I Just Spoke to God....

[Christopher]

Has anyone out there NOT asked God why terrible things happen to good Christians and innocent children while un-godly mugs like this average JOE skip through their lucky lives, well fed and comfortable while pointing out the fallacy of believing in gods that were invented in the last 1% of our species history?

Has anyone received an acceptable answer? If you have, please share!

Yes, I have. I will not go into specifics other than to say I had an experience which caused me to have the same question. I had reflected on the situation for a few hours, took a walk and afterwards just asked God openly "why". Immediately I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace, love, and compassion which I will never forget. I had my answer: "Be at peace."

As much as I appreciate your personal, and apparently heart-felt expression of your feelings by quote of this well used response to the question, in other words, I believe you are sincere, but I've heard that answer LOTS of times from a large and diverse group of sincere people, and I’m calling ‘bullshit’.

If God IS, why is luck, both good and bad, an equal opportunity and overwhelmingly random gene which respects absolutely NOTHING concerning belief in a higher power?

"Why is THAT guy lucky and SHE’s constantly getting crapped on?"

"Why does the Armor of God not prevent cancer?"​

The best answer I ever heard to this line of questioning was, "Compared to God, every last one of us is just as bad as Hitler and Wesley Alan Dodd combined, that's why it sometimes seems that you see unfair amounts of bad shit happen to good people."

Bullshit. Statistically, we SHOULD see unfair amounts of bad shit happening to good people, ass-u-me-ing that is, that most of us know more good people than we do assholes and infidels.

Compared to God, we're no better than Hitler and Dodd. I'll bet NOBODY truly believes that everyone they know should rate the same level of shame as those two worthless examples of what evolution and relative freedom can produce, not even knowing the one person they've known the longest and most intimately... not if they also believe we were created in Gods image.

My current mouth, along with my knowledge of correct Biblical attitude and the rules for 'right and wrong' SHOULD be combining with the underlying responsibility for that knowledge once you have it to result in a brief weather headline and a lightning statistic.

Yet here I sit, a lucky guy…. Let alone the everyday good shit in my life like a slightly inconvenient warning on a pending critical part failure when there’s plenty of time to deal with it and paid time off to stop the bleeding and get the repairs underway... When I think about the times I didn't get caught stupid handed when I could have.




Can an American believe that another American is an ‘infidel’ without tearing at the fabric of the Spirit behind “America”?

Well, you did ask if anyone had received an acceptable answer. The answer I received was acceptable to me. It does not work for you probably because you did not receive the answer.

The "best answer you heard" I disagree with. I believe we were shown the things that would happen to us in this life before we were born. I also believe we accepted them and perhaps even prepared for them.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Yes, I have. I will not go into specifics other than to say I had an experience which caused me to have the same question. I had reflected on the situation for a few hours, took a walk and afterwards just asked God openly "why". Immediately I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace, love, and compassion which I will never forget. I had my answer: "Be at peace."

As much as I appreciate your personal, and apparently heart-felt expression of your feelings by quote of this well used response to the question, in other words, I believe you are sincere, but I've heard that answer LOTS of times from a large and diverse group of sincere people, and I’m calling ‘bullshit’.

If God IS, why is luck, both good and bad, an equal opportunity and overwhelmingly random gene which respects absolutely NOTHING concerning belief in a higher power?

"Why is THAT guy lucky and SHE’s constantly getting crapped on?"

"Why does the Armor of God not prevent cancer?"​

The best answer I ever heard to this line of questioning was, "Compared to God, every last one of us is just as bad as Hitler and Wesley Alan Dodd combined, that's why it sometimes seems that you see unfair amounts of bad shit happen to good people."

Bullshit. Statistically, we SHOULD see unfair amounts of bad shit happening to good people, ass-u-me-ing that is, that most of us know more good people than we do assholes and infidels.

Compared to God, we're no better than Hitler and Dodd. I'll bet NOBODY truly believes that everyone they know should rate the same level of shame as those two worthless examples of what evolution and relative freedom can produce, not even knowing the one person they've known the longest and most intimately... not if they also believe we were created in Gods image.

