It is a small world and God loves me! (despite me being an atheist)

[Sensfan]

I am not religious period, humanity is hundreds of thousands years old,religions and entire civilizations have come and gone. I do believe that things happen for a reason,call it karma if you will. Glad to hear a story of reconnecting with old friends from the past who you helped,and through 6 degrees of separation,they indirectly helped you.Treat and help others as you would want to be treated and helped, and the universe will bring it full circle back to you when you need it. Great post

 

[1olbull]

Harry, I do not want to turn this into a political discussion, but I do know the answer to your question. God owns it all, good and bad. He says so in Isiah 45:7

"I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things."

I know many Christians have a hard time understanding this, but I get it. If one is to believe the Bible, then one must believe in its totality, not just a few verses here and there.

@Ishrub I love hearing a story with a good ending. I usually carry the wrong spare parts and not as prepared as you brother.

Amigo,
After finding twenty-one different bible translations of this verse, I chose this as best for me:
"Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I am Jehovah, doing all these things."
So all this time it has not been the devil doing evil???

 

[cr0ft]

As Ricky Gervais put it:

"There have been nearly 3000 Gods so far but only yours actually exists.The others are silly made up nonsense. But not yours. Yours is real."

Also - people who believe in God simultaneously don't believe in 2999 Gods. So virtually everybody is almost entirely an atheist...

 

[Boog]

Amigo,
After finding twenty-one different bible translations of this verse, I chose this as best for me:
"Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I am Jehovah, doing all these things."
So all this time it has not been the devil doing evil???

I believe that the point is that God created it all. He named what is good or evil and then allows the world to act accordingly. He created all the angels which would include Satan.
In a class at church several years ago, and elderly couple totally blew up when the teacher read this verse and said that God created evil. They emphatically said the devil created evil. If that be so, the the devil is on equal billing as God. They could not understand that no one is equal to God.
So my answer to your question is that we are the ones who do evil to one another. We are the ones who make mistakes that cause harm to ourselves and others. The concept of evil should not be applied to natural events as these are not by a person's decision.

 

[Ishrub]

As Ricky Gervais put it:

"There have been nearly 3000 Gods so far but only yours actually exists.The others are silly made up nonsense. But not yours. Yours is real."

Also - people who believe in God simultaneously don't believe in 2999 Gods. So virtually everybody is almost entirely an atheist...

Not in their opinion, even if only one or their many are 'real', and for most monotheist religions it could be argued they are all worshiping the same one God just different interpretations of that One.

With just 3000 I reckon Ricky hadn't even scratched the surface of all the Gods that have been believed in previously or still are in the history of hominids or even God forbid, Aliens (of the non-earthly rather than non-US citizen type).

 

[EasTexRIII]

I believe that the point is that God created it all. He named what is good or evil and then allows the world to act accordingly. He created all the angels which would include Satan.
In a class at church several years ago, and elderly couple totally blew up when the teacher read this verse and said that God created evil. They emphatically said the devil created evil. If that be so, the the devil is on equal billing as God. They could not understand that no one is equal to God.
So my answer to your question is that we are the ones who do evil to one another. We are the ones who make mistakes that cause harm to ourselves and others. The concept of evil should not be applied to natural events as these are not by a person's decision.

Absolutely Boog, God created both good and evil & gives us volition to choose. Actually everthing we do or dont do is from our volition. We choose right or wrong all day every day.
Again, im not trying to cram anything down anyones throat. Your beliefs are just as important as everyone elses.
One of the things I really love about my belief is that I may never meet you in person Boog. But I will know you in eternity and thats a wee bit longer than this small dispensation of our lives.

 

[Jag]

Religion, bla, bla, bla, maybe if we still had Greek mythology we could have a God of motorcycles and that would be a cult I could get behind!!!!

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah, well, if God is omnipotent, he could just take a few minutes out of his eternity and appear to all men, women and children on the Earth at once and let us know that, hey, yes, heaven and hell exist, and so does He. Either we do what his priests tell us to, or else he'll love us so much he'll throw us into hellfire for all eternity. How about some clear communication from the actual source, instead of just having a bunch of pedophiles in robes tell us He exists, between bouts of raping altar boys?

I'd listen to God - the pedophile priests, televangelists and other utter scum living large off their constituents, not so much...They have a clear reason for wanting us to believe, namely money and personal gain of power as well.

This whole "believe blindly in something that seems utterly ludicrous without being proven, or else you'll roast" is either an invention by men, or else God is just a massive douche who enjoys tossing people into a fire... People can and will believe what they want, of course.

 

[1olbull]

You ***wad, are the Supreme Douche for thinking that your opinions are more important than others!
Especially regarding religious values of others!
Why is it you insist that your Finnish buttocks is the center of the universe?
Seems to me you likely live in a one-room apartment with your mama.
Stick to commenting about the motorcycles and shut up about your opinions regarding politics and religion!

 

[sonny]

Am not a big fan of organised religion. Living were I do there are times when I have to bite my bottom lip and keep my thoughts to myself or else the conversation's will go south quickly and end up with somebody either getting real mad or violent. The narrow minded holy roller is very common in Oklahoma. I sometimes wonder if all their throat shoving, over bearing religious behavior is just a over reaction to their own insecurities. Even the local news cast will at times throw a religious over tone on a coverage. I do not judge people by their beliefs. I judge them by their actions. Way to many people tote the bible and preach but their actions speak louder than their words. To be a good person takes a lot more than going to church three or for times a week. Granted we have all been raised in a Christian society but by no means is it superior to other religions or beliefs. Everybody should be in titled to believe in what they want without discrimination.