RE: Dissing God

[casandrarose]

Many people do not realize the difference between questioning and doubting.

It is good to question anything. Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find." I believe God wants us informed and enlightened about anything we'd like to know. As long as we are seekers of truth, He will inspire us.

Some useful questions : "What is my purpose?"
"Where can I find truth? "
"What am I to learn from this experience?"
"How are science and religion harmonious?"

Some people have the attitude of doubt when they are faced with a challenge. They might ask, "How could a loving God allow children to suffer?" Their solution to this is, Well, therefore there is no God. Rather than asking, "What can I do to ease suffering?" or "How much does God value free will?"

If we doubt the existence of God, or if we think we already know the answer to a question, what value is there in asking? Doubting is not seeking truth. And then those people feel resentment to God and any professed followers because God chooses to not solve all their problems for them.

Comments

[stan]

Good points. Nothing unusual with doubting. Jesus went out of His way to help His disciples stop doubting. Remember what He said to Thomas?

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.”

But even after that, at the last possible moment after they had spent weeks with Him in resurrected form and just before He ascended to heaven, they still doubted:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Let doubt guide your quest for understanding. But is not a wise reason for dissing God.

[casandrarose]

Yes, the point is to seek truth, not just assume God is a lie because things aren't going the way we think they should be, or because some religions in the past used their authority to murder people.

I recommend to such people to seek a God (or even a church) which doesn't have a history of hurting people. Just because some people representing churches in the past did bad things does not mean that all churches andall members of churches are heartless, blind, or ignorant.

Such attitudes tend to ignore the good that many churches do. Some spend millions of dollars a year on emergency relief after disasters, or to feed hungry families.

I am an active member of a church, yet I think for myself, have never murdered or tried to control anyone. I do my best to show love just as Jesus taught.

It is small thinking to flip a finger at God just because some of His proclaimed followers are jerks.