Should we fear or respect God?

Question

About the Virginia Tech shooting today...
My mom was saying that the man who killed those students was sick in the head. I responded that if he was a student, that he was probably an outcast, that he got bullied and tortured by other jocks and students and was probably very, very miserable. The conversation then went on to God. She said that the man didn't fear God, and that we should, and that the older generations feared him and implied that it was right. I then said that you shouldn't fear God, (doesn't God say to his people, "do not be afraid, for I am with you,"?) you should respect him, just because you have to praise him doesn't mean that you should fear him, but give great respect. She said that that was wrong, and my generation should fear God, not just respect him. Is my mom right or wrong? What are your point of views?

about the ex-girlfriend, she probably cheated on him and embarassed him throughly and broke up with him, making it even worse for him. She was probably a slut.

oh and yeah, I also said that God knows our destiny, and chooses it for us, through our personal thoughts and minds. She then said that he was totally free and that only God can take lives, not him.

The new intel 2day....
ok, his name was Cho Seung-Hui, and he was an outcast. They said that " he may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic," "He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," and "When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of,". So mybe he was sick in the head. But he was still outcasted. People should have helped him, so they have to take at least a little blame.

Answer 1

RESPECT GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dude, he's the one that gave us life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

The question is irrelevant to the situation... neither to the shooter or the victims. The shooter was probably sick in the head, but not necessarily bullied by peers. Apparently he was Asian, which could mean that he was caught cheating on a paper or something and dishonered himself and his family, and decided life was not worth living and went on a rampage (which would have been psychologically driven, b/c there is no reason to make 100's + more people miserable and/or afraid). At most we should respect God, I dont see god as a vengful being he wouldn't make this guy go shoot people, some of which who probably both respected and feared him (definately affected people who do both). I personally think at most God is just a bystander watching and hoping that we do what is best with what we have... the only way he can influence us is through our faith and willingness (wantingness...) to be united and stand together, which is why I think we should respect him... he wants what is best for us but he WILL(CAN) NOT punish us. If he was punishing us by every single bad act then I would definately not respect him because of all the bad stuff that goes on now(happened today).

Answer 3

You would have a healthy fear not a morbid fear as happens with an enemy, but think of God as your father and you do not want to do something to hurt him because you love him. God has given mankind everything good.He is not responsible for badness. And as the Creator you should also have a healthy respect for him like again a human father. You look around you at all the beautiful creations and know that God created all..

Answer 4

Sorry if this sounds like a cop out. But, in a way you are both right. We should respect God and that is what it means in the Bible when it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. However, if a person truly stops and thinks about the magnificence of God and His mighty power and that someday we will meet Him it does cause one to feel some fear. So, I think that is what your mom means. We are very small compared to God which can be frightening, however He does love us, so we in turn should love and respect our Heavenly Father. Today is a sad day so why not give mom a hug.

Answer 5

we should fear AND respect God. You are right. The man was sick in the head and did have problems that couldn't be cured. He needed help, but didn't get it and instead the poor children of Virginia tech had to pay for his depression. Only God can take lives and make lives. He did a sin but even though it was so huge in God's eyes it was not and God still loves him. And we should love and forgive him and pray that he went to heaven and not hell. We should not hate him, many people are like him but do not do the things that he did. God loves us even though we sin so we should pity and forgive him and love him like God would.

Answer 6

Yeah. I just found out about the Virginia Tech shooting o.O
Last thing that was as big as 9/11.
I find that your mom is right.
He was sick to the head, and that he was bullied and tortured by jocks but did you know that it also involved a girl. Go figure!
She is also right about him not fearing god because he put wordly matters before God and he does not fear God.
I like how she compared it to older generations for that also shows how we should fear God.
haha. whats funny is we are studying odesseuys in English and all I can think about is the theme "all men must fear the Gods =P"
Anyhow.. You seem to be confused about fearing god and loving him..
How can you fear someone that you love?
My mom told me that you RESPECT him.
So thats how that ties in with love and fear. respect =]

Answer 7

Fear just teaches mindlessness. If I had my time over again I would teach my kids about every religion, path, point of view and let them decide - let them think it out for themselves. I guess as a young Christian mother I put my fears about God onto them, though I have done what I could to change that over the past few years. We all change and grow and we shouldn't indoctrinate young minds until we've got it straight ourselves - which is probably never!

Answer 8

I do not believe you should fear God at all. He is our spiritual father and creater and we should have the highest respect for him (right up there with our parents). I disagree with your mom because families were very religious back in the 1960/70's or when ever your mom was born. And just to correct you on one of your statements he does not require that we must praise him but he simply asks us to love him as he loves us.

Answer 9

Respect for God is always a good thing to have. But the scriptures also say that "fear is the beginning of wisdom". You are both right. You should never live in fear of God. But fear will bring you to the altar where you begin to learn to love Him. With that comes respect.

Answer 10

If you think about it, fear and respect can really fall in to the same category in this situation. Instilling fear in someone is one way to get them to respect you. People are afraid of what will happen to them if they go against Gods ways, in other words they respect his ways. But I have to agree with your mom, people like this don't think about what will happen to them because they're sick or mental or something, either way they're not thinking about where they're going after they die or who killing innocent people will affect. But all together this whole ordeal is messed up. I feel so sorry for the families of the helpless victims that have to go through this.

Answer 11

I think we should "fear" our higher power, but not "fear" as in the type that makes you afraid or your knees tremble. Rather, fear as in "reverence" or "awe" at what you know he is capable of. That kind of "fear". The same way you'd "fear" your Mom when you were a child and had done something wrong. You knew your mother loved you, but you also knew if she found out about misbehaving there would be consequences to pay. Not that she'd literally kill you, but that there would be a price to pay for your unruliness. Same thing.