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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cancer is related to God’s will only as that which God rejects and negates.

God sent His son, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ removes the dark and darkness from life, as light and eternal life are now possible.

This has never made sense to me. Why did Jesus have to die in order for there to be eternal life? It's pretty twisted when you think about it. God proved his love by killing his own kid even though he has the power to grant eternal life regardless of whether his son was crucified or not? I promise I'm not being purposely obtuse. I just don't understand it. If one of us used our kid as a human sacrifice and claimed it was for a greater good, we'd be rightfully thrown in jail. But God did it and we worship and honor him.

Poster from above. I went back to your post to read again what doesn’t make sense to you.

First, God did not “kill his own kid.” Jesus IS God so in effect he sacrificed himself.

You say that God has the power to grant eternal life without this but I’m not sure that’s true. The Bible is clear that there are things God Himself cannot do- for example he cannot sin. He cannot lie. We are separated from him because we do sin and sin cannot coexist in his presence. By dying on the cross and descending into Hell he conquered sin for us.

In this case it sounds like the pain and suffering were inflicted by the child's parents and doctors who selfishly chose to inflict those medical treatments on him.

This kind of question is why I eventually went from considering seminary in my mid 20s to becoming an atheist by 30.

There is so much comfort in recognizing that everything in life is to some extent just a random expression of biology and physics.

There is no allegedly all knowing, all powerful and loving entity which allows profound suffering on a heartbreaking scale in this world. There is just life while we have it, and love if we can embrace it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cancer is related to God’s will only as that which God rejects and negates.

God sent His son, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ removes the dark and darkness from life, as light and eternal life are now possible.

This has never made sense to me. Why did Jesus have to die in order for there to be eternal life? It's pretty twisted when you think about it. God proved his love by killing his own kid even though he has the power to grant eternal life regardless of whether his son was crucified or not? I promise I'm not being purposely obtuse. I just don't understand it. If one of us used our kid as a human sacrifice and claimed it was for a greater good, we'd be rightfully thrown in jail. But God did it and we worship and honor him.

Because we are all sinners and thus separated from God. He came to earth as flesh to redeem us as part of his constant outreach to pull each of us individually back to Him.

This is probably one of the best explanations I've heard, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I appreciate your response.

Thank you. Happy to elaborate if you can say more about what doesn’t make sense to you.

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.

Anonymous wrote:If no one ever got sick, doctors would not be needed, there would be no medical or pharmaceutical industry needed, no one would ever learn compassion or learn to pray. These things are all relevant for this world, but not heaven. The baby is no longer suffering, he is at peace now. This world is temporary. There is always a succession of people coming into this world and people leaving this world and not always at our convenience.

While you are not as bad as the monster referenced above, I find your logic immoral and reprehensible, and it disgusts me.

If no one ever got sick, doctors would not be needed, there would be no medical or pharmaceutical industry needed, no one would ever learn compassion or learn to pray. These things are all relevant for this world, but not heaven. The baby is no longer suffering, he is at peace now. This world is temporary. There is always a succession of people coming into this world and people leaving this world and not always at our convenience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, this is one thing that I struggle with myself.

The last church I went to, the pastor was talking about how the way we pray makes a difference, that there're correct and incorrect ways of praying. I broke down right then and there, thinking that I must not have prayed correctly b/c why else did my mom suffer so much from her cancer and die with such agony and indignity. Then I got really angry at the idea that if you pray incorrectly, God will refuse to listen.

I don't know the answer. And I suspect nobody really does.

Let me try.

God doesn't really exist in the way people think and cancer is a chain of events that happens inside the body. God does not give people cancer anymore than God heals people with cancer.

Does God dictate the laws of physics or does God follow then? If God dictates the laws of physics than surely we would see miracles that are exceptions. We don't

So what is the purpose of praying for people with illnesses? Just to make people feel like they are doing something?

The purpose is for the person praying to meditate an gain some introspection. Isn't that all prayer is?

If prayer is for the individual doing it, then why do people saying "I'm praying for you?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cancer is related to God’s will only as that which God rejects and negates.

God sent His son, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ removes the dark and darkness from life, as light and eternal life are now possible.

This has never made sense to me. Why did Jesus have to die in order for there to be eternal life? It's pretty twisted when you think about it. God proved his love by killing his own kid even though he has the power to grant eternal life regardless of whether his son was crucified or not? I promise I'm not being purposely obtuse. I just don't understand it. If one of us used our kid as a human sacrifice and claimed it was for a greater good, we'd be rightfully thrown in jail. But God did it and we worship and honor him.

Because we are all sinners and thus separated from God. He came to earth as flesh to redeem us as part of his constant outreach to pull each of us individually back to Him.

This is probably one of the best explanations I've heard, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I appreciate your response.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all related to your karma in past lives, your current karma actions, and the seeds of karma you awaken. Some people are ready or need to suffer more at younger ages in this life based on what they did in past lives.

You are a hideous, awful, monster.

Wow I totally agree. I can't believe there are humans who think other humans deserve suffering for nonsensical BS.

In fact I think I would have put it more strongly than "hideous, awful, monster" even.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Either God doesn't exist. Or God is incredibly cruel.

God is a loving force. Kind of like positive karma.

Except when God give children cancer or longterm suffering only to have them and their parents suffer then die. I don't see that as kindness - or am I missing something?

You missed learning to read, apparently.

Clearly I can read. Clearly you don't understand logic.

If God is a loving force or positive karma, why do kids who have put nothing positive or negative in the world suffer? The fact is they do suffer - so.... that is not a loving thing or karma. So unless your definition of 'positive' is exactly the opposite of everyone else's, there is no logic to your statement.

This is not heaven. We are not promised a life free of pain and suffering while we are on earth.

Anonymous wrote:It's all related to your karma in past lives, your current karma actions, and the seeds of karma you awaken. Some people are ready or need to suffer more at younger ages in this life based on what they did in past lives.

You are a hideous, awful, monster.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Either God doesn't exist. Or God is incredibly cruel.

God is a loving force. Kind of like positive karma.

Except when God give children cancer or longterm suffering only to have them and their parents suffer then die. I don't see that as kindness - or am I missing something?

You missed learning to read, apparently.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Either God doesn't exist. Or God is incredibly cruel.

God is a loving force. Kind of like positive karma.

Except when God give children cancer or longterm suffering only to have them and their parents suffer then die. I don't see that as kindness - or am I missing something?