My current mouth, along with my knowledge of correct Biblical attitude and the rules for 'right and wrong' SHOULD be combining with the underlying responsibility for that knowledge once you have it to result in a brief weather headline and a lightning statistic.

Yet here I sit, a lucky guy…. Let alone the everyday good shit in my life like a slightly inconvenient warning on a pending critical part failure when there’s plenty of time to deal with it and paid time off to stop the bleeding and get the repairs underway... When I think about the times I didn't get caught stupid handed when I could have.




Can an American believe that another American is an ‘infidel’ without tearing at the fabric of the Spirit behind “America”?

Well, you did ask if anyone had received an acceptable answer. The answer I received was acceptable to me. It does not work for you probably because you did not receive the answer.

The "best answer you heard" I disagree with. I believe we were shown the things that would happen to us in this life before we were born. I also believe we accepted them and perhaps even prepared for them.

Isn't there a passage from your sacred texts that reads something to the effect of "We are not but filthy rags in His presence. No, not one."?

Same preacher that expressed the Hitler-Dodd interpretation said the words translated "filthy rags" referred to soiled menstrual cycle fashions of the day. The lexicon I was using for reference seemed to agree.

Does that really describe you and yours? I've never met you, other than here at USMB, and I don't believe it for one second!

If I don't believe that passage, why should I believe the rest? Remember, I dismiss not God out of hand but The Bible, Torah and Koran as no more than collections of good stories along the line of King, Koontz and Vonnegut.

Maybe the folks closest to God and most likely to go to 'Heaven' when they die are easily identified as apparently lucky.




.

 

[Christopher]

As much as I appreciate your personal, and apparently heart-felt expression of your feelings by quote of this well used response to the question, in other words, I believe you are sincere, but I've heard that answer LOTS of times from a large and diverse group of sincere people, and I’m calling ‘bullshit’.

If God IS, why is luck, both good and bad, an equal opportunity and overwhelmingly random gene which respects absolutely NOTHING concerning belief in a higher power?

"Why is THAT guy lucky and SHE’s constantly getting crapped on?"

"Why does the Armor of God not prevent cancer?"​

The best answer I ever heard to this line of questioning was, "Compared to God, every last one of us is just as bad as Hitler and Wesley Alan Dodd combined, that's why it sometimes seems that you see unfair amounts of bad shit happen to good people."

Bullshit. Statistically, we SHOULD see unfair amounts of bad shit happening to good people, ass-u-me-ing that is, that most of us know more good people than we do assholes and infidels.

Compared to God, we're no better than Hitler and Dodd. I'll bet NOBODY truly believes that everyone they know should rate the same level of shame as those two worthless examples of what evolution and relative freedom can produce, not even knowing the one person they've known the longest and most intimately... not if they also believe we were created in Gods image.

My current mouth, along with my knowledge of correct Biblical attitude and the rules for 'right and wrong' SHOULD be combining with the underlying responsibility for that knowledge once you have it to result in a brief weather headline and a lightning statistic.

Yet here I sit, a lucky guy…. Let alone the everyday good shit in my life like a slightly inconvenient warning on a pending critical part failure when there’s plenty of time to deal with it and paid time off to stop the bleeding and get the repairs underway... When I think about the times I didn't get caught stupid handed when I could have.




Can an American believe that another American is an ‘infidel’ without tearing at the fabric of the Spirit behind “America”?

Well, you did ask if anyone had received an acceptable answer. The answer I received was acceptable to me. It does not work for you probably because you did not receive the answer.

The "best answer you heard" I disagree with. I believe we were shown the things that would happen to us in this life before we were born. I also believe we accepted them and perhaps even prepared for them.

Isn't there a passage from your sacred texts that reads something to the effect of "We are not but filthy rags in His presence. No, not one."?

Same preacher that expressed the Hitler-Dodd interpretation said the words translated "filthy rags" referred to soiled menstrual cycle fashions of the day. The lexicon I was using for reference seemed to agree.

