posted on Nov, 23 2004 @ 09:12 AM
I was reading a thread about a little girl, whose family was praying over her. The next day she woke up from a deep coma. Now, just to be clear, I do
not beleive this story. It did make me think of something though. Why do people even bother praying? Why do they thank God? Please try reading
Bad things happen to good people every day. I cannot provide you with many personal or particular instances, but I can assure you that these
scenerios have occured.
-A parent goes to bed, and prays to God that her child is protected through the night. In the morning, she wakes up to find her child dead. The
child was innocent, and the parent was a good person...who prayed. Why did her child die?
-A God fearing, church going father of four, goes to work in the morning. On the way, someone falls asleep at the wheel and swerves into on-coming
traffic. The father is killed in the accident. The wife usually prays for her husbands safe trip every morning, but she forgot that day.
-A group of people pray for the health of their friend to be restored. The friend dies three days later in absolute agony.
Here are a few for thought as well....
-A student prays to do well on a test....ends up with an A+.
-A family member runs a grinder over their hand, tearing all the tendons clean out. The family prays, and the doctors are able to restore the hand to
use. (this just happened in my family)
-A poor family has no money for a turkey for thanksgiving. A charity donates food and gifts. They thank God.
I could go on for hours writing these situations down. I am sure all of you reading this could as well. Did God betray the mother. Was god mad at
the wife who forgot to pray? Did he forget about the group of people and their suffering friend? Did he hear the call of the student? Did he guide
the doctors hands? Did he come to the aid of the poor family when they were in need? I tried to get this from several angles so that it is easier to
understand my point.
Those questions above all have one answer in my opinion. No. As some of you know, I strongly argue against predetermination and an Omnipotent God.
A lot of people will argue that the things above were all part of Gods divine plan. If this is the case (which I do not agree with), then it is
useless to pray. He has his own ageda, and aparently does not need any advisors. What if He has no divine plan? Well, then that means that he has
to pick and chose who to help out. Sometimes he helps out the good people, and sometimes the bad. If there is no divine agenda, then that means His
decisions are completely random. It would be more along the lines of a lucky roll of the dice when he listened to your prayer.
Why do people have such little self regard? Why does it have to be God that helped her get the A+. She did the studying. Why was it God, and not
the doctors who saved the mans hand? (this one is personal...and I can assure you that many people attest the man using his hand now to God, not the
doctors). Why can it not be the good will of the charity, that is responsible for the thanksgiving suprise? Why rationalize the death of a child or
husband as God's lack of protection? Why rationalize it as part of a divine plan? (completely illogical).
What is wrong with these things just being part of life? Part of a life that is left for us to live, whether God exists or not. Part of a life where
interference from a divine being simply does not, and cannot occur. If that comatose child did actually wake up in the hospital that day, why not
give credit to the doctors? Or just accept that sometimes good things happen by chance. If that father dies on his way to work, why can't we
attribute it to ourselves. Our way of life.
You can go thank God for that A on your test, or for the restored hand. You can thank God for thanksgiving meals. You can attribute horrible
occurances to lack of prayer, or divine plan. Do this all you want. You are just neglecting to see that it is actually us. Humans, that are
responsible for all of it in some way or another. Good and bad.
[Edited on 11/23/2004 by Seapeople]