Ebola

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you assume God created the Ebola virus in the first place? Thats like asking why did God create rapists? Maybe God did not create them. Maybe they were created by mankind's actions. Who knows.

But if God did create it, maybe to test mankind. Maybe to see who would help poor countries where Ebola is spreading, or to test the victims families reaction,...

I didn't see anyone as avoiding your question. I think people said these are all tests, so one should deduce that if Ebola was created by God, it may have been to test all of us in different ways.

People are individualizing it to a specific person. You just did it yourself by pointing to a rapist. If were speaking about humans, the question would be why did God create humans? Not why did God create Jimmy as a rapist. The Ebola virus is a living thing and just like humans any given one may or may not do harm. But the question is, why did God create the virus.

Your last paragraph is an answer and I thank you for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God's will? Or just one of many things God has no control of?

It's simple. God brings the good stuff. The devil brings the bad stuff. Medical science cures disease, unrelated to the religion of the scientists the doctors or the patients.

God works in mysterious ways.

And God created the devil, so God is perfectly content with creating "bad stuff."

[Anonymous]

God is content with creating free-will having creatures, I.e. The devil and humans. Only free will will generate real love; you can't make someone love you for real w/o free will.

He decided free will was more important than happiness all the time.

[Anonymous]

Yes I agre PP. I think through free will we learn introspection and about love. We are deeply interconnected, men and women, children and adults, blacks, whites, other races, jews, christians, hindus, muslims, other religions. None of these differences matter. We are still interconnected. And life is a test. Satan will tempt us using our free will. Who will steal, rob, rape, oppress? Who will cheat, lie, deceive, fornicate? Who will hurt the vulnerable such as children? Who will help the poor and oppressed? Who will raise a child with love? Hopefully through free will, we learn life lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God is content with creating free-will having creatures, I.e. The devil and humans. Only free will will generate real love; you can't make someone love you for real w/o free will.

He decided free will was more important than happiness all the time.

When he first created humans, aka Adam, there wasn't free will. It wasn't until Eve came along and evil followed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes I agre PP. I think through free will we learn introspection and about love. We are deeply interconnected, men and women, children and adults, blacks, whites, other races, jews, christians, hindus, muslims, other religions. None of these differences matter. We are still interconnected. And life is a test. Satan will tempt us using our free will. Who will steal, rob, rape, oppress? Who will cheat, lie, deceive, fornicate? Who will hurt the vulnerable such as children? Who will help the poor and oppressed? Who will raise a child with love? Hopefully through free will, we learn life lessons.

So your saying the Ebola virus has free will?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes I agre PP. I think through free will we learn introspection and about love. We are deeply interconnected, men and women, children and adults, blacks, whites, other races, jews, christians, hindus, muslims, other religions. None of these differences matter. We are still interconnected. And life is a test. Satan will tempt us using our free will. Who will steal, rob, rape, oppress? Who will cheat, lie, deceive, fornicate? Who will hurt the vulnerable such as children? Who will help the poor and oppressed? Who will raise a child with love? Hopefully through free will, we learn life lessons.

who will get Ebola, who gets hit by a truck, who is born with half a brain -- this is all a part of the wonderful free will that a loving god gave to all the peoples of the world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes I agre PP. I think through free will we learn introspection and about love. We are deeply interconnected, men and women, children and adults, blacks, whites, other races, jews, christians, hindus, muslims, other religions. None of these differences matter. We are still interconnected. And life is a test. Satan will tempt us using our free will. Who will steal, rob, rape, oppress? Who will cheat, lie, deceive, fornicate? Who will hurt the vulnerable such as children? Who will help the poor and oppressed? Who will raise a child with love? Hopefully through free will, we learn life lessons.

who will get Ebola, who gets hit by a truck, who is born with half a brain -- this is all a part of the wonderful free will that a loving god gave to all the peoples of the world

No, not really.......

