Technology1 min ago
faith in god ?
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watching the rescue of the chillean miners, some have thanked god and their faith for assisting them in coping underground for such a long time and being rescued. would you thank god ?
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Curiously, you don't hear the legions of rescuers complaining that giving thanks to God takes away from their contribution; rather, most of them seem to be glad to have been involved in something that that drew its inspiration from faith and trust in God as well as their own skills and commitment.
I think the bit about God getting credit for good things and dodging the blame for bad things rather works the other way round. We see things like this, where courage, commitment, working together, hoping and believing even against the odds, shared patience in suffering, mutual support in community, the joy of reunion, a sense of life out of death are values which we accept as good and positive. In a universe which seems indifferent to such things, and treats us so often to disasters and catastrophes (to which humans add with great enthusiasm in the name of tribe, religion, politics or just for the hell of it), we dare to make this distinction that says these things are good, they have real value. And yes, for some of us at least, those are the values we see in God.
Of course, it might just be that we project these things onto the blank screen of the idea of God. Or (in a determined way) don't bother even with the idea of God except to ridicule it. But it may also be that our understanding of these values is derived from, or is a reflection of, the reality of God.
I'm with those who are quite happy to give thanks to God for the safe rescue of a few trapped miners, the efforts, determination, skills and commitment of their rescuers, and a few moments of joy and exuberance in an often much darker world.
I think the bit about God getting credit for good things and dodging the blame for bad things rather works the other way round. We see things like this, where courage, commitment, working together, hoping and believing even against the odds, shared patience in suffering, mutual support in community, the joy of reunion, a sense of life out of death are values which we accept as good and positive. In a universe which seems indifferent to such things, and treats us so often to disasters and catastrophes (to which humans add with great enthusiasm in the name of tribe, religion, politics or just for the hell of it), we dare to make this distinction that says these things are good, they have real value. And yes, for some of us at least, those are the values we see in God.
Of course, it might just be that we project these things onto the blank screen of the idea of God. Or (in a determined way) don't bother even with the idea of God except to ridicule it. But it may also be that our understanding of these values is derived from, or is a reflection of, the reality of God.
I'm with those who are quite happy to give thanks to God for the safe rescue of a few trapped miners, the efforts, determination, skills and commitment of their rescuers, and a few moments of joy and exuberance in an often much darker world.
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I can resist anything but temptation, wildwood: probably some of them did - at least one of them saw his ordeal as some sort of penance, but most of them seem to be a bit more sophisticated than that and are suing the company and the government for getting them into the mess in the first place. People often confuse God and Fate. I don't think anyone thinks God pushed the rocks around.
The cursing/thanking God thing is subjective; you often hear people saying 'how can God let this happen or that happen' but do they thank God for small miracles? vice versa.
your approach to whether to curse or praise is dependent on your religious stance. As this is a personal thing its hardly a valid arguing point. Its a bit like debating your feelings on the colour yellow.
your approach to whether to curse or praise is dependent on your religious stance. As this is a personal thing its hardly a valid arguing point. Its a bit like debating your feelings on the colour yellow.
People will see few hungry and suffering due to that and would blame God for that, but they would not see others eating so much that they have to have treatment for obesity. Still there is pick and chose as they may blame God for his/her obesity and suffering due to that instead of thinking that God had given him/her more than what they needed so that he/she should share with the others who die of hunger. Had he/she done that then both would have been happy and out of suffering.
Globally majority of the people are happy, prosperous, and have enough (if not more) to survive but still few will blame god when a fraction of people (compared to whole population) would die of Earth quake, tsunami etc. So in that regard I would say that few people put blame on God for bad things but do not give God credit for good things that are obviously outnumbering what we call “bad”.
Globally majority of the people are happy, prosperous, and have enough (if not more) to survive but still few will blame god when a fraction of people (compared to whole population) would die of Earth quake, tsunami etc. So in that regard I would say that few people put blame on God for bad things but do not give God credit for good things that are obviously outnumbering what we call “bad”.
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