Blaming God

[bigguns7]

This is a thought provoked by a great thread started by Big Brother Val.

One of his points was basically this: "Why do we thank God for the good things, but not blame Him for the bad?"

I'd like to give my own interpretation on that. Many Christians do exactly what Val said, they blindly give all the glory to God, but are afraid to question Him when something goes wrong. Now, the Bible says that God is infallible, so I don't know if blaming God is the right thing to do, but maybe questioning Him isn't so bad.

While I revere God to the utmost, I have a relationship with Him that is more like the relationship that one would have with a best friend. When i pray, I don't say words like "Oh Holiest of Holies" and "Thee" and "Thy" and "Dear Heavenly King." I talk to God like I would talk to my oldest friend. I would sooner say "Hey God" when beginning a prayer than I would say "Dear Lord." This may be right, and this may be wrong, but this is how I do it.

When something fortunate happens to me, I thank God for allowing it. Here's where I'm different: If I were to pitch a no-hitter, I wouldn't say, "Thank you Lord for letting me pitch that no-hitter." I would say "thank you Lord for giving me the will, the determination, and the athletic ability to practice and become the type of pitcher who is capable of throwing a no-hitter." GOD DOESN"T DO IT FOR US, HE BLESSES US WITH THE TALENTS TO ACCOMPLISH THE THINGS THAT WE ACCOMPLISH IN LIFE OURSELVES. We don't have to thank God for making us CEO of the company, but we should give the glory to God for giving us the ability and the personality to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish on our own accord.

Likewise, if something bad happens to me, I don't say "Thank you God, it is Your will." I say "Come on God, I thought I was doing well here. Why'd you let me get into this mess?" I get mad at God all the time. But I don't blame Him. The fact is, a month, or a year, or five years later, I DO THANK HIM, because whatever misfortune befell me has made me the person I am.

I have a favorite quote from one of my favorite actors, Robert Duvall, from the movie "The Apostle."

"I love ya God, I really love ya Lord, but I'm mad at ya. I'm really mad at ya."

 

[frorider6]

Why does everyone blame me for EVERYTHING?!?!?!

I mean, I gave you people my fucking SON didn't I? What more do you want? I'm done with you fucking people. Get a life.

 

[talonracer]

God can kiss my hairy white ass. I've seen the nicest people suffer the most horrible fates while a wicked person gets rich and lives a long life. Either he doesn't exist or he's the biggest prick ever.

 

[HappyScrappy]

the moral of the story is to become a mean nasty evil person

 

[starfish]

God is a woman

 

[frorider6]

God is a woman

No I'm not.

 

[starfish]

Yes I am.. I guess we are going to have to wrestle for the position

 

[frorider6]

Yes I am.. I guess we are going to have to wrestle for the position

Are you challenging God to a wrestling match? Sure, okay. I guess nobody's gonna die in the next 2 hours. And if they do, fuck 'em.

 

[TheGame2001]

?

A wicked person lives a long life and you have seen a sweet person live a short life.
Brother, the time here on earth is a BLINK. A grain of sand compared to the grains in the desert.

God once flooded the earth and he promised he would never do that again. We are born of sin. Adam sinned. We are all sinners. Sin will always be with us. There will be good people, there will be bad people. This is always so tough to explain because you can't explain faith.

Let me tell you I was horribly depressed after my divorced, at one point I was even suicidal. One night I dropped to my knees and just asked god to take over my life and gave myself to him. I was on the balcony of my condo when I did this. It was a still night. At that exact moment a wind blew for several minutes and ceased and no wind the rest of the night. Was this a sign? I don't know. All I know is once I turned my life over to God, bad things are bearable, good thiings are more enjoyable.

I still have not explained faith worth a flip and I know that.


Nope,, have not explained it well but I have it inside me.

God Bless,
Merry Christmas
Game

 

[starfish]

You will need more than two hours

 

[HumorMe]

"Why do we thank God for the good things, but not blame Him for the bad?"

Guns
I firmly believe God is infallible. To question Him is saying that you don't trust him. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have had tunnelvision on a certain idea or subject and was too narrow minded to look at the downside. When those things didn't work out, I felt I had failed as a person. I never questioned God as to why they didn't work out. It was only until weeks, months or years down the road that I realized that God intended me to fail to make me grow mentally as well as sprititually. There will always be a reward for things not working out but the problem will be to recognize that reward.