Does that really describe you and yours? I've never met you, other than here at USMB, and I don't believe it for one second!

If I don't believe that passage, why should I believe the rest? Remember, I dismiss not God out of hand but The Bible, Torah and Koran as no more than collections of good stories along the line of King, Koontz and Vonnegut.

Maybe the folks closest to God and most likely to go to 'Heaven' when they die are easily identified as apparently lucky.




.

That is not what is said in the Bible, context and interpretation matter. The problem is that there are different translations of the Bible that can change the meaning intended. Here is the only reference I know to “filthy rags” in the Bible. This is from the King James Version, which I think is the most accurate translation (Isaiah 64:5-6):

5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

This is saying that when we sin, we are like “filthy rags” when compared to God’s “cleanliness” and righteousness. Does it mean God places little or no value on us? No.
I am a Mormon/LDS like Avatar is and we have another scripture which says (D&C 18:10):

Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

 

[Neubarth]

The Greek Word used for "Filthy Rags" was the one used to describe the kind of rag specifically used for menstruation.

AND, yes, we are as such rags in the sight of God. We are only worthy of death, but he does approve of a few of us, like me, because I honor who God really is. Most people who call themselves Christians in this world do not have a clue about who God is, because they have never read the Bible.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Well, you did ask if anyone had received an acceptable answer. The answer I received was acceptable to me. It does not work for you probably because you did not receive the answer.

The "best answer you heard" I disagree with. I believe we were shown the things that would happen to us in this life before we were born. I also believe we accepted them and perhaps even prepared for them.

Isn't there a passage from your sacred texts that reads something to the effect of "We are not but filthy rags in His presence. No, not one."?

Same preacher that expressed the Hitler-Dodd interpretation said the words translated "filthy rags" referred to soiled menstrual cycle fashions of the day. The lexicon I was using for reference seemed to agree.

Does that really describe you and yours? I've never met you, other than here at USMB, and I don't believe it for one second!

If I don't believe that passage, why should I believe the rest? Remember, I dismiss not God out of hand but The Bible, Torah and Koran as no more than collections of good stories along the line of King, Koontz and Vonnegut.

Maybe the folks closest to God and most likely to go to 'Heaven' when they die are easily identified as apparently lucky.




.

That is not what is said in the Bible, context and interpretation matter. The problem is that there are different translations of the Bible that can change the meaning intended. Here is the only reference I know to “filthy rags” in the Bible. This is from the King James Version, which I think is the most accurate translation (Isaiah 64:5-6):

5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

This is saying that when we sin, we are like “filthy rags” when compared to God’s “cleanliness” and righteousness. Does it mean God places little or no value on us? No.
I am a Mormon/LDS like Avatar is and we have another scripture which says (D&C 18:10):

Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

I appreciate your insight and understanding that The Word is ancient and translated. We have a basis of understanding from a technical perspective.

I'll respond with, "I've had enough."

I believe that the documentary evidence is there to state that current English translations of The New Testament can be representative of the original Greek in concept at least if you chew on a couple of different translations. I also believe that the methodology of carrying the original Hebrew of the Old Testament through time is impressive to say the least, same with The Koran. But, I've heard and studied enough interpretations of the stories from personal attitudes ranging from 'sold out believer' to 'passive reader' and I've made up my mind that they're just stories ranging from deliciously imaginative to pretty fucking boring. Nothing more.

If the God of The Bible is God, I am surely destined for hell. With knowledge comes responsibility and I have knowledge of the past and current concepts behind mankind's oldest writings. That said, it's my humble opinion that if God really is, He is so much bigger than todays current list of top three oldest story books, no matter how well the words in them were preserved through the short time span enveloping our species ability to write concepts down and pass thoughts through time.

Lucky me... my closed end fund portfolio just deposited another $80 in my account. (Insert your preferred Deity here) bless me!

 

[AVG-JOE]

The Greek Word used for "Filthy Rags" was the one used to describe the kind of rag specifically used for menstruation.

