Why does God have to "work in mysterious ways"?

[Dpantherman]

Why does my finger smell?

[PanthersPhan18]

Why does my finger smell?

Shoving it up your a-hole might have something to do with it

[Dpantherman]

It itches...

[Hawk]

what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

if there was no bad in life, would you truly appreciate the good as much?

I dunno...grasping.

[charlotte49er]

Night Court sums it all up!

"You gave us Mozart, Van Gogh, Confucius, Dr. Martin Luther King & Larry Bird!" :D

I'll make one last point.

When you were young you believed that there was a Santa Claus. Even though you saw probably hundreds of them. TV, stores, malls, Santa is/was everywhere! As you got older, either your friends or family told you there was no Santa Claus, so you stopped believing.

But you know what? There is a Santa Claus! He lives in each of us and we have the power to bring a little peace and joy into someones life. NOT just at Christmas, but everyday of the year! Sometimes all it takes is a smile. Sometimes, it just takes a shoulder to cry on, or a sympathetic ear. Sometimes, merely saying to someone, that you think it turn out alright.

Guess what? God is the same way! We were made in God's image. Therefore we are God!

I had a class in college. The professor asked the class. Can one person touch the world? The general consensus of the class was that one person could not touch the world. The professor, who reminded me of Col. Klink of Hogan's Heros, said that 1 person can touch the world! You can sponsor a child abroad. You can give to the world relief organization, or even the World Wildlife Fund. So each of us has the power to touch other lifes and the world! What you do with that power is up to you!

As the New York Times wrote 110 years ago. "Yes Virginia. There is a Santa Claus!"

[Grammer]

The answer is so simple I think people just can't accept it because it scares them so much.

Ok, I'm dumb. What are you implying?

[Bronn]

Ok, I'm dumb. What are you implying?

Not 100% sure, but close enough that I'll tackle it for him...

People use religion as a crutch to fill a void in their lives... If you remove that crutch, they come tumbling down...

Simply put, God isn't real. It scares people to admit it.

[cookinwithgas]

Kind of - to me it's the complete bummer of an idea that we all are truly mortal and none of us are "special" and have an out on that. So God makes it so that we can live forever - different religions place different caveats on how to achieve this.

The idea that only oblivion awaits me is very scary, and the idea that I will not see my parents. or friends, or whatever, again is also a depressing thought. But I choose to accept it because everything we actually know points to this as being reality.

The idea of an afterlife, bouyed by the idea that there is a Creator that has some kind of plan with something called a "soul" is a very reassuring one when pitted against what I consider to be cold reality, but so are Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny to a lesser extent.

My stepkids are coming up with all kinds of interesting questions these days concerning this stuff for my wife who is a believer, that she is (so far) artfully deferring.

[Jeff L]

All of the bad in the world is not created by God... If your a believer, you know that the devil is evil and wants you to doubt God and not believe in him. God does not work in mysterious ways in my opinion. He is just not understood by man.

It does suck that good people have to suffer in this life while others don't. I would rather suffer in this life knowing what is waiting on me when God calls me home!

[Bronn]

/facepalm

[lightsout]

All of the bad in the world is not created by God... If your a believer, you know that the devil is evil and wants you to doubt God and not believe in him. God does not work in mysterious ways in my opinion. He is just not understood by man.

It does suck that good people have to suffer in this life while others don't. I would rather suffer in this life knowing what is waiting on me when God calls me home!

Gotta love conveniently simple-minded answers to the world's big questions.

Also, if you're a believer in the Christian god, you would understand that the devil cannot do anything without god allowing it, since he rules over all. So, anything the devil does is allowed by god. Therefore, god is responsible, and in a way, he creates the bad poo that happens in this world. Of course, that is only if you believe. I could go on about how kindergarten that is, but this is not the thread to do it in.

[Implied Volatility]

In my opinion, there are two logical answers to this question. But they aren't the answers that people (religious) want to hear.

:leaving:

[Lumps]

Yeah don't bother thinking about it...

come on

OP, God doesn't make people suffer life does. Just because someone dies doesn't mean we should begrudge those old ladies their walking. I will say that this faith healing thing you mention is something I am utterly skeptical about though. I think it is a carnival trick.

Being curious and 'thinking' about it, completely different than actually claiming you have the answer, notice I said THE and not AN. The problem with humans is they find something they like and agree with and immediately label it the answer and at the same time, others are falsely labeled wrong. The only real fact (by definition) in all this is that humans are incapable of knowing these answers, of what exists beyond life, we were created this way, whether it be by a "God's" design or not. So think about it all you want, express it all you want but it's extremely ignorant to call your perspective the answer.

Personally being agnostic, I think of all kinds of things that could exist after this life, but to go around telling people I have the answer is just dumb, and IMO, very similar to many mental conditions.

[Doyle]

To make you appreciate life more.