More like
- how will the person react if he gets ebola? Will he be angry with God? Will He trust in God's plan? Will you help someone with Ebola?
- will the truck driver be angry if he is disabled after an accident? Will the victims family live with anger? Will the victim handle a disability resulting from an accident well?
- will the baby who died at 2 weeks because of having only half a brain, cause the family feel jealous of other families with newborns who were born healthy? Will the baby's death cause the parents to stop trusting God?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes I agre PP. I think through free will we learn introspection and about love. We are deeply interconnected, men and women, children and adults, blacks, whites, other races, jews, christians, hindus, muslims, other religions. None of these differences matter. We are still interconnected. And life is a test. Satan will tempt us using our free will. Who will steal, rob, rape, oppress? Who will cheat, lie, deceive, fornicate? Who will hurt the vulnerable such as children? Who will help the poor and oppressed? Who will raise a child with love? Hopefully through free will, we learn life lessons.

who will get Ebola, who gets hit by a truck, who is born with half a brain -- this is all a part of the wonderful free will that a loving god gave to all the peoples of the world

No, not really.......

More like
- how will the person react if he gets ebola? Will he be angry with God? Will He trust in God's plan? Will you help someone with Ebola?
- will the truck driver be angry if he is disabled after an accident? Will the victims family live with anger? Will the victim handle a disability resulting from an accident well?
- will the baby who died at 2 weeks because of having only half a brain, cause the family feel jealous of other families with newborns who were born healthy? Will the baby's death cause the parents to stop trusting God?

Sounds like a very mean spirited God. Heh, lets stick pin needles in this girl's eye and see if she praises the lord.

[Anonymous]

The idea that God must be all flowers and gum drops is a very childish one. At least to me. How else can people be tested if not through trial and tribulations? Challenges in life sometimes mold us to become stronger individuals with better character. This is the purpose of life. To learn about ourselves and about love.

[Anonymous]

All roads lead to God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea that God must be all flowers and gum drops is a very childish one. At least to me. How else can people be tested if not through trial and tribulations? Challenges in life sometimes mold us to become stronger individuals with better character. This is the purpose of life. To learn about ourselves and about love.

The idea that if there is a God he is not all flowers and gum drops is a very childish one. There would be no need for a devil if God was behind all the trial and tribulation tests. How one get's molded into a stronger individual with better character doesn't even need to be test based. Simple things like reading a book, talking with others, traveling, etc also builds character.

[Anonymous]

God permits some trials. Satan causes other misfortunes. They are all tests. In some cases, they may not be tests but punishment.

Reading a book may cause self reflection but its not a test. I can only see our will tested through trial or challenges.

This is the position of people who believe in God. Its a very empowering belief system. It can be for everyone but doesn't have to be. Thats the beauty of it, we all have free will. One can choose to have faith or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea that God must be all flowers and gum drops is a very childish one. At least to me. How else can people be tested if not through trial and tribulations? Challenges in life sometimes mold us to become stronger individuals with better character. This is the purpose of life. To learn about ourselves and about love.

I agree with this. I've never understood the concept of a completely benevolent and merciful God. Not saying that I'm an atheist, but I agree it's infantile to believe in a totally "good" God. It makes much more sense that God has a dangerous, tumultuous, aggressive side - particularly if you believe in a God that is omnipotent and omniscient. The "Devil" has always seemed like a concept that's an excuse - for not wanting to accept that God that had a "bad" side (which God has to have, to create a Devil in the first place), or maybe misplacing human responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God permits some trials. Satan causes other misfortunes. They are all tests. In some cases, they may not be tests but punishment.

Reading a book may cause self reflection but its not a test. I can only see our will tested through trial or challenges.

This is the position of people who believe in God. Its a very empowering belief system. It can be for everyone but doesn't have to be. Thats the beauty of it, we all have free will. One can choose to have faith or not.

That's a very bold statement. How can you speak for everyone?