God never promised you would be happy in this life...

[Taz]

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

I have asked that question many times, because I have significant health problems that have held me back, thwarting my efforts to support my family.

The answer is in the Book of Job. When Job asked God why he was allowed to suffer so much hardship when he always been a good and virtuous man, God answered him:

"Were you there when I laid down the four corners of the Earth?"

Obviously, the answer is "no" Job was not there watching God create the universe.

What God is saying is, you have no idea what it takes to create a universe and keep it running. If you could do my job, you would understand why I have to allow bad things to happen to good people. But you can't do my job, so even if I answered your question, you would not understand the answer. You are a human, with a very limited understanding of the universe. I am God, and know everything there is to know.

That's dumb.

You're dumb.

Maybe, but so is that. You're saying god is incompetent and can't handle all the work so he let's some fucked up things go. That's kinda dumb, isn't it?

The answer is this:

It is not possible to create and run a universe, even if you're God, where life is always fair to everyone.

So god needs to eat his Wheaties? He's a bumbler who can't handle his job? Does he have a combover as well?

 

[rightwinger]

It is not possible to create and run a universe, even if you're God, where life is always fair to everyone.

And you know this how, shaman?

Come on. You're just making stuff up as you go.

Not much of a God

 

[Blackrook]

It is not possible to create and run a universe, even if you're God, where life is always fair to everyone.

And you know this how, shaman?

Come on. You're just making stuff up as you go.

Not much of a God

God can't make 2 + 2 = 5 and he can't make a world where everyone always succeeds in every endeavor, always remains healthy and happy, and never has a bad turn of luck. Your demand that God pull off a stunt like this is specious.

 

[bodecea]

so-without faith, you can't be happy?

That's not what I said.

I said, even when you have faith in God, God does not guarantee you happiness in this life.

But the answer to your question is this:

I do not believe a person who does not believe in God can ever fill that God-sized hole with something else.

Some people try to fill it with sex, some with drugs or alcohol, others with money and the things money can buy.

But only God fits in that hole.

"god-sized hole"? Sounds kinky.

 

[KellBell]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

 

[KellBell]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

I have asked that question many times, because I have significant health problems that have held me back, thwarting my efforts to support my family.

The answer is in the Book of Job. When Job asked God why he was allowed to suffer so much hardship when he always been a good and virtuous man, God answered him:

"Were you there when I laid down the four corners of the Earth?"

Obviously, the answer is "no" Job was not there watching God create the universe.

What God is saying is, you have no idea what it takes to create a universe and keep it running. If you could do my job, you would understand why I have to allow bad things to happen to good people. But you can't do my job, so even if I answered your question, you would not understand the answer. You are a human, with a very limited understanding of the universe. I am God, and know everything there is to know.

Did you find a way to cope?

I found natural ways to cope with my pain and have found a way to put it at the back of my mind on most days. Distract myself from it.

 

[Taz]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

God never promised anything, that book was written by men. Got anything else, like a real reason why a god would make deformed and retarded babies?

 

[Foxfyre]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

God never promised anything, that book was written by men. Got anything else, like a real reason why a god would make deformed and retarded babies?

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature, imperfect genes, passed down through the generations or as a result of the behavior of the parents such as fetal alcohol syndrome. Sin is that which harms us and/or others and it can be cumulative passed down through the ages. It is bad because it does harm us and/or others, and that is why God is against it, and why he warns us against it and teaches us to reject it. If everybody did there would be utopia on Earth. But EVERYTHING that is wrong on Earth generally comes from people not paying attention to God's instruction/law and/or overtly or inadvertently committing sin.

 

[Taz]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

God never promised anything, that book was written by men. Got anything else, like a real reason why a god would make deformed and retarded babies?

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature, imperfect genes, passed down through the generations or as a result of the behavior of the parents such as fetal alcohol syndrome. Sin is that which harms us and/or others and it can be cumulative passed down through the ages. It is bad because it does harm us and/or others, and that is why God is against it, and why he warns us against it and teaches us to reject it. If everybody did there would be utopia on Earth. But EVERYTHING that is wrong on Earth generally comes from people not paying attention to God's instruction/law and/or overtly or inadvertently committing sin.

You do realize that god’s law, as you call it, was written by men, and not by an invisible superbeing.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

So birth defects are all caused by sin?

Listen to yourself. Listen to the immorality, and the poor ethics. Look at what your religion is doing to your brain.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature

You contradicted yourself, there. You also say god made nature. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Foxfyre]

...but despite everything, if you have faith enough, you will achieve some sort of peace of mind and soul, which is better than happiness because it's more real.

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

God never promised anything, that book was written by men. Got anything else, like a real reason why a god would make deformed and retarded babies?

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature, imperfect genes, passed down through the generations or as a result of the behavior of the parents such as fetal alcohol syndrome. Sin is that which harms us and/or others and it can be cumulative passed down through the ages. It is bad because it does harm us and/or others, and that is why God is against it, and why he warns us against it and teaches us to reject it. If everybody did there would be utopia on Earth. But EVERYTHING that is wrong on Earth generally comes from people not paying attention to God's instruction/law and/or overtly or inadvertently committing sin.