AND, yes, we are as such rags in the sight of God. We are only worthy of death, but he does approve of a few of us, like me, because I honor who God really is. Most people who call themselves Christians in this world do not have a clue about who God is, because they have never read the Bible.

So why is a mug like me lucky and the nice Christian lady who volunteers to read Bible stories to kids in Sunday School fighting literally for her life with her insurance company?

It just doesn't make any sense......

 

[Sky Dancer]

The Greek Word used for "Filthy Rags" was the one used to describe the kind of rag specifically used for menstruation.

AND, yes, we are as such rags in the sight of God. We are only worthy of death, but he does approve of a few of us, like me, because I honor who God really is. Most people who call themselves Christians in this world do not have a clue about who God is, because they have never read the Bible.

So why is a mug like me lucky and the nice Christian lady who volunteers to read Bible stories to kids in Sunday School fighting literally for her life with her insurance company?

It just doesn't make any sense......

Karma?

 

[AVG-JOE]

You have just hit on the most fundamental truth of all, that God cares. He doesn't care about the big things, or football games, he cares about people.

Unless you are playing in or betting on the football game and win. Then he cares.

God is not responsible for everything that happens on Earth

No, just the good things, like this. Cuz if the situation turned out poorly, then it wouldn't be because of god, but if it turns out good, it's definitely not coincidence.

Cuz he felt warm and at peace inside. After hearing voices. At 4am. In the dark. Right after dreaming.

The point being, if God is the God of The Bible Stories, why does my life seem lucky, especially when compared to a LOT of "Good Christians", "Obedient Jews" and "Devout Muslims" whose bad luck I have had personal knowledge of or witness to?

 

[Sky Dancer]

You have just hit on the most fundamental truth of all, that God cares. He doesn't care about the big things, or football games, he cares about people.

Unless you are playing in or betting on the football game and win. Then he cares.

God is not responsible for everything that happens on Earth

No, just the good things, like this. Cuz if the situation turned out poorly, then it wouldn't be because of god, but if it turns out good, it's definitely not coincidence.

Cuz he felt warm and at peace inside. After hearing voices. At 4am. In the dark. Right after dreaming.

The point being, if God is the God of The Bible Stories, why does my life seem lucky, especially when compared to a LOT of "Good Christians", "Obedient Jews" and "Devout Muslims" whose bad luck I have had personal knowledge of or witness to?

What if God isn't the God of Bible stories but something beyond all that?

 

[AVG-JOE]

Unless you are playing in or betting on the football game and win. Then he cares.


No, just the good things, like this. Cuz if the situation turned out poorly, then it wouldn't be because of god, but if it turns out good, it's definitely not coincidence.

Cuz he felt warm and at peace inside. After hearing voices. At 4am. In the dark. Right after dreaming.

The point being, if God is the God of The Bible Stories, why does my life seem lucky, especially when compared to a LOT of "Good Christians", "Obedient Jews" and "Devout Muslims" whose bad luck I have had personal knowledge of or witness to?

What if God isn't the God of Bible stories but something beyond all that?

That's what I'm thinking, Sky Dancer. If God IS, He is so much bigger than the collective written works that extol in story the joy that writers, both good and poor, put to paper when the writings that survive time were new.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Well, you did ask if anyone had received an acceptable answer. The answer I received was acceptable to me. It does not work for you probably because you did not receive the answer.

The "best answer you heard" I disagree with. I believe we were shown the things that would happen to us in this life before we were born. I also believe we accepted them and perhaps even prepared for them.

Isn't there a passage from your sacred texts that reads something to the effect of "We are not but filthy rags in His presence. No, not one."?

Same preacher that expressed the Hitler-Dodd interpretation said the words translated "filthy rags" referred to soiled menstrual cycle fashions of the day. The lexicon I was using for reference seemed to agree.

Does that really describe you and yours? I've never met you, other than here at USMB, and I don't believe it for one second!

