I know there are a lot of different belief systems among people who post here, so I think this is a good place to pose this.

I like to think that there's a God; a creator of all of this. The idea that it's all just random etc. definitely seems feasible, but nobody really knows for sure. So I tend to think that there's something more to life, to existence. Some sort of meaning behind everything. But then I see horrible things that people do to one another, I see random acts of violence that tear innocent lives to bits, I see monsters who rape and kill children, I seeawful tragedy strike without bias or meaning. Among all people, all races, all religions. If there is a God, what's the purpose in such suffering? Why could any random person, at any time, suffer a horrible fate while a rapist or killer never gets caught? So my question to people that have a belief in some sort of God is how do you reconcile the existence of such a being with the most horrible things life is capable of?

The most important thing to remember about God (if you choose to believe in God) is that he gave people free will. Free will is necessary for true faith, because faith must be the sincere belief of the person involved. If God were to control everyone's actions, there would be no good or evil, because we would all be as puppets on a string. All of the pain inflicted on humanity by humanity is the consequence of this ability to choose our actions. Original sin was itself an action of free will, and we will always be "condemned to freedom." Although the Calvinists of the board are free to rebutt if they so wish.

Ara,

All those bad things happening to good people can be explained in many ways that still incorporate a belief in a supreme being.

1) God has a plan greater than any individual, or individual event. While these events seem to be tragedies to those close to them, they may actually be enabling something great and wonderful that they cannot see. This is the rationale that most Christians and Jews use.

2) God has a plan and it doesn't involve human beings. God simply doesn't care about us, as much as our egotistical little monkey brains would like to believe he does, we are merely so much carbon and water, and just like everything else in the universe, we have no special meaning, as individuals or as a race.

3) God has no plan. He created the universe, and started the old ball rolling according to the laws of nature and physics and mathematics, and shit happens. He has no control over current events, nor of any events in the past, he just wound up the toy and now he's watching it run.

4) God is not anthropomorphic in any way, shape, or form, and the ways of God and God's understanding are so far beyond our comprehension that it is utterly pointless to try to apply things like time, causation, and our human emotions to him.

Then of course, there's the simplest answer, which is that there is no God to blame for such things, the universe is an ordered system of atoms and chemicals and energies, and it was not created or designed, but simply is and always has been.

This is also referred to as the Deist viewpoint, and was held by many of our founding fathers. It makes a lot of sense, and is probably closest to the viewpoint that I prescribe to in my post.

I wonder how you come to the conclusion that there being no God is the simplest answer. We have a universe. To our best guess we know it did not always exist. What you see as being the simplest explanation does nothing to explain the origins.
When you go out to mow your lawn and come across a pile of shit. Do you think th simplest explanation for it existing is that; a) a dog shit on your lawn, or b) the shit is an ordered system of atoms and chemicals and energies, and it was not created or designed, but simply is and always has been.

How was God created?

The stock response is "God has always been here and always will be," which goes along well with other stuff about God.

you should definitely pick up 'american declares independence' by alan dershowitz.

the only problem with this view is that they reject all religions based on 'everything should be based on science, truth, reason, fact...' while believing the universe is too perfect to not be created by a god goes against that.

god is not the god of this world satan the devil is the god of this world it says that in the bible.Soon jesus will return & be king of this world.

I believe in God.

But...

1) God has a plan greater than any individual, or individual event. While these events seem to be tragedies to those close to them, they may actually be enabling something great and wonderful that they cannot see. This is the rationale that most Christians and Jews use.

I don't want to believe in that God. Doesn't really seem like a God to me.

2) God has a plan and it doesn't involve human beings. God simply doesn't care about us, as much as our egotistical little monkey brains would like to believe he does, we are merely so much carbon and water, and just like everything else in the universe, we have no special meaning, as individuals or as a race.

The God I want to believe in simply isn't apathetic.

3) God has no plan. He created the universe, and started the old ball rolling according to the laws of nature and physics and mathematics, and shit happens. He has no control over current events, nor of any events in the past, he just wound up the toy and now he's watching it run.

The God I want to believe in is a GOD. Not some weak thing that has no control over anything.

Simply put. The loving, caring, all powerful God that I believe in, doesn't exist.

God is either benevolent, not all powerful, or apathetic. And I don't really like that guy.

go on...

Satan rebelled in heaven & god sent him to earth.(satan was anarchangel)Satan decieved Adam & eve in the garden & mankind has followed with sin.

That is why jesus came to leave a sinless life so we could have life.He had to wrestle the power back off satan.Satn tried to temp him with lies bribes .

People think their is no devil ( evil spirits) but their is look at hitler he thought he was on a mission from god he was led by satan & evil spirits.Its the same with The iran president, these mad ideas he has, he is a madman led by the devil.
The bible says satan has been kicked out of heaven & thrown down to earth with only a short time left before jesus returns & takes control & satan is locked away for 1000 years.
That is why their is so much trouble in the middle east & so much hate in the world.Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.Jesus said if he did not come thier wouldn't be a soul allive, basically he is talking about nuclear war satan is going to use corrupt humans & lead this world into ww3 using nuclear weapons.

For the love of God, use spaces! It's like you're trying to say it all in one breath.

That was a mistake, c_b.

davejeni is going to make this thread more interesting.

if i believed in god, i would answer your question this way:

horrible things that people do to one another/random acts of violence? these are horrible, but necessary means to an end. perhaps when your loved one is gunned down in a denny's, you're supposed to become an advocate for stricter gun laws; perhaps when a suicide bomber kills your friends in a mosque, you're supposed to become inspired to fight "the good fight." i'd similarly say that the rapists and killers who are not caught are meant to spur people to similar actions.

awful tragedy strikes? there is a time to live and a time to die (and yes, a time to reap and a time to sow, if we're going for the byrds reference.). it was that grandmother's time to die - god was nice enough to allow her to die in the company of her friends and family; he did not strike her down with a semi trailer in the street after the funeral.

but, i do not believe in a god, or at least, i do not believe in that type of god. my more "reasonable" answer is that, simply, people need to die, be it from disease, natural disaster, suicide bomber, or old age. death is always tragic and death always causes suffering. if there is a god, he doesn't cause suffering to be mean; instead, he does it because it is a necessary part of life.

*Smacks c_b in the back of the head.*

Thanks for all your answers everyone. I think I fall into David's "He wound up the toy and now he's watching it" category.

Um, what in the hell