Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

I’m so sorry. Life is completely unfair.
My wife’s cancer spread to her brain. Inoperable. She’s undergoing whole brain radiation. Interrupting chemo for the cancer in her body. The perfect wife and the most wonderful mother who spent the last 20 years prosecuting child abusers and rapists and is one of the best.
My wife and your mother are actual evidence that god either doesn’t exist or just isn’t interested.

 

If God would banish an otherwise-good-person who happens to not be a Christian to an eternity in Hell, is God really worthy of worship?

 

I’m sorry. My condolences.

 

Here's the thing - and this important to understanding Christianity and why I don't fudge on this - Christians do not believe there are otherwise-good-people. You can't earn it. You can't good-person your way to it. Likewise, you can't be a "super-duper Christian" and think that'll translate into more heavenly rewards. It's all up to God.

 

I am sorry to hear what both you and micropolitan guy are going through.

It is difficult to truly reconcile faith with the suffering and loss of good people in our lives. I know I've struggled with that. For me, it was my maternal grandmother. She went through surgery and treatment for stomach cancer, then during her recovery, my grandfather died from a heart attack. Losing him just broke her. I'm sure that affected her recovery because her health deteriorated quickly. Of course, I was sad and angry when she died six months later, but the part I couldn't get past was her physical and mental suffering during that time. She deserved better. Aside from weddings and funerals, I have been inside a synagogue exactly once since her death and that was my daughter's baby naming ceremony. I just can't see how that was right or how it served any purpose. I wouldn't say I have no faith or no relationship with G-d. I'd say our relationship is...troubled.

 

This is part of why so many people have problems with religion. It's all so arbitrary. Most religious people simply follow the religion they were born into, yet that is somehow more important than living as a good person.

 

Yeah. That's why I'm out on Christianity.

If God's ego is so fragile that she would cast the Muslim version of Mother Teresa into a fiery eternity in Hell, because MMT didn't "worship" her, God is no true god afterall.

 

And this is why Christians can rape, murder and destroy non christians with impunity, because they don’t matter, they are less than real humans. I don’t care what stupid shit you believe and how delusional you and your friends can get with each other, but you translate your unfounded personal belief system in your collective superiority onto others by violent oppression.

 

I doubt those folks are Christians. There isn’t any rape and pillage in the New Testament. People bastardize all kinds of things.

I won’t defend the hideous things done in the name of Christ. Jesus himself foretold such things might happen.

 

Who decides what’s universally good? What is good?

 

That isn't the issue. The issue is disqualifying people basically because of the family they were born into.