Is God sadistic?

Question

Honestly, I'm not trying to be offensive to anybody. I'm an agnostic, but I just wonder. If God exists, there's just so many horrible things in the world. People suffering, and starving, and dying. If He is supposed to be just and loving, how can he let things go on? The only possible line of rationale always seems to center around deism--I do not not know. Please nobody get offended--I see what I see, and everyday I move closer to being an atheist, because I think that with the world the way it is, there can not possibly be a God.

Answer 1

no,

God is Just

Answer 2

Ahh.. the classic problem from evil..One that has never been satisfactorily addressed by the Abrahamic religions. People will claim that this is freewill's fault..they fail to see that you are talking about the actions of god and not people.

“The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not, or, being willing to do so cannot; or they neither can nor will, or lastly, they are able and willing.If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent. If they can but will not, then they are not benevolent. If they are neither able nor willing, they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent..Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, why does it exist? ” -Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BCE)

This doesn't rule out the possibility of an evil god existing. There is just no reason to believe that there is a god any more than believing there is a Santa Claus. Science has given us knowledge about how our universe came to be, how planets are formed and how life arose etc... There is no need to appeal to faith for that which knowledge has been obtained.

http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html

Answer 3

Do you remember that old TV commercial that said, "Guns don't kill people - PEOPLE kill people"? Well, to my way of thinking, it's kind of the same thing. Just because some religions feel that they are going to be forgiven for everything, doesn't mean they don't have to lead a responsible, ethical life. Life isn't some Hollywood, special-effects miracle festival, where God reaches down and does something extraordinary to "make" people behave themselves. It's up to us humans to get it right. The only thing that would "make" everybody on this planet knock off all the nonsense would be if we were being invaded by hostile extraterrestrials, and since it doesn't appear that THAT is happening any time soon (that we KNOW of, anyway), it's totally up to us to get our acts together. Bad things happen to good people. That, sadly, is life.

Answer 4

Sorry, but for me all the pain and suffering in the world is proof that there is no god. I cannot see how some supreme being could allow such diseases as ebola, MRSA, and AIDS to evolve. I also cannot see how a supreme being could allow mankind to continually kill and maime by acts of war. How could a supreme being allow mankind to develop WMDs? How can a supreme being allow millions of people to starve to death each year?

But the biggest reason of all for believing there is no god, are the followers themselves. They keep telling us that it is ok to hate, despite what their religious books tell them. At least the fundies do.

I have no problems with people wishing to believe in any god, just those who use their god as an excuse for hatred and intolerance.

Answer 5

I dont think he is sadistic. He simply trys to let us run the world and naturally we constantly screw up.

You know the old saying sometimes you have to learn things the hard way. All in all we as humanity have been learning and getting better.

As for those that suffer and those who do the suffering I think they will be reconpencated for what they went though for our collective education.

I dont think G-d requires a person to be a particular religion or have a particular faith as long as they act as a decent moral and upstanding individual that is trying to make the world a better place.

but thats just me.

Answer 6

That is how satan works on you, by discouraging you with all of the evil in the world. You didn't offend me. It is easy to get discouraged when you see all of the suffering. We are not God and we don't think like God. There are a lot of things we don't understand. All I can say is that Christians have faith and see a lot of good in the world as well as the bad. Good luck to you and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Answer 7

God isn't sadistic, people are.

You said: I think that with the world the way it is... You're right. The Lord made a nice place and we messed it all up.

Think of the most beautiful, innocent person you've ever known - God made that person.

Think of the best Christmas morning and the blessed Christmas hymns - that is the very essence of who he is.

Answer 8

God made everything perfect and gave man free will, man took the free will and used it to sin and through sin bad has entered into the world. If we didn't have free will, it wouldn't mean anything to God if we loved him because we would have to. Free will is a precious gift that God will not take away.

Answer 9

if you're anthropomorphizing "God" then yeah ... "God" would be sadistic simply by creating the predator/prey survival system. something has to die so something else can live could be considered quite a cruel system if believed to be created by a humanlike super personage.

Answer 10

No. God has nothing to do with it. It s the free will of Masochist and sadist people who engage in that activity because it works for them.

Answer 11

http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/5/15/article_02.htm

The link above takes you to where you can find the very answer directly, and to the point, that is scripturally based not human invented to your very question of why suffering is allowed by God. Even how God is going to bring all woe to an end on earth forever.