible things, and then the child suffers and dies and is snuffed out of existence?

To some, I think. A friend who was atheist was dying of a terrible illness and that is certainly how he viewed it. I lived, I suffer, I die, and am no more. I found it very sad that he viewed life as so pointless, but others found his point of view somehow comforting.

Did he say life was pointless, or did you imagine it?
It's quite sad that you find life so pointless that you wish for something to exist outside of life to give it a point.

What’s the point in the life of a baby with cancer? They suffer and die, what is the point to their lives?

I’d like to know the answer to this too. Can someone explain how they view this secularly?

All life on earth (and earth itself) is random. Both the suffering and the joy.
All we can do is attempt to create meaningful experiences for ourselves while we are here.

But we are still subject to randomness that cannot be expained, controlled or "prayed" away.

So what is the meaningful experience of a baby born, developing cancer, and dying?

+1

Anyone?

They might touch a soul on earth and will be one with God in heaven when they die.

I think some religious people believe that.

So far 2 secular posters have posted and they have different opinions; in fact, one believes that the other secular poster is an immoral monster for their opinion.

I have no idea if that poster that typed "Ok so in the secular view, babies die from cancer randomly and their lives mean nothing" is religious or not. They did not state explicitly but it certainly appeared to be a religious person straw-man mis-paraphrasing another statement.

I can't prove it but it certainly appears YOU typed it, and if so, you are in fact a horrific immoral insensitive monster.

Nope. I asked this question: So what is the meaningful experience of a baby born, developing cancer, and dying?

The 2 posts that answered that question were not typed by me. I didn’t answer my own question pretending to be someone else.

You immoral insensitive monster is another secular poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious but here's the way of think of "why do bad things happen to good people": In a nutshell, God was juggling a lot of balls and dropped one. So when one kid gets cancer, God didn't notice because s/he was preventing an earthquake that would have killed thousands. Something like that. It's the only thing I've come up with that both feels logical and comforts me.

So why did God create an earth that has earthquakes?

Can't make an Earth that doesn't quake. It's impossible. It's like making something with a left but not a right.

Wha? Something God can’t do?

What else is on the list of what god can’t do?

(Also, any decent geologist would tell you how to make an earth that doesn’t quake. So, wrong.).

Gosh can these decent geologists fix our earth so it stops having earthquakes?

Can these decent geologists make us a new, perfect, earthquake free earth? Then we can all go live on their perfect earth and we can abandon this junky earth that had colliding plates and volcanoes and storms.

Stupid straw-mans from a fire hose here. No one is saying they can "fix it" - so stupid - but they can explain why they happen and tell you what the world would have to be like for them to NOT happen. You are making up more dishonest BS.

We are not here to teach rudimentary science to you fundamental creationist home school failures. Look up plate tectonics and then come back.

So geologists can tell us how the earth should be formed to prevent earthquakes?

Could you give us a quick synopsis of how geologists say the earth should have been created? Like with stronger materials or something?

Take a minute and go back and read what you typed. You clearly are not a serious poster. If you are this is very, very stupid. Especially since I essentially pointed you to the answer in the post you are responding to.

If you are sincere in what you typed, I respectfully and with good intent suggest maybe you not enter into these types of discussions as you are not suited for them and make religious people sound stupid (and most are not stupid). If you are not sincere in what you typed and are just trolling, please GFY.

That’s very rude and immature; how disappointing. It’s very hard to not let your emotions run wild and maintain your composure and dignity sometimes, but if you would accept that other people have different, valid opinions, and you respected their opinions, you would probably avoid becoming angry and hostile.


In the real world, most decent adults don’t curse each other during discussion. They don’t tell other adults not to engage in discussion and become enraged because they encounter different opinions. You can act that way online because it’s anonymous and you are typing on a computer, but irl it’s terrible behavior.

So then you admit you ARE trolling? Because if you aren't, then no harm no foul, right, as it would not apply? But since you do admit it now, GFY again. People like you are pathetic.