Everybody has their own way in talking and dealing with God. Whatever that method might be, I'm sure, it is fine with God. Never believe for a second you need all the pomp and circumstance to talk to God. He just wants you to talk to Him! Too many people think that prayer doesn't work because they have this impression that praying is like rubbing a genie lamp and God will grant them for whatever they wish for. Prayer works in very mysterious ways. It can be a sign or it can be as simple as glancing out the window and then all of a sudden you feel it working inside of you.

God does give us talents and he gives us the desire to achieve greatness with them. Examples of this are Orel Hirschiser when he was at his peak he always contributed his talent to God. Mike Singletary(Chicago Bears) was also like this. It's interesting though that these guys were the same off the field as they were on the field which means they never put up a front to win people's admirations. I believe Singletary is even a preacher.

Guns, I know where you are coming from. There are alot of people in this world who will flatly denounce God. It's freewill but there will come a day when they will have to answer to only one person. I'm not some Bible-thumping radical who looks down on others for their own beliefs but I do have compassion for them because these are the truly lost souls. Everybody can flame me for their beliefs but my convictions are set in concrete and I will never sway.

Here's a side note: Does anybody remember the girl who was killed during the Columbine massacre? Those guys put a gun to her face and asked her if she believed in God and she answered yes. Then I believe they asked if she was ready to meet him or something like that. Then they killed her. How many people would have the guts to admit their belief in God in a situation like that?

 

[HumorMe]

Re: ?

Let me tell you I was horribly depressed after my divorced, at one point I was even suicidal. One night I dropped to my knees and just asked god to take over my life and gave myself to him. I was on the balcony of my condo when I did this. It was a still night. At that exact moment a wind blew for several minutes and ceased and no wind the rest of the night. Was this a sign? I don't know. All I know is once I turned my life over to God, bad things are bearable, good thiings are more enjoyable.

I still have not explained faith worth a flip and I know that.


Nope,, have not explained it well but I have it inside me.

God Bless,
Merry Christmas
Game

Thanks for sharing this. Your words are greatly appreciated by me. It's nice to read things like this! Thanks again!

 

[uNOwho]

I feel compelled to ask why WE, as a society, must "blame" God for the troubles we inflict upon ourselves. I understand the need for a scapegoat, but why must it always be God? Follow me through this timeline real quick.

At the young age of 11 my father lost his company and we were headed in a downward spiral. I was in fourth grade, I was an exceptional student, good athlete, quite liked by my peers, and social. After this traumatizing event happened, I dropped to the worst in the class, sucked at sports, everyone hated me, and I became quit anti-social. I inherited a big disdain for life and the world within which I was living. In fifth grade, I attempted suicide four times. Put a knife to my wrist, throat, chest, and any other body part numerous times, just holding it there and trembling. I couldn't make myself cut myself. There was a greater force keeping my hand from moving. As bad as I wanted to die and leave this Earth, I couldn't. This downward trend continued till my freshman year in high school. I finally met my finale. The kids at my HS were so cruel to me, I had NO friends. I did nothing, hated school and life. Was becoming somewhat of a druggie and was getting more hostile by the minute. My family despised me and my dog feared me. One night I had enough fighting with my family, I had pushed my mom down as she tried to hit me. I had my dad throw me into a wall and threaten me. I had my sister in a corner crying because she knew I had lost it. And my dog was, I think he tried to crawl underneath the dryer, he was scared. I made up my mind that I was going to end it and cave my life in. I went to my room slammed my door and began to tie a knot around my neck and hung it to my fan. As I was stepping off the chair, my mom came walking in the door. The look on her face haunts me today. The horror and fear and rage of what she saw is ingrained in my mind forever. She took the rope off my neck and did nothing but tell me that she wasn't going to tell my father, he would have surely killed me. Then she left, leaving me to wonder what just happened. I cried for hours, that event shook me so bad. Since that day I have never thought about dying or maiming myself, and I don't want to think about it. Looking back do I know what happened. I most surely do. God had sent my mother to me as an angel telling me that it wasn't my time yet, that no matter what my determination was at that point. He wasn't going to let me leave. He sent me one of the only things that would stop me from doing that. My mother, my family is my life. Without them I'd be lost. God uses tools that each one of us can recognize, be it people or not. It is something that we all cherish in our lives.
To want to blame God for the decisions of mortal's is like asking a snake to walk. It just won't work. No matter how bad you may want to find someone to blame, often times the onus is on you. I made a reference in another post to a poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Less Taken." This poem symbolizes the decisions that are presented to us and how we all make bad ones, wrong ones, good ones, sad ones, we all make choices. They lead to the same place in the end. No matter what road you turn down, it will eventually lead you to where your destiny foretold. God can only give you the options, He cannot force you to do them.
To blame God for the problems of today is futile. It does no good to cry out to God and ask him why the world has such suffering. His only response will be, learn from them. Let history be your guide. If you learn from past mistakes and take the metaphor's out of the bible as lesson's for life. Your questions will be answered.

