From: sieferme@stein.u.washington.edu (Eric Sieferman)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Why must you act this way?
Date: 5 Jan 1993 21:08:50 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: world,public
NNTP-Posting-Host: stein.u.washington.edu

In article <1993Jan5.071254.4440@en.ecn.purdue.edu> muehlhau@en.ecn.purdue.edu (John Muehlhausen) writes:
>In article <1993Jan3.082328.11776@phyrql.Alt.ZA> lucio@proxima.Alt.ZA writes:
>
>>Where was your god when a four-year old girl, who would hardly be able
>>to tell the difference, was suffering?  
>
>Right by her side.  Death is a result of sin, and happens from time to time
>and for various reasons in our fallen world.

One more time, more   s l o w l y ...
(a) If the death AND SUFFERING of the four year old is a result of
her own sins, please explain what this four year old did
to deserve it.  I can't think of anything, and I have a 
busy imagination.
(b) If the death AND SUFFERING of the four year old is a result of
the alleged crime of her ancestors, please describes the theory
of justice which mandates this perverse punishment.
And while you are doing this, keep repeating
"God is omnipotent, God is omnipotent, ...".
Hopefully, the incongruity of these ideas will 
finally strike you.

>It has no detrimental significance
>for the children of God, however.

John, you've done it again - provided a better case study than
I could ever want.  The attitude you just expressed
is one of the hallmark reasons why I left xtianity.
It is quite normal for humans to grieve in the face
of death, suffering, and injustice.  But xtianity encourages
psychological dissociation by blithely assuring its 
followers that seemingly Bad Things are actually
Good Things, or at least Unimportant Things.
So, don't face the pain, just shove it underground 
and quote a few scriptures, and all will be well.

Real humans experience a full range of passions; xtianity
encourages a tepid blandness in the face of any joy
or misery.

Quite literally, christianity is inhuman.
And many christians rejoice in this face.

>I look forward to meeting my Creator and
>knowing Him even as I am fully known by Him.

Why would you want to spend any time with a guy who
claims that it is just to maintain a system of 
suffering?

>You may ask "Why doesn't God
>intervene and end the suffering of this girl?"  He will (and does) both
>miraculously and through modern medicine if it is His will for her to live.
>If it is His will to let a young girl die, then it is for the greater good of
>all those involved that love Him.

Abuse-of-language alert!  You have previously claimed that you
don't really know what this "greater good" means.  It is 
ingenuous to include this as an argument unless you are 
willing to elaborate on the meaning of this "greater good".
Prisons (and in Washington, the gallows) are full of people
who had a vision of a greater good which justified their
actions.

>I don't see why you are mad at me - I
>didn't make it up, nor can I do a good job defending the One who calls the
>shots.  I suggest you seek Him for your answers.  Read James 1.

I don't know about the original poster, but I am not mad at you.
I just with that you would realize how sick some of your
defenses of xtianity sounds.



-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hi!  I'm .Siggy, the National .Sig Foundation poster child.
---------------------------------------------------------------