Quote Originally Posted by Phenomanul
First off. Chill out! That is largely why I avoid the vitriol in here. You all are like the House 'Intelligence' Committee - you all make up the rules as you all go along and gang up on opposing viewpoints. Then you all gleefully high-five each other with a false sense of bravado as if any of this means anything. THIS board is not as important as you all deem it to be. IF I am even answering any of this banter at all is because we all have more time on our hands with the self-quarantine in effect.



I'm not claiming special revelation here. Millions of Christians worldwide understand the question of pain and suffering in the context of eternity as I do. Your refusal to accept any explanation as a valid one stems more from your overall refusal to accept GOD's existence, and not because my response is or isn't a logical answer to that question.

In the end if I'm wrong about my beliefs nothing happens. But if you are wrong you won't get a chance at a re-do. Meanwhile, we each live out our lives as we please, right? Except that is the problem; many of you here would rather Christians shut up, be locked up or that a bullet go through our heads - in various degrees of contempt and repudiation. You all absolutely hate Christianity in any shape, form or fashion. How many times have you all told me that Christians need to be silenced? That our worldview needs to be censured and eradicated? How many times has boutons_deux advocated for the 'elimination' of religious folk? He and others here have threatened me more times than I can remember. Others, have even acted on that threat and attempted to hurt my livelihood. That's why Freedom of Religion is guaranteed by our Cons ution. Our right to religious expression is at the top of the list of the Bill of Rights. Why? Largely because the founding fathers understood that people like you all are a threat to the stability of our social structure - a structure which was built on Biblical truths. IF eradicated, the exceptionalism of our society would inevitably collapse - the concept of individual accountability would be eliminated - and moral relativism would reign supreme.



You claim to disbelieve in GOD because in your mind IF HE were real then HE wouldn't allow plights like disease to ravage mankind. But your case relies on a very limited understanding of our world. Including limitations of your own sense of justice, limitations in knowledge (or are you claiming omniscience?), limitations in your power and authority over nature. Your very framework EXCLUDES the truth because you have already rejected the Truth Himself, JESUS. HE said HE was "The Way, the Truth and the Life" and that "no one would come to the Father except through HIM". By rejecting JESUS, you have blinded yourself and rejected divine TRUTH. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" Romans 1:22

The answer for why disease and other consequences of 'the fall' exist (e.g. weeds/famine/natural disasters/predator-prey-relationship/entropy/death/etc...) are given in Scripture. You however, refuse to accept that answer because it comes from a source that you reject. I've given an answer/explanation to that question plenty of times but you have decided to blow it off and instead place words in my mouth (reductio ad absurdum style). Like when have I advocated for mass shootings? The counterarguments in here are ridiculous. I haven't skirted anything. I've just come to an understanding that you all clearly don't want to engage in true discourse. You all are in it simply for the kicks.

The answer to that age-old question is that GOD cares more about our eternity with HIM than any plight or tribulation we may face here on earth. IF our troubles draw us to seek HIM or closer to HIM then the suffering is worth the prize. Again, you may believe this all to be gobbledygook - and you are en led to hold that view - but your assertion that Christians don't know their own GOD is a self-serving delusion.

In the context of an eternal timeline what are 80 years or even 100 years of human life-expectancy? How does one compare an ephemeral moment of pain and suffering here on earth against a divine backdrop that is free of pain/suffering/anguish/fear for all eternity? We were all given free-will, and with that volition comes accountability for our choices. Some people have "evil, and think evil continuously" in their hearts; they inflict pain and suffering on others.

This might be a rudimentary metaphor but the concept is valid. IF GOD were a car manufacturer you are essentially blaming HIM for the death and havoc created by drunk drivers when THEY choose to get behind the wheel. Ultimately, those people should be held accountable for their irresponsible actions. IF this virus was unleashed upon the world because the Chinese government has repeatedly failed to address the unhygienic nature of wet-markets, how is any of that GOD's fault? We've understood germ theory for the better part of 100 years. They should know better. How many more viruses will the world tolerate (SARS, Swine Flu (H1N1), CoViD-19)? It would be like playing with fire, then blaming GOD for why the fire burns. The red herring cast by Will Hunting's dart (in response to my initial inquiry) was essentially a non-sequitur. His prompted bias in claiming that GOD was somehow responsible for CoViD-19 demonstrated a failure to even understand the nature of the GOD that Christians believe in.



I didn't come in here for any other reason (despite your flimsy claim to know my motives); I simply asked a question about the conflation of coronavirus and influenza deaths. One which quickly devolved into this long-time argument about GOD's existence. It's funny you claim any moral position at all and then you follow that statement with an erroneous take on my motives. Like you can't even get that right.

After the conversation devolved I pointed out the inconsistency of your collective position on the abortion issue. I know the board leftists in here hate the fact that I keep calling you all out on being 'perfectly fine' with humanity aborting over 50 million humans PER YEAR. I will continue to point out the absurdity of your pro-abortion position so long as you continue to cling to it.

I also don't care if your view of GOD unjustly blames HIM for the consequences of man's choices. But again, if your view of abortion allows for infanticide (you have yet to deny that your Democratic Party overlords have shifted towards that indefensible position) THEN how can you claim objectivity on any moral matter?
Did you Manu doesn't believe in god?