Let your choices be your map, let God present them to you. Do not look for an easy way out of your problem's rather look for an easy way to correct them. In life we all have burden's to bear, some worse than other's. No matter how bad the world is around us, you will never change. So live you life to the fullest and make a difference to those in your path. Do not set to conquer the world and rid it of despair. Rather utilize the thought's of the movie "Pay It Forward." If you can make a difference to three people and have them do the same for three more, your impact is now 12 deep.

~p~

 

[rdhdfmn]

Big guns7

I am a lurker here on this board. I always read the God questions because it is intresting to see the different ways people veiw God. I will have to say that that was the most impressive post I have seen yet. I know there are more believers out there and that there are good posts out there but that was by far the best one that I have read. Thanks for the encouragement......Rd

 

[tent]

I'm new here and these are pretty much the only posts I look at and really think they are great. I came looking at the BB posts and then noticed this board and glad I did. Well it is really great to find people who have "faith" in GOD and what ever it took to get you there. I have also led a really crazy life full of drugs and doing whatever I wanted.

I am now 31 and have a wonderful wife,daughter and another child on the way and it is kinda ironic. I told everyone that I would be dead before 21 and I truly believed it! I was living with a couple of guys at 18-20 and the parties never ended,never. The girls,bangin' a different one every night. The drugs,booze, whatever! 20 days after my 20th B-Day, I was drinking and decided I wanted to die! Which I tried several times also and am not proud in the least way. I took off on my bike and was doing over a 100 mph on a 35 mph road and something happened, I don't know, but I hit the curb and ended up 150 yards down the road, DEAD! The paramedics got there and I was dead. They told everyone in the crowd there was nothing they could do. I had a broken jaw and my mouth was full of blood. A woman in the crowd, got down, held my jaw in place and sucked the blood from my mouth and then proceeded with CPR. She brought back a pulse. They put me in the ambulance and rushed me to the hospital. On the way I died again and was givin CPR. When I arrived at the hospital I had a cardiac arrest and they brought me back again and I went into a coma.

I was in the coma 2 weeks, they told me when I went back and said thank you, they never thought I was gonna make it through the night. I spent 8 months in the hospital and never want to go back.

Well stupid me, Right out of the hospital I was drinking again and almost crashed my car. I got off the freeway and said that's it. I quite drinking for 3 years. Got into BB and thanked GOD.

I went back to drinking again after three years and started drinking and driving again. And then it hit me. GOD is with me and with us all and I needed to get back on track.

Like I said now married with children and thank GOD everyday. I lost my Mom a year and ago, due to MS, and I'm not mad at GOD. I thank him. I have been blessed by GOD my whole life and been ups and downs, but He is always there for me and my family.

I'm sorry this was such a long post, but I had to get it off my chest. I will never understand why people would blame GOD and then say they don't believe in him? They say it's GOD's fault and then say they don't believe in him? When it all comes down to judgement daythey are gonna say,"what was I thinking"? Not me. You can bag on me,flame me, but I really am not going to mind. I know where I'm going!

 

[uNOwho]

wow bro, that was truly something else. I'm glad that you have everything straightened out in your life. That's always a positive influence for keeping on the right road.

That's really all I had to say, wow and you are quite respectable. I'm off to sleep now. Goodnight for now.

~p~

 

[manny78]

Re: ?

A wicked person lives a long life and you have seen a sweet person live a short life.
Brother, the time here on earth is a BLINK. A grain of sand compared to the grains in the desert.

