Do you ever wish that God would show himself at least once?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God (Judeo-Christian) does indeed have a face. God passed before Moses but used his hand so that Moses would not see his face. That's how I remember the text.

An ancient book says God has a face which he chose not to show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I know what the saying on the cup means -- and that it was written by humans - not by God and can be presumed to be channeling god.

If there is a God who shows up sometimes and not others, it does suggest that, while he may exist, he's not looking out for some of us very well."


No, you do not get it. If you assume God is not looking out for you very well when he doesn't show up in the way you think is best, then you are assuming you know better than God what is best for you (or the world). God may be looking out for you in ways you aren't able to see or understand. There is a greater good.

God does a lot of that -- doing things we don't understand -- that seem against our best interests -- like getting terminal cancer - at a young age. Going down in an airplane on the way to your wedding. then sometimes he gives someone who's already rich a lot more money and at the same time burns down the house of poor people.

All part of his divine plan, or is there no plan because there is no god?

I think there are too many things we can't understand to make the assumption that because bad things happen, there must not be a God. We have no way of knowing what we or the world have been spared -- even spared as a direct result of something that seems "bad" or unfair. Sometimes it takes years and years to realize how much better off we are because of something bad we had been forced to endure. No one would choose to endure the things that make us stronger if given a choice. We would choose what was "best" at the time and not what was bad but made us stronger.

You sure are giving God a lot of slack. And discounting a lot of human suffering

Yes, I am. I assume that God knows better than I do what is best. I have also felt "divine intervention" and I have a sense of faith, which is a real feeling, so that is why I have assumptions that God exists when it is not obvious.

Your belief that God has divinely intervened in your life allows you to justify or discount the enormous suffering of others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I know what the saying on the cup means -- and that it was written by humans - not by God and can be presumed to be channeling god.

If there is a God who shows up sometimes and not others, it does suggest that, while he may exist, he's not looking out for some of us very well."


No, you do not get it. If you assume God is not looking out for you very well when he doesn't show up in the way you think is best, then you are assuming you know better than God what is best for you (or the world). God may be looking out for you in ways you aren't able to see or understand. There is a greater good.

God does a lot of that -- doing things we don't understand -- that seem against our best interests -- like getting terminal cancer - at a young age. Going down in an airplane on the way to your wedding. then sometimes he gives someone who's already rich a lot more money and at the same time burns down the house of poor people.

All part of his divine plan, or is there no plan because there is no god?

I think there are too many things we can't understand to make the assumption that because bad things happen, there must not be a God. We have no way of knowing what we or the world have been spared -- even spared as a direct result of something that seems "bad" or unfair. Sometimes it takes years and years to realize how much better off we are because of something bad we had been forced to endure. No one would choose to endure the things that make us stronger if given a choice. We would choose what was "best" at the time and not what was bad but made us stronger.

You sure are giving God a lot of slack. And discounting a lot of human suffering

Yes, I am. I assume that God knows better than I do what is best. I have also felt "divine intervention" and I have a sense of faith, which is a real feeling, so that is why I have assumptions that God exists when it is not obvious.

Your belief that God has divinely intervened in your life allows you to justify or discount the enormous suffering of others?

It allows me to assume that there is a good reason for things that I can't see or understand.

I have suffered in life and it has made me a better person. I would never choose to suffer if given the chance to opt out, so if it weren't forced on me, I would not have grown. I have to assume that works in other situations and other lives as well.

[Anonymous]

God has blessed me, loved me, guided me in ways I can't explain. I don't need to see him to know he walks beside me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God (Judeo-Christian) does indeed have a face. God passed before Moses but used his hand so that Moses would not see his face. That's how I remember the text.

An ancient book says God has a face which he chose not to show.

If you mean "the bible," then clearly you are an atheist. I don't think OP cares about atheists answers. Just believers, like how do they do it.

[Anonymous]

It scares me that people believe this BS. Please just die out already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Yes, my sentiments exactly. Take OP's sentence and replace God with any of the aforementioned deities. Gods are metaphors for humans to be good. But if you expect to see God, like in the bible, then you will be disappointed. Because you are waiting for fairy tale to come true. God is an idea. You can say the "God" has shown itself when you see "random act of kindness", etc.

I more or less agree with this. I think of God as the mythical personification of the best that humans are capable of and the devil as the mythical personification of the worst (d'evil) that humans are capable of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Yes, my sentiments exactly. Take OP's sentence and replace God with any of the aforementioned deities. Gods are metaphors for humans to be good. But if you expect to see God, like in the bible, then you will be disappointed. Because you are waiting for fairy tale to come true. God is an idea. You can say the "God" has shown itself when you see "random act of kindness", etc.

I more or less agree with this. I think of God as the mythical personification of the best that humans are capable of and the devil as the mythical personification of the worst (d'evil) that humans are capable of.

