YouBelieveWHAT?
Muse
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2004
- Messages
- 975
This has been prompted by the thread set-up by BJQ87 entitled:
“lets actually make a rational argument out of the problem of evil for once”
I started a new thread as I didn’t want to derail the existing one.
You see, I get very annoyed when people tell me that God is love, especially when comments are included about free will causing all the sin that abounds in the world.
Maybe my irritation is causing me to misunderstand the message, but it seems to go something like this (with a personal touch):
My mother has had Alzheimer’s for about eight years now, and either God won’t do anything about this because it might interfere with her free will – apparently she must have decided to get the disease herself, or he’s punishing her with it.
Now I can’t think of any reason why she deserves to be punished in such a horrible way, nor can I believe that she decided to inflict it on herself.
There’s also the question about the origins of the disease – if God created everything, then he must have created Alzheimer’s. Ah, no, you might say, it was Satan who created that – after all, he’s the source of evil.
Presumably God can’t get rid of these dreadful diseases, because that would interfere with the free will of Satan, even though he could have influenced researcher a long time ago to find cures. I can’t see that affecting anybody’s free will.
To return to the point that God is love – here’s a few of my observations:
Not long after being diagnosed, my mother collapsed in the street while Christmas shopping, (how ironic was that!) and was rushed to hospital. I managed to visit with my father, and one afternoon we were sitting by her bed waiting for the orderly to take her for more tests (they discovered that she had had a stroke). Mam leaned over to Dad, and asked him “Do you know somebody in here?” Bear in mind that they originally met in 1941, during some big bash that was taking place at the time.
How can a God of love feel comfortable with the pain and anguish that this incident caused both of us? – though it must have been far worse for Dad.
When my sister learned of the diagnosis, she had a lot of anxiety, until her doctor explained that Alzheimer’s isn’t considered to be hereditary. She still has bad moments about this, though. Last time she visited Dad, she got so distressed to see Mam, that she now can’t bear to visit the nursing home.
How can a caring, loving God not feel moved to help?
About five years ago, we managed to get Dad to visit my brother’s place in the south of Spain for a Christmas holiday – hmm, Christmas again. I got a call from the Nursing home supervisor saying that they thought Mam would probably die very soon, as she seemed to have lost the swallow reflex. Fortunately, this was only temporary, and within a few days she had recovered. Now I can see the believers lining up, slavering at the mouth, to claim that the compassionate God had restored the reflex. It is of course impossible for us to comprehend the dreadfulness of these kinds of diseases from the inside, but is it really compassionate for God to fix something small, but force her to remain trapped inside a dying brain? He at least had an option to take her to the paradise of heaven, and to let the suffering cease.
How can a compassionate, loving God allow this to happen, especially at the same time that the whole Christian world is celebrating his son’s birthday?
One last point – I don’t wish to go on endlessly…
Mam fell out of bed one night, and actually broke her hip. As she couldn’t explain to anybody – at the time she used to talk incessantly, but it was all gibberish to us – so the carers put her back to bed, and the following day helped her around the building for meals, etc. These carers do a magnificent job for a great many others like my mother in the home, so they’re exceptionally busy. Therefore, unfortunately it wasn’t noticed immediately that my mother had a broken hip, but fortunately it didn’t take too long – I’m certainly not blaming the carers for this. Anyway, she was sent to hospital and operated on as quickly as possible – and successfully.
Knowing that she must have been in intense pain, but unable to express this, how could a caring, loving God allow this situation to have happened?
OK, I’d better stop now, before annoyance becomes anger.
I recall reading in a number of very moving posts by LostAngeles when her brother had his serious car accident. I echo her sentiments regarding the medical staff. My mother has been made as comfortable and healthy as possible under the circumstances because of the highly skilled and dedicated bunch of medical and care people. I’m afraid I don’t see a God anywhere on the horizon.
I do understand the reality of the situation – the human body is “designed” as a relatively short-lived piece of equipment. Its main purpose is to create and nurture the next generation, and once that has been achieved it begins to fall apart. Modern medicine has made impressive inroads into finding cures for these pernicious diseases – but, again, I don’t see God offering a helping hand.