If I don't believe that passage, why should I believe the rest? Remember, I dismiss not God out of hand but The Bible, Torah and Koran as no more than collections of good stories along the line of King, Koontz and Vonnegut.

Maybe the folks closest to God and most likely to go to 'Heaven' when they die are easily identified as apparently lucky.

That is not what is said in the Bible, context and interpretation matter. The problem is that there are different translations of the Bible that can change the meaning intended. Here is the only reference I know to “filthy rags” in the Bible. This is from the King James Version, which I think is the most accurate translation (Isaiah 64:5-6):

5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

This is saying that when we sin, we are like “filthy rags” when compared to God’s “cleanliness” and righteousness. Does it mean God places little or no value on us? No.
I am a Mormon/LDS like Avatar is and we have another scripture which says (D&C 18:10): Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

You want to think about that statement and rescind it?

I won't go so far as to speak for you, but when I 'sin', I seldom feel like it is also my 'righteousness'.

The passage states that ALL, the absolute best that you, your church family, your blood family, me, my families and all our friends and acquaintances BEST efforts, our "righteousness" has all the appeal to God of used tampons.

Again I say with confidence: Bullshit. And I don't even know you and yours.



P.S. Anybody who posts a photo gets put on 'ignore'.

 

[AVG-JOE]

The Greek Word used for "Filthy Rags" was the one used to describe the kind of rag specifically used for menstruation.

AND, yes, we are as such rags in the sight of God. We are only worthy of death, but he does approve of a few of us, like me, because I honor who God really is. Most people who call themselves Christians in this world do not have a clue about who God is, because they have never read the Bible.

You honor God. I don't know you and until you say otherwise, I'm gonna ass-u-me that you are the luckiest guy either of us know. THATS how it should be if God IS.

I want to know why a guy like me with a mouth like mine leads the charmed life that I do and good Christians loose everything, including the baby, in a car wreck?

 

[ABikerSailor]

Hey Joe.........is there a God? Yes.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Well, learn the story of the first 4 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The first one is Aleph. That is the letter that represents God. He stands behind us in the next letter.

The second one is Ba-it. That is a letter that is closed behind, closed on the top, and closed on the bottom. The only place that is open is pointing towards the rest of the alphabet.

The third one is Gimel. Gimel is represented by what looks like a man on 2 legs walking forward quickly. Gimel is the person who lived in the Ba-it. It is the job of the Gimel (us), to go out of our houses to look for the next letter.

The fourth one is Dalet. Dalet is the person who doesn't have much in either the way of material necessities or spiritual gifts. Those are the people that we as Gimels should go looking for in order to brighten their day a bit better.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Free will. They are free to do as they wish, and others are free to do as they wish, even if it means hurting another. You see this every day. Someone decides that they don't like something that someone else does, and they go to try to force the other to give them something.

But..........if you go back to the Torah, as well as Buddhist and Taoist beliefs, you will see in the Torah that we are all a small piece of God, which he placed into the embryo created by our parents, which becomes our soul.

Buddhists refer to this by the noble 8 fold path which leads to everyone becoming a Buddha, which is to say God like.

Taoists talk about re-joining the Tao.

My personal little story?

One summer I decided to take a bicycle trip from Jacksonville Fl to Newport RI. Yeah.....1100 miles in 12 days.

The first day I rode in blistering heat and started to burn.

The next 3 days, I was riding in a hurricane up the east coast. I stopped in Myrtle Beach SC and stayed with friends (scheduled 2 day stop), and felt better afterwards.

Well, a couple of days later, I was riding up the Outer Banks of NC, whipping into Kitty Hawk with a 25 mph tailwind.

I was riding at 27, making good time.

Well, got through Kitty Hawk and was congratulating myself on the fortune of the tailwind when I ended up with a flat 2 miles outside of town. In front of a carpet store.

I fixed my tire, and walked in to ask if I could wash my hand. They'd been sitting there watching me in the parking lot while I fixed my tire. I then asked what time the next ferry over to Norfolk was, and they told me the last one had just left, and I was a few miles away.