And how do you know what GFY stands for? Suppose I meant "Go Find Yourself?" I didn't, but how do you know?

You don’t have to create a huge dramatic scenario because you can’t answer the question. I literally don’t care what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious but here's the way of think of "why do bad things happen to good people": In a nutshell, God was juggling a lot of balls and dropped one. So when one kid gets cancer, God didn't notice because s/he was preventing an earthquake that would have killed thousands. Something like that. It's the only thing I've come up with that both feels logical and comforts me.

So why did God create an earth that has earthquakes?

Can't make an Earth that doesn't quake. It's impossible. It's like making something with a left but not a right.

Wha? Something God can’t do?

What else is on the list of what god can’t do?

(Also, any decent geologist would tell you how to make an earth that doesn’t quake. So, wrong.).

Gosh can these decent geologists fix our earth so it stops having earthquakes?

Can these decent geologists make us a new, perfect, earthquake free earth? Then we can all go live on their perfect earth and we can abandon this junky earth that had colliding plates and volcanoes and storms.

Stupid straw-mans from a fire hose here. No one is saying they can "fix it" - so stupid - but they can explain why they happen and tell you what the world would have to be like for them to NOT happen. You are making up more dishonest BS.

We are not here to teach rudimentary science to you fundamental creationist home school failures. Look up plate tectonics and then come back.

So geologists can tell us how the earth should be formed to prevent earthquakes?

Could you give us a quick synopsis of how geologists say the earth should have been created? Like with stronger materials or something?

Take a minute and go back and read what you typed. You clearly are not a serious poster. If you are this is very, very stupid. Especially since I essentially pointed you to the answer in the post you are responding to.

If you are sincere in what you typed, I respectfully and with good intent suggest maybe you not enter into these types of discussions as you are not suited for them and make religious people sound stupid (and most are not stupid). If you are not sincere in what you typed and are just trolling, please GFY.

That’s very rude and immature; how disappointing. It’s very hard to not let your emotions run wild and maintain your composure and dignity sometimes, but if you would accept that other people have different, valid opinions, and you respected their opinions, you would probably avoid becoming angry and hostile.


In the real world, most decent adults don’t curse each other during discussion. They don’t tell other adults not to engage in discussion and become enraged because they encounter different opinions. You can act that way online because it’s anonymous and you are typing on a computer, but irl it’s terrible behavior.

So then you admit you ARE trolling? Because if you aren't, then no harm no foul, right, as it would not apply? But since you do admit it now, GFY again. People like you are pathetic.

And how do you know what GFY stands for? Suppose I meant "Go Find Yourself?" I didn't, but how do you know?

You need to do something pleasant for a few hours, you are becoming unhinged. Drink some tea, take a hot bath, enjoy nature or your pet. Stay blessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What explains the suffering of children to people who aren’t religious? Is it just random terrible things, and then the child suffers and dies and is snuffed out of existence?

To some, I think. A friend who was atheist was dying of a terrible illness and that is certainly how he viewed it. I lived, I suffer, I die, and am no more. I found it very sad that he viewed life as so pointless, but others found his point of view somehow comforting.

Did he say life was pointless, or did you imagine it?
It's quite sad that you find life so pointless that you wish for something to exist outside of life to give it a point.

What’s the point in the life of a baby with cancer? They suffer and die, what is the point to their lives?

I’d like to know the answer to this too. Can someone explain how they view this secularly?

All life on earth (and earth itself) is random. Both the suffering and the joy.
All we can do is attempt to create meaningful experiences for ourselves while we are here.

But we are still subject to randomness that cannot be expained, controlled or "prayed" away.

So what is the meaningful experience of a baby born, developing cancer, and dying?

+1

Anyone?

They might touch a soul on earth and will be one with God in heaven when they die.

I think some religious people believe that.

So far 2 secular posters have posted and they have different opinions; in fact, one believes that the other secular poster is an immoral monster for their opinion.

I have no idea if that poster that typed "Ok so in the secular view, babies die from cancer randomly and their lives mean nothing" is religious or not. They did not state explicitly but it certainly appeared to be a religious person straw-man mis-paraphrasing another statement.