You do realize that god’s law, as you call it, was written by men, and not by an invisible superbeing.

No. God's law IS God's law. His person may be invisible, but his handiwork, his law, his Creation is evident for all to see who have eyes/soul to see. Some interpretation of it has been written by hand.

 

[Foxfyre]

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature

You contradicted yourself, there. You also say god made nature. Back to the drawing board.

Yes God made nature. And He also made laws to govern that nature that we call science. Break those laws or make the wrong choices, and we and/or our posterity will suffer the consequences. Including corrupting our genes that will be passed down. As the Bible says, the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children even unto the fourth and fifth generations, i.e. for a very long time.

If sin didn't have such terrible consequences, it wouldn't be any big deal.

 

[Compost]

Happiness is assured in Heaven not here. There are trials and temptations here. After this world is ended there will be joy.

A fine description of why religion is poisonous.

Really? Is it poisonous to delay gratification? Is it poisonous to believe that the troubles in this life strengthen us? Is it poisonous to look forward to something better?

 

[shockedcanadian]

I view it this way, the question isn't that you aren't happy in your life, but who are those making you unhappy.

If they are unjustly destroying your life and making you miserable, it is they that will carry the weight to hell. You must keep finding for peace and prosperity. You have one life, use it wisely.

 

[james bond]

"10 The thief comes only to steal and ekill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

"Jesus promised abundant life to those who follow him. Following Jesus brings us more spiritual fulfillment than we could have anticipated. We leave boring behind."

This is true according to my experience.

What are the promises of God? | GotQuestions.org

 

[james bond]

You can get the same feeling from a bottle of wine... and it would be just as meaningful.

There is no God. The sooner we realize that and try to fix our own problems, the better.

Even King Solomon could not take it with him.

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" Matthew 16:26

 

[mikegriffith1]

Actually, that's not true. God promises that we can achieve happiness/joy if we keep the commandments. He does not promise that we will never have trials and sorrows, but he does promise that he will help us through them.

A big part of dealing with life is understanding that we lived with God before we came to Earth and that while there we agreed to come down to Earth to experience mortality. We knew there would be trying, sorrowful times. We knew that some of us would experience terrible tragedy and even cruelty and horror. But we also knew that after the resurrection, God would more than compensate us for any unjust trials and suffering that we experienced on Earth.

 

[Taz]

So why does god make deformed and retarded babies who live in constant pain until they die in their teens?

The short answer is sin.

The long answer:

God doesn't make them deformed. He allows people to be affected, directly or indirectly, by the sins of the world, which humans invited in, some in more severe ways than others.

His reason for that?

I'm not a supernatural being with the ability to see the future and into people's hearts and minds, otherwise I might have an answer.
But, God does promise that everything he does or doesn't do has a purpose, a reason, a time, a season for everyone.
I used to wonder about why God allowed pain. I thought once I gave my life to Christ, my pain might lessen. When it didn't I sought answers and almost gave up on God.
A couple of things stand out from that time.

The Footprints in The Sand poster.
If you've never seen it, look it up. It's a metaphor for people who think God isn't with them during times of suffering, only during times of happiness.

The Passion of the Christ movie.
I thought well God must not understand pain at all if he allows such suffering. My prayers were never answered about pain relief. Either that or He is sadistic.

The poster helped me realize He is there during hardship as well as good times. Actually much more closely than you'd think.

The movie helped me realize: 1. God didn't answer the desperate prayer of His own son. The plea to spare Him the suffering he was about to endure. But there was a very important reason for that. 2. Jesus is God in the flesh, so everything Jesus experienced during that time, every painful hit and lash, broken bones, the pain of abandonment, friends throwing you under the bus or claiming to not know you, being without God's presence, hunger, thirst, all of that and more, God experienced as well.
Even though God knew what the end result would be, that Jesus would raise from the dead and be with him in Heaven to prepare it for all who will come, God still had to endure feeling and witnessing His Son go through all that and die a horrible death.

Sin affects people directly and indirectly.

But let me ask, which is better to have, a short span of misery in exchange for an eternity of happiness, or a short span of happiness in exchange for an eternity of misery?

God never promised anything, that book was written by men. Got anything else, like a real reason why a god would make deformed and retarded babies?

As KellBell explained, God doesn't make deformed and retarded babies. They are a result of nature, imperfect genes, passed down through the generations or as a result of the behavior of the parents such as fetal alcohol syndrome. Sin is that which harms us and/or others and it can be cumulative passed down through the ages. It is bad because it does harm us and/or others, and that is why God is against it, and why he warns us against it and teaches us to reject it. If everybody did there would be utopia on Earth. But EVERYTHING that is wrong on Earth generally comes from people not paying attention to God's instruction/law and/or overtly or inadvertently committing sin.

You do realize that god’s law, as you call it, was written by men, and not by an invisible superbeing.

No. God's law IS God's law. His person may be invisible, but his handiwork, his law, his Creation is evident for all to see who have eyes/soul to see. Some interpretation of it has been written by hand.

So some people made up their own versions (interpretation) of what a god would want. How do you know that that's correct?

 

[rightwinger]

Maybe I will worship a God who will make me happy in life