YBW
“lets actually make a rational argument out of the problem of evil for once”
I started a new thread as I didn’t want to derail the existing one.
You see, I get very annoyed when people tell me that God is love, especially when comments are included about free will causing all the sin that abounds in the world.
Maybe my irritation is causing me to misunderstand the message, but it seems to go something like this (with a personal touch):
My mother has had Alzheimer’s for about eight years now, and either God won’t do anything about this because it might interfere with her free will – apparently she must have decided to get the disease herself, or he’s punishing her with it.
Now I can’t think of any reason why she deserves to be punished in such a horrible way, nor can I believe that she decided to inflict it on herself.
There’s also the question about the origins of the disease – if God created everything, then he must have created Alzheimer’s. Ah, no, you might say, it was Satan who created that – after all, he’s the source of evil.
Presumably God can’t get rid of these dreadful diseases, because that would interfere with the free will of Satan, even though he could have influenced researcher a long time ago to find cures. I can’t see that affecting anybody’s free will.
To return to the point that God is love – here’s a few of my observations:
Not long after being diagnosed, my mother collapsed in the street while Christmas shopping, (how ironic was that!) and was rushed to hospital. I managed to visit with my father, and one afternoon we were sitting by her bed waiting for the orderly to take her for more tests (they discovered that she had had a stroke). Mam leaned over to Dad, and asked him “Do you know somebody in here?” Bear in mind that they originally met in 1941, during some big bash that was taking place at the time.
How can a God of love feel comfortable with the pain and anguish that this incident caused both of us? – though it must have been far worse for Dad.
When my sister learned of the diagnosis, she had a lot of anxiety, until her doctor explained that Alzheimer’s isn’t considered to be hereditary. She still has bad moments about this, though. Last time she visited Dad, she got so distressed to see Mam, that she now can’t bear to visit the nursing home.
How can a caring, loving God not feel moved to help?
About five years ago, we managed to get Dad to visit my brother’s place in the south of Spain for a Christmas holiday – hmm, Christmas again. I got a call from the Nursing home supervisor saying that they thought Mam would probably die very soon, as she seemed to have lost the swallow reflex. Fortunately, this was only temporary, and within a few days she had recovered. Now I can see the believers lining up, slavering at the mouth, to claim that the compassionate God had restored the reflex. It is of course impossible for us to comprehend the dreadfulness of these kinds of diseases from the inside, but is it really compassionate for God to fix something small, but force her to remain trapped inside a dying brain? He at least had an option to take her to the paradise of heaven, and to let the suffering cease.
How can a compassionate, loving God allow this to happen, especially at the same time that the whole Christian world is celebrating his son’s birthday?
One last point – I don’t wish to go on endlessly…
Mam fell out of bed one night, and actually broke her hip. As she couldn’t explain to anybody – at the time she used to talk incessantly, but it was all gibberish to us – so the carers put her back to bed, and the following day helped her around the building for meals, etc. These carers do a magnificent job for a great many others like my mother in the home, so they’re exceptionally busy. Therefore, unfortunately it wasn’t noticed immediately that my mother had a broken hip, but fortunately it didn’t take too long – I’m certainly not blaming the carers for this. Anyway, she was sent to hospital and operated on as quickly as possible – and successfully.
Knowing that she must have been in intense pain, but unable to express this, how could a caring, loving God allow this situation to have happened?
OK, I’d better stop now, before annoyance becomes anger.
I recall reading in a number of very moving posts by LostAngeles when her brother had his serious car accident. I echo her sentiments regarding the medical staff. My mother has been made as comfortable and healthy as possible under the circumstances because of the highly skilled and dedicated bunch of medical and care people. I’m afraid I don’t see a God anywhere on the horizon.
I do understand the reality of the situation – the human body is “designed” as a relatively short-lived piece of equipment. Its main purpose is to create and nurture the next generation, and once that has been achieved it begins to fall apart. Modern medicine has made impressive inroads into finding cures for these pernicious diseases – but, again, I don’t see God offering a helping hand.
YBW