I can't prove it but it certainly appears YOU typed it, and if so, you are in fact a horrific immoral insensitive monster.

Nope. I asked this question: So what is the meaningful experience of a baby born, developing cancer, and dying?

The 2 posts that answered that question were not typed by me. I didn’t answer my own question pretending to be someone else.

You immoral insensitive monster is another secular poster.

Whoever typed this: ""Ok so in the secular view, babies die from cancer randomly and their lives mean nothing" is who those comments were intended for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious but here's the way of think of "why do bad things happen to good people": In a nutshell, God was juggling a lot of balls and dropped one. So when one kid gets cancer, God didn't notice because s/he was preventing an earthquake that would have killed thousands. Something like that. It's the only thing I've come up with that both feels logical and comforts me.

So why did God create an earth that has earthquakes?

Can't make an Earth that doesn't quake. It's impossible. It's like making something with a left but not a right.

Wha? Something God can’t do?

What else is on the list of what god can’t do?

(Also, any decent geologist would tell you how to make an earth that doesn’t quake. So, wrong.).

Gosh can these decent geologists fix our earth so it stops having earthquakes?

Can these decent geologists make us a new, perfect, earthquake free earth? Then we can all go live on their perfect earth and we can abandon this junky earth that had colliding plates and volcanoes and storms.

Stupid straw-mans from a fire hose here. No one is saying they can "fix it" - so stupid - but they can explain why they happen and tell you what the world would have to be like for them to NOT happen. You are making up more dishonest BS.

We are not here to teach rudimentary science to you fundamental creationist home school failures. Look up plate tectonics and then come back.

So geologists can tell us how the earth should be formed to prevent earthquakes?

Could you give us a quick synopsis of how geologists say the earth should have been created? Like with stronger materials or something?

Take a minute and go back and read what you typed. You clearly are not a serious poster. If you are this is very, very stupid. Especially since I essentially pointed you to the answer in the post you are responding to.

If you are sincere in what you typed, I respectfully and with good intent suggest maybe you not enter into these types of discussions as you are not suited for them and make religious people sound stupid (and most are not stupid). If you are not sincere in what you typed and are just trolling, please GFY.

That’s very rude and immature; how disappointing. It’s very hard to not let your emotions run wild and maintain your composure and dignity sometimes, but if you would accept that other people have different, valid opinions, and you respected their opinions, you would probably avoid becoming angry and hostile.


In the real world, most decent adults don’t curse each other during discussion. They don’t tell other adults not to engage in discussion and become enraged because they encounter different opinions. You can act that way online because it’s anonymous and you are typing on a computer, but irl it’s terrible behavior.

So then you admit you ARE trolling? Because if you aren't, then no harm no foul, right, as it would not apply? But since you do admit it now, GFY again. People like you are pathetic.

And how do you know what GFY stands for? Suppose I meant "Go Find Yourself?" I didn't, but how do you know?

You don’t have to create a huge dramatic scenario because you can’t answer the question. I literally don’t care what you think.

I did answer the question. Despite it being a silly stupid strawman, I answered it. Look up plate tectonics.

For someone who doesn't care what I think, you sure are spending a lot of effort responding to what I think. I recommend you ignore me, and don't make anymore troll posts, and I will have nothing to respond to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*So you would create non-humans without their own thoughts and feelings.*

Sorry, the first sentence was mistyped.

I never said that. God can’t create a space or people with free will but no evil?

Well then heaven is gonna SUCK.

So how can people have free will if God takes the ability of humans to choose for themselves away?


Free will is free. Totally free. Free will is not predetermined, programmed, AI creatures that look like humans, talk like humans, but aren’t human. Humans are individual beings.


We are unable to fully serve God in this life due to sin, but in heaven "every curse will no longer be" (Revelation 22:3). We will not be under the curse of sin any longer, so everything we do will be worship in heaven. We will never be motivated by anything other than our love for God. Everything we do will be out of our love for God, untainted by our sin nature.

