Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If God causes natural disasters and cancer, is he also responsible for the good things in the world like the sun rising every day? And newborn kittens and puppies? And rainbows and and gentle rain?

When a person is cured of cancer or disease, is that God’s work?

Basically, God sucks if he can make life all rainbows and puppies and instead makes child rapists and tsunamis land mines.

So basically humans are perfect and God makes us rape kids and blow
each other up against our will? And natural science and the environment and biology isn’t a thing. He controls everything; but is either evil or doesn’t exist.

Anonymous wrote:If God causes natural disasters and cancer, is he also responsible for the good things in the world like the sun rising every day? And newborn kittens and puppies? And rainbows and and gentle rain?

When a person is cured of cancer or disease, is that God’s work?

Basically, God sucks if he can make life all rainbows and puppies and instead makes child rapists and tsunamis land mines.

Anonymous wrote:If God causes natural disasters and cancer, is he also responsible for the good things in the world like the sun rising every day? And newborn kittens and puppies? And rainbows and and gentle rain?

When a person is cured of cancer or disease, is that God’s work?

What I've heard from religious people -- but doesn't make sense to me -- is that God does the good stuff and weeps when the bad stuff happens.

I never understood the arguments that a lot of people here are making that basically amount to "god mean" or "bible contradictory" or "religious people hypocrites." So what? What does any of that have to do with whether a higher power exists? The reason I became an atheist is simple - invoking a divine entity does nothing to help explain our existence because then the existence of the entity needs to be explained. "God has always been there" is a cop out because it's actually less probable than just saying "random energy and matter has always been there." Each additional characteristic or behavior attributed to a divine entity makes the explanation less and less probable. So, it's just so improbable that a god exists that you might as well say our world was created by fairy princesses that live in the core of the earth

If God causes natural disasters and cancer, is he also responsible for the good things in the world like the sun rising every day? And newborn kittens and puppies? And rainbows and and gentle rain?

When a person is cured of cancer or disease, is that God’s work?

Was raised in a strict evangelical household. I loved Sunday School and my church friends but realized in high school that I was enjoying the social parts and didn't feel any connection to the spiritual part. When I felt pressured to bring people from my high school to the outreach events, I stopped going to church altogether. I'm 51 now and haven't really missed religion at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

What suffering in the world is uncaused by people?

Examples: cancer (not caused by lifestyle choices), infectious disease that people didn't knowingly spread, natural disasters.

Natural disasters are caused by man made climate change.

In today’s world, as with Covid, we can prevent infectious disease. We have vaccines, masks, etc. People who will not follow CDC and medical and hygienic protocols and guidelines are at fault for the spread.

Lifestyle factors implicated as causes of cancer and cancer mortality, which are considered as main targets for prevention, include smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, diet, and physical inactivity. Those things can even cause a person’s DNA to change.

Natural disasters also happened before the Industrial Revolution, and not all disasters today happen for that reason (e.g. Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011).

What about the fact that disease exists in the first place and people who lived before the advent of modern medicine?

What about hereditary factors that can cause cancer? https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/just-how-much-cancer-due-genes-about-third-study-finds-n490731

I was raised Catholic and never bought in either. I attended weekly religion classes, received communion and was confirmed. Started questioning at a young age. I eventually was a biology major and went on to teach high school science. I did get married in the Catholic church, as my parents told me they wouldn't help me pay for the wedding if I didn't (no mass though). I don't regret it, it was a pretty church. I used to receive communion during funerals (pretty much the only time I go to church) and stopped putting on a show at my dad's funeral.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

What suffering in the world is uncaused by people?

Examples: cancer (not caused by lifestyle choices), infectious disease that people didn't knowingly spread, natural disasters.

Natural disasters are caused by man made climate change.

In today’s world, as with Covid, we can prevent infectious disease. We have vaccines, masks, etc. People who will not follow CDC and medical and hygienic protocols and guidelines are at fault for the spread.

Lifestyle factors implicated as causes of cancer and cancer mortality, which are considered as main targets for prevention, include smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, diet, and physical inactivity. Those things can even cause a person’s DNA to change.

PP said cancer NOT caused by lifestyle choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

What suffering in the world is uncaused by people?

Examples: cancer (not caused by lifestyle choices), infectious disease that people didn't knowingly spread, natural disasters.

Natural disasters are caused by man made climate change.

In today’s world, as with Covid, we can prevent infectious disease. We have vaccines, masks, etc. People who will not follow CDC and medical and hygienic protocols and guidelines are at fault for the spread.

Lifestyle factors implicated as causes of cancer and cancer mortality, which are considered as main targets for prevention, include smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, diet, and physical inactivity. Those things can even cause a person’s DNA to change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

What suffering in the world is uncaused by people?

Examples: cancer (not caused by lifestyle choices), infectious disease that people didn't knowingly spread, natural disasters.

Anonymous wrote:One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

What suffering in the world is uncaused by people?

One major reason why I don't believe in God is because there is so much suffering in the world, some uncaused by people. I have trouble believing that a loving god would create or allow that suffering.

I wish that a kind god existed and am open to changing my mind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:for people who "never bought it" even though you were exposed to religion as children, how did you deal with the fact that no religion means no afterlife?

That is, how did you deal with the fact that life is finite; that you would die and that would be the end of it?

Np. Has someone from the dead come back to tell you? Otherwise death is finite for everyone.

W/wo religion, but people with religion go through life believing that they will live forever after their earthly death, which must be comforting, even though not factual. When they die, their consciousness stops, just like it does for non-believers, but they go through life with the comfort of believing there will be something more.

On the flip side, some of these people worry about their non-religious family and friends - believing they will spend an eternity in hell, even though they were good people during life.

Anonymous wrote:for people who "never bought it" even though you were exposed to religion as children, how did you deal with the fact that no religion means no afterlife?

That is, how did you deal with the fact that life is finite; that you would die and that would be the end of it?

Np. Has someone from the dead come back to tell you? Otherwise death is finite for everyone.