If you believe in the Christian God, he/she is only good. Maybe other religions think this, but I am only speaking of Christianity. I do think that other religions can lead to the same conclusions as I have come to in my Christian faith, so they are all "universal". And one day we will all see it that way and stop killing each other. Remember, we do the killing, not God. Illness and disease are part of being a living thing. Shit happens, as they say. If life were all great, fine, wonderful, what would we learn? What problems would we solve?

Like the PP said, Jesus/God was born into this world to understand it from a human point. It was, and remains, horrible and beautiful. God didn't give that baby cancer or give it the mother that tried to kill it. All of us are on a spiritual journey, and all this we "see" or "experience" is not final or eternity or even the truth. That tortured soul, physically or mentally, will pass from this experience to another. Is it Heaven? Is it to be reborn? We don't know. We will never know for sure. I believe this is all part of the experience of being human. It gives us power and freedom, and we are responsible for what happens in this world, and the next.
Anyway, that's my view. My God is an awesome God.

Anonymous wrote:Because heaven is not on earth. Eternal life and joy beyond our comprehension is the promise God made and he sent his son Jesus to get us there. God does not create sin in this world. That is the devil.

Cop out. God created the devil. Why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because God gave humans free will.

Tell that to the little child starving to death. He didn’t have any choice.

Believers respond that the child will go straight to heaven to live eternally with god.
So, no choice, but great deal.

I’m not sure most believe that. If it was a small Muslim child it wouldn’t, according to those who believe the only route to heaven is through Christ. That little kid gets truly screwed.

Anonymous wrote:Because heaven is not on earth. Eternal life and joy beyond our comprehension is the promise God made and he sent his son Jesus to get us there. God does not create sin in this world. That is the devil.

God created "the devil" and thus created evil.

Unless you're saying God is not all knowing or all powerful?

Or you're saying that The Devil is a God, and believe in a polytheistic system?

Anonymous wrote:Because God gave humans free will.

How does that explain small children getting cancer or painful, terminal illnesses?

I struggle with this too OP. I have had odd experiences in my life. Definitely feel like there are larger forces at work sometimes. "Everything happens for a reason" they say. But how do you explain on the one hand, the people who had say, odd occurrences that kept them home on a day like 9/11, vs. the people who didn't get that divine intervention? To say that God reached down and saved one person, and yet *didn't* intervene to save someone else who died horribly? It's very difficult to come to terms with.

Not sure what I believe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because God gave humans free will.

Tell that to the little child starving to death. He didn’t have any choice.

Believers respond that the child will go straight to heaven to live eternally with god.
So, no choice, but great deal.

Anonymous wrote:Because God gave humans free will.

Tell that to the little child starving to death. He didn’t have any choice.

I am a person of faith (Christian) and I don’t get it either. The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that Christ entered the world and suffered horribly in it. God is in our suffering world. Over Lent, I had a powerful image of Christ inviting me to put my hand into the wound on his side (a la Doubting Thomas). I know God/Christ is here with us, but I don’t know why babies are tortured.

Because heaven is not on earth. Eternal life and joy beyond our comprehension is the promise God made and he sent his son Jesus to get us there. God does not create sin in this world. That is the devil.

Anonymous wrote:Because God gave humans free will.

Yep. This is it.

Because God gave humans free will.

This is pretty much what brought me over to atheism. I could not fundamentally understand how any type of God would allow such terrible things to happen to innocent people. And when you read arguments from what are known as apologists, they say that God is testing us. But why continue to? Did we learn anything if this keeps happening? I completely agree with you OP.

Stupidity?

I've been reading about the genocide in myanmar lately and OMG how the heck can anyone believe in god after this? I mean babies were thrown into fires and some babies were cut up in front of their parents. I attend church myself but lately I cannot find my faith. The world is so fed up.