Heaven is a different place than earth. But really since you don’t believe in God, why do you care? You don’t believe in any of this stuff; why are you so worried about it?

This has zero bearing on your life, why is it so important you endlessly debate things you don’t believe in?

Quoting your religious texts to support that your religion is real is such circular logic. What support is there for any of this beyond the book telling people to believe in what the book says?

I have answered your question and you refuse to answer mine: do you believe in God?

I have zero interest in asking you to agree with my opinions or beliefs.

All I ask is you live your life as you wish and every other human be able to do the same, as they wish. Nobody here wants to convert you or prove anything to you or anyone else posting here.

I am open to the idea of God or a higher energy existing. I do not believe 1 of thousands of religions is the absolute correct religion.

I have no problem if people want to pray, attend ceremonies, celebrate holidays, etc. If you want to believe God allows babies to die of cancer, well I 100% support that right too (although I have respectfully posted why I disagree).

Unfortunately I have not always been shown the same respect in turn. I grew up down south in the 90s where there was a lot of pressure even *at public school* to sign purity pledges. Friends and their parents would pressure me to go to church and tell me I was going to hell if I didn’t (as a child at that!) What a loving thing to say to a 12 year old. And now my right to access reproductive healthcare is being limited because of other people’s religious beliefs. So yeah I take issue with that.

Ok sorry you are not able to process your feelings about your childhood. Nobody here cares about what you believe or don’t believe. Maybe read the room and realize you aren’t not being disrespected here. You are talking about abortion repeatedly and this is not the place to argue about the political issues surrounding abortion.

you are not being disrespected here, sorry mistyped

I never said I was being disrespected here. I also don’t think I’ve been disrespectful for anyone else’s beliefs. I’ve given logical reasons why I don’t believe there is a God of the Bible from Genesis allowing babies to die of cancer.

However, I’m spiritual and open to the idea of a higher power. Which is why I opened this thread because I did not take OP’s question to mean God has to be a certain God of a particular religion.

You or a PP mentioned expecting non-believers to respect religious beliefs. I was simply pointing out that it goes both way. There are many religious people in this world who do not respect others’ freedom to not be subject to their religious beliefs. Maybe you are not one of those people, but I can assure you plenty of religious people out there are more than happy to tell others how to live their life and condemning them to hell for not believing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can a non-religious person explain how they view the suffering of children and the death of children?

A really heartbreaking and unfortunate gene mutation that renders the physical body unable to keep living. Basically it’s crap luck. There doesn’t have to be some purpose behind it, but I get that is hard for a lot of people to accept, so I think religion came about to provide comfort for the difficult stuff.

[Anonymous]

Two quick points.

First, any talk of heaven is pretty theoretically because none of us have been there and human language would fail to describe it anyways. So to say that free will exists in heaven is true but not what people are interpreting here. For one, we will see God and everything with perfect clarity. Two, heaven it outside of time, so up to anyone's imagination what that means in terms of free will.

Second, the overarching theme I am reading for the atheist camp is that if we can't explain everything about God, then he is not worth believing. This is a foundational question. If you ascribe to it, then stop debating religion and visiting religion forums because you will never get it and will never have faith. But I hope stated bluntly, some of you can see how absurd the stance is. We will never fully get it here. I guess for some that will be a permanent stumbling block. But again, the alternative is to believe in nothing, just randomness. If you find solace in that, great. If not, rethink your need to fit God into your small brains (not an insult, we all have small brains!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What explains the suffering of children to people who aren’t religious? Is it just random terrible things, and then the child suffers and dies and is snuffed out of existence?

To some, I think. A friend who was atheist was dying of a terrible illness and that is certainly how he viewed it. I lived, I suffer, I die, and am no more. I found it very sad that he viewed life as so pointless, but others found his point of view somehow comforting.

Did he say life was pointless, or did you imagine it?
It's quite sad that you find life so pointless that you wish for something to exist outside of life to give it a point.

What’s the point in the life of a baby with cancer? They suffer and die, what is the point to their lives?