I think of all religions as man made. Religion is not God. Religion is human. Religion is our way of thinking about and behaving about God. So it doesn't matter "which God." Why do you assume OP is asking about the God of the Bible rather than one of the Gods you listed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Yes, my sentiments exactly. Take OP's sentence and replace God with any of the aforementioned deities. Gods are metaphors for humans to be good. But if you expect to see God, like in the bible, then you will be disappointed. Because you are waiting for fairy tale to come true. God is an idea. You can say the "God" has shown itself when you see "random act of kindness", etc.

I more or less agree with this. I think of God as the mythical personification of the best that humans are capable of and the devil as the mythical personification of the worst (d'evil) that humans are capable of.

I think of all religions as man made. Religion is not God. Religion is human. Religion is our way of thinking about and behaving about God. So it doesn't matter "which God." Why do you assume OP is asking about the God of the Bible rather than one of the Gods you listed?

It's fascinating to me how people decide which one is the "right" and "true" god, and which one isn't. Do they not think that people believe in other gods, also feel their presence? Also see them in their ways? Also see miracles of their faith? The likelihood of Jesus, or Yahweh, or Allah being real, is exactly as likely as Shiva, or Osiris, or Baccus being real.

Cognitive bias helps us see what we want, solely from our own brain.

[Anonymous]

You are making the assumption that there is a God...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Yes, my sentiments exactly. Take OP's sentence and replace God with any of the aforementioned deities. Gods are metaphors for humans to be good. But if you expect to see God, like in the bible, then you will be disappointed. Because you are waiting for fairy tale to come true. God is an idea. You can say the "God" has shown itself when you see "random act of kindness", etc.

I more or less agree with this. I think of God as the mythical personification of the best that humans are capable of and the devil as the mythical personification of the worst (d'evil) that humans are capable of.

I think of all religions as man made. Religion is not God. Religion is human. Religion is our way of thinking about and behaving about God. So it doesn't matter "which God." Why do you assume OP is asking about the God of the Bible rather than one of the Gods you listed?

Because the references have been to the god of the bible, citing Moses and the salvation offered by Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God (Judeo-Christian) does indeed have a face. God passed before Moses but used his hand so that Moses would not see his face. That's how I remember the text.

An ancient book says God has a face which he chose not to show.

If you mean "the bible," then clearly you are an atheist. I don't think OP cares about atheists answers. Just believers, like how do they do it.

Religious people also refer to the Bible as an ancient book -- because it is an ancient book - there's no dispute about that among religious believers.

There is also no dispute among scholars that the Bible is mythology and is filled with stories borrowed from earlier legends and myths. They know that the OT was not written by one person (Moses) and that there is no evidence for a 40 year journey through the desert. They know a lot of things, because the Bible has been carefully studied since the 19th century. Unfortunately, that information doesn't get down to the average person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Yes, my sentiments exactly. Take OP's sentence and replace God with any of the aforementioned deities. Gods are metaphors for humans to be good. But if you expect to see God, like in the bible, then you will be disappointed. Because you are waiting for fairy tale to come true. God is an idea. You can say the "God" has shown itself when you see "random act of kindness", etc.

I more or less agree with this. I think of God as the mythical personification of the best that humans are capable of and the devil as the mythical personification of the worst (d'evil) that humans are capable of.

I think of all religions as man made. Religion is not God. Religion is human. Religion is our way of thinking about and behaving about God. So it doesn't matter "which God." Why do you assume OP is asking about the God of the Bible rather than one of the Gods you listed?

It's fascinating to me how people decide which one is the "right" and "true" god, and which one isn't. Do they not think that people believe in other gods, also feel their presence? Also see them in their ways? Also see miracles of their faith? The likelihood of Jesus, or Yahweh, or Allah being real, is exactly as likely as Shiva, or Osiris, or Baccus being real.

Cognitive bias helps us see what we want, solely from our own brain.

I just read about a survivor of the Washington State mudslide who is convinced she was protected by God. No comment on the others who lost their lives.

[Anonymous]

"Yes, I am. I assume that God knows better than I do what is best. I have also felt "divine intervention" and I have a sense of faith, which is a real feeling, so that is why I have assumptions that God exists when it is not obvious"

So god thought it best that 6 million Jews die in a holocaust? That scores of children and adult Cambodians should have died brutally under pol pot? god thinks what Is happening in Sudan is what's best for us? God thinks it best that hundreds of thousands of children should starve to death each year?

Look, you have this idea of a personal god and a very insulated view about your own suffering and it's benefits. But as another poster said, it blithely and offensively discounts human suffering, ENORMOUS human suffering, because it is part of god's plan?

That is just so self righteous and self absorbed and myopic I cannot fathom your train of thought as real.

[Anonymous]

Oh honey, he does all the time.