God once flooded the earth and he promised he would never do that again. We are born of sin. Adam sinned. We are all sinners. Sin will always be with us. There will be good people, there will be bad people. This is always so tough to explain because you can't explain faith.

Let me tell you I was horribly depressed after my divorced, at one point I was even suicidal. One night I dropped to my knees and just asked god to take over my life and gave myself to him. I was on the balcony of my condo when I did this. It was a still night. At that exact moment a wind blew for several minutes and ceased and no wind the rest of the night. Was this a sign? I don't know. All I know is once I turned my life over to God, bad things are bearable, good thiings are more enjoyable.

I still have not explained faith worth a flip and I know that.


Nope,, have not explained it well but I have it inside me.

God Bless,
Merry Christmas
Game

Good post.

 

[str8cubano]

i work with retarded adults , why does GOd allow that? why do bad things happen? the way i see it, its life. Everyone has a different path and destiny. Whatever it takes to get to heaven, thats whats important. If it means i have to be a fat nerd the rest of my life, so be it. 100 years of misery ='s eternity of happines? id go with being a fat nerd.

and when people bitch about there problems and this and that, and blame God, i say to them: God sent his only SOn in to the world, and he went thorugh the same pain, and suffereint we go through but even worst, and he died just like eveyrone else. TO prove that God is human. So whenever people bitch about there prolbmes, no one sufferend more pain that JESUS, and He is GOd. Now if you have no faith and are not Christian, then this post will make no sense to you thus disregard it.

 

[dude]

Excellent posts all the way around. I don't really have any comment right now because everything I have been thinking has already been posted. I guess my question is why should we question God? If we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour and know that He is just, then why is there a need to question Him.

 

[Roadblock]

What happened to blaming Satan for the bad things?

 

[uNOwho]

Nice avatar, lol

~p~

 

[manny78]

What happened to blaming Satan for the bad things?

No need to blame him. We already know he's responsible.

 

[Big Brother Val]

This is another great thread where people are sharing their views, without stomping others into the ground. Makes you wonder why other countries can't do that, huh? They actually kill eachother over religion. In "God's name"... and God allows that. Children are killed because they believe in God a different way... and somehow that's acceptible right?

I'm glad you wrote this, Bigguns... because I see even more good points made by the likes of uNOwho, The Game, Str8cubano, Tent... I think everyone on this thread made some good points.

The question still stands, though. I've never gone to church, where they question God. They simply say we cannot try to understand God's plan for us all... but instead praise him, and have faith in him that we have a place reserved for us in heaven, and so on, and so forth.

They don't say:

"Little Melissa was kidnapped, raped, and stabbed to death... did she suffer, Lord? Did you take her before the man had a chance to do his evil? Did you save her of her pain? Was she needed in Heaven? Please help us understand... as our hearts have been broken, we are afraid, and in pain... and we need your guidance."

Would God answer the prayer?

No.

We would simply have to continue to sing to our "father" and praise him, despite our pain, despite our fear, despite our suffering. Because if we don't believe the words of a book written before our Great, great, great, great, great grandparents were even born, then we will not be saved... because we should sing to him and praise him, no matter what life brings... because he's that good of a father.

 

[bigguns7]

The question still stands, though. I've never gone to church, where they question God. They simply say we cannot try to understand God's plan for us all... but instead praise him, and have faith in him that we have a place reserved for us in heaven, and so on, and so forth.

Hey Val, I know what you're saying bro. But here's what I'm telling you. Just because they do it in church doesn't necessarily mean it's the Christian way. Don't all religions go through persecution of some sort? If you walk into that church and you start asking God "why," will you be scorned and talked down to? Probably. But if that's the only persecution I have to go through to believe what I believe then so be it. Many great people have died for having what were considered "radical" thoughts at the time. Hey Val, you and I can start our own religion where we love God and give Him the glory, but it's okay to pray to Him and ask Him why. We might be ridiculed, but all the great religious visionaries were ridiculed right?

All I'm saying is, don't let what you see in church turn you off from God or even from religion. People are people, people will always let you down and they will always be wrong. Question God all day if you want, but BELIEVE in God, and BELIEVE that He gave His son so that you would not suffer. That will get you into heaven. You can work out all your other issues with Him when you get there.