I’d like to know the answer to this too. Can someone explain how they view this secularly?

I guess the non-religious people don’t have an answer. No one has said anything as an answer except tragedy. Of course it’s a tragedy. But what is the point of the baby being born, dying of cancer, and then being non-existent? From the secular perspective.

Why does there have to be a point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suggest you atheist actually think about what you are saying. Will you ever be satisfied? No. It doesn't stop at pediatric cancer. Humans will always want more. Also consider the hubris in trying to think you as a mere human can design a better existence.

Ultimately you only have two choices. Either decide that there is no God and everything is random and live with the consequences of that conclusion, or accept that there is a God but he clearly places more importance on something beyond our earthly comfort. Then if you really care to, figure out what God wants yourself. I honestly don't think it is that hard for anyone who is willing to pursue the question honestly.

There's a third option. There is a god but he is either apathetic or evil

This third choice (along with the suggestion that God is just some energy) doesn't pass logical muster. A being cannot great something greater than itself. God, if he is evil or just some energy, cannot have created humans, who are capable of so much good and complexity and logical thought. Think of what it means to be human, the giving and receiving of love, personal growth, wisdom, capable of transcendent experiences and art. An evil God or an energy blob could not be capable of creating us, and would not be worthy of being called God because we are better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two quick points.

First, any talk of heaven is pretty theoretically because none of us have been there and human language would fail to describe it anyways. So to say that free will exists in heaven is true but not what people are interpreting here. For one, we will see God and everything with perfect clarity. Two, heaven it outside of time, so up to anyone's imagination what that means in terms of free will.

Second, the overarching theme I am reading for the atheist camp is that if we can't explain everything about God, then he is not worth believing. This is a foundational question. If you ascribe to it, then stop debating religion and visiting religion forums because you will never get it and will never have faith. But I hope stated bluntly, some of you can see how absurd the stance is. We will never fully get it here. I guess for some that will be a permanent stumbling block. But again, the alternative is to believe in nothing, just randomness. If you find solace in that, great. If not, rethink your need to fit God into your small brains (not an insult, we all have small brains!)

Not believing in the Christian God does not mean you’re an atheist. Not everything is about Christians. There are other spiritual beliefs that don’t involve Adam and Eve or heaven. Or even just believing that we just can’t know until we die.

But Christians don’t get dibs on deciding what God is. I can think religion itself is man made and flawed, and still discuss beliefs about the universe that do not align with there being some creator who is ascribing deeper meaning to cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second, the overarching theme I am reading for the atheist camp is that if we can't explain everything about God, then he is not worth believing.

Why do you all insist on paraphrasing? No one said that in this thread that I can find. What was said is that the problem of evil (ie pediatric cancer) makes an anthropomorphic interactive omniscient god logically unlikely to exist. "Worth" never enters it.

This is a foundational question. If you ascribe to it, then stop debating religion and visiting religion forums because you will never get it and will never have faith.

Non-religious people have positions on religion also. You properly type "religion" forum, and not "religious" forum, so at least you got that part right. But I tell you what: as soon as the world stops making policy based on religion I will stop posting here or elsewhere. Deal?

But I hope stated bluntly, some of you can see how absurd the stance is. We will never fully get it here. I guess for some that will be a permanent stumbling block.

If it can't be understood, then people should stop claiming to understand it, right? If it can't be understood, then the idea that there is no god or that there is and it is Xenu are just as valid as your position, correct?

But again, the alternative is to believe in nothing, just randomness. If you find solace in that, great. If not, rethink your need to fit God into your small brains (not an insult, we all have small brains!)

This thing you type in bold, as pointed out again and again and again, is a position nearly no atheist holds. Atheism is not nihilism. Atheism purports no claim to solace. It is simply the position that there is insufficient evidence to believe in a god or gods, and nothing more. Please don't ascribe anything more to it unless a specific person claims to hold that belief.

I will respectfully point out that you are also an atheist with regard to all the gods you do not believe in, as well as many other myths and mythical creatures with which you would find belief in difficult.