I then asked if there was a hotel to stay at and was told I had to go back to Kitty Hawk. But then, a guy remembered there was a hotel on the river, about 2 miles up the street, with an ATM (which I needed) only 1 mile away.

Total night cost me about 30 bucks, and I got a steak dinner and cable in the bargain.

If I hadn't gotten a flat when I did? I would have ended up camping out au natural in the parking lot with the snakes and gators.

Then.......there's also the time that someone came up to me and told me that Father had sent them to watch my back.

I'd been an orphan since I was 8. Interesting story for another time.

But in short? Yes. God exists. And remember, the world isn't fair, that's why WE have to be.

 

[AVG-JOE]

I never said 'there is no God'.

On the contrary, I had coffee with Him just the other day.​

I just think that you can tell the people who're closest to God and most likely to go to 'Heaven' when they leave this world.....​

They lead lucky lives. Do you feel..... lucky?






Wow. Just by virtue of being born in the 1950's in America I'm luckier than 75% of humanity. And i done o.k. fer a semi-educated middle-class mutt!

Yeah, I feel lucky.

 

[Avatar4321]

So why is a mug like me lucky and the nice Christian lady who volunteers to read Bible stories to kids in Sunday School fighting literally for her life with her insurance company?

It just doesn't make any sense......

What makes you think that you won't be fighting for your life in a few years? We are mortal. We will have to face the consequences of mortality. That involves physical death. God doesn't promise that we won't die. Just that we won't stay dead. That is the point of the Resurrection. It will reunite our Spirit with our Body and restore it to the glory we have obtained through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

[SmarterThanHick]

so once again the conclusion is that anytime some coincidental or unexpected good thing or good luck befalls someone, it is proof of a deity. right.

one time I found $50. I don't think it was a higher message being sent down to me from heaven.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Once is happenstance, twice is circumstance, third time is proof.

Coincidences are actually small pieces of synchronicity that God uses to show us He's there.

If you dismiss it as coincidence, you'll never see the beauty of the synchronicity.

 

[SmarterThanHick]

I found money on more than one occasion. At what point does a $5 bill become divine?

 

[ABikerSailor]

The money itself is not, the circumstances surrounding its delivery to you is.

 

[AVG-JOE]

So why is a mug like me lucky and the nice Christian lady who volunteers to read Bible stories to kids in Sunday School fighting literally for her life with her insurance company?

It just doesn't make any sense......

What makes you think that you won't be fighting for your life in a few years? We are mortal. We will have to face the consequences of mortality. That involves physical death. God doesn't promise that we won't die. Just that we won't stay dead. That is the point of the Resurrection. It will reunite our Spirit with our Body and restore it to the glory we have obtained through faith in Jesus Christ.

Of course I'll be fighting for my life in a few years, a few years is all anyone gets.

I'm lucky... I'm old enough to know that when I find myself in the fight I know I'll lose, even if it starts tomorrow, I'm gonna be able to let go quickly knowing that I had a reasonably happy life on 20th century Earth and started a few buds growing in my wake. What more can any man ask of life?

As far as the stories that people believe of life after death, nobody KNOWS what happens but everyone has a theory - is it coincidence, evolution or God that the first theories of origins and afterlife to get written down are the dominant three religions on this rock?

Evolution fits the history..... coincidence is plausible.....

The stories of one (and ONLY one) of the fickle, vengeful gods of the Jews, Muslims or Christians actually being "The Word of God..." and all that that title entails.........?

"And The Word was God."

Makes more sense to me that the written word and writing are worthy of worship as the essence of transmitting thoughts and ideas across time, not the main characters in grandpas stories of how lucky a man he is to see his the children of his children growing strong. I just can't bring myself to worship the characters in stories that just happened to get written down at the right time and place in histories struggle for resources.

Would "God" be different if the Blacks, Asians or Americans had won instead of Western 'Civilization'?

Is there seriously anyone who continues to argue that Western 'Civilization' won because God was on their side?