 

[Big Brother Val]

Hey Val, I know what you're saying bro. But here's what I'm telling you. Just because they do it in church doesn't necessarily mean it's the Christian way. Don't all religions go through persecution of some sort? If you walk into that church and you start asking God "why," will you be scorned and talked down to? Probably. But if that's the only persecution I have to go through to believe what I believe then so be it. Many great people have died for having what were considered "radical" thoughts at the time. Hey Val, you and I can start our own religion where we love God and give Him the glory, but it's okay to pray to Him and ask Him why. We might be ridiculed, but all the great religious visionaries were ridiculed right?

All I'm saying is, don't let what you see in church turn you off from God or even from religion. People are people, people will always let you down and they will always be wrong. Question God all day if you want, but BELIEVE in God, and BELIEVE that He gave His son so that you would not suffer. That will get you into heaven. You can work out all your other issues with Him when you get there.

That's a pretty tall order, bro. I think if I should sing songs to God for things that are good, I should be able to bitch at him for the things that are bad. They say when evil happens, it is the work of Satan, not God. So whenever there is evil, it's Satan winning the war. If that's the case... then I think we're all in hell... because I don't think society can get too much worse.

The reason I don't believe that God is our "father" is because I would never let my children go through what they go through. Sure, they have to learn lessons in life, but if Satan told someone to hack my kid... you can bet your ass he'd have to kill me 6 times before he could touch one of my kids. And I'm not God... and I'd die for any child. That's just how I am.

God doesn't lift a finger for any child.

So does that make me a better father?

I guess it depends on who you ask.

I don't keep my children in the dark, and let them suffer, then demand they sing to me, and praise me, and do my will.... even though I sit and watch as someone is stabbing them... I tell them not to doubt me, and not to blame me... even though I am choosing not to help... because it's their "test"?

Ummmmm.... no.

I love my children too much to allow that.

I can't say the same for God.

 

[bigguns7]

I don't keep my children in the dark, and let them suffer, then demand they sing to me, and praise me, and do my will.... even though I sit and watch as someone is stabbing them... I tell them not to doubt me, and not to blame me... even though I am choosing not to help... because it's their "test"?

Ummmmm.... no.

I love my children too much to allow that.

I can't say the same for God.

God doesn't "demand" any of that. He just says you should do it if you want a place in heaven. Have you ever thought about what would happen if God protected everyone from everything? My first love in high school broke my heart, just stomped it and shattered it. It was one of the worst things I have ever gone through. I didn't say, "God, if you're really my 'father' you wouldn't let this happen." I know it's not the same thing as innocent children being murdered, but you see what I'm saying.

God doesn't want to protect us from ourselves. If He didn't let anything bad happen, earth would be paradise, and then what reason would we have for wanting to go to heaven? There has to be contrast. Satan wins alot of battles, but the Bible says that Satan will not win the war. If you believe in the power of God, then you should also believe in the power of Satan. If God can make good things happen, Satan can make bad things happen.

And if you want to talk about how God feels about your children, that's a whole different issue. I guarantee you that God loves your children, but how do your children feel about God? Do they know Him? From the sounds of what you're saying they probably don't. So if something were to happen to your children tomorrow, would you blame God for it? You probably would, and I probably would too. How could you place the blame on Him when you never gave Him the glory in the first place? It's a two way street Val. In order to have the right to blame God, you have to know Him and love Him and glorify Him first.

 

[HumorMe]

God doesn't want to protect us from ourselves. If He didn't let anything bad happen, earth would be paradise, and then what reason would we have for wanting to go to heaven? There has to be contrast. Satan wins alot of battles, but the Bible says that Satan will not win the war. If you believe in the power of God, then you should also believe in the power of Satan. If God can make good things happen, Satan can make bad things happen.

These statements pretty much sums it up!

 

[tent]

Biggun7,
That was the perfect statement! I think the earth is kinda like HELL or in between and have no intentions of finding out. If HELL is worst then here, that just makes me want to follow the LORD until the day I die even MORE! No matter what life brings me! Could you imagine if we could all just stop the petty gread and hatred? Oh, what a wonderful world it would be. But that ain't happenin'. I will tell people I beleive in GOD, no matter what they feel.