Can you see why I might be frustrated?

Question

This was a response I got (check my profile if you want the Q, I don't care either way).

If my wife leaves the gate open and a dog wanders into the back yard and tears up the garden, I do not sit back and watch the destruction simply because it was her fault. If I have the ability to stop it, I will. God supposedly has the ability to stop death and destruction, yet makes a conscious decision to not do anything. It doesn't really matter whose fault it is when it is a matter of helping someone overcome a problem. What a lame excuse for a cruel god!

My point is, many answers here express this exact sentiment, that there isn't a God, but if there is He is cruel and evil. HUH? How can one say there is no God and then bash Him, suggesting He is cruel?

I am not trying to single anyone out here, but there seems to be an epidemic of two-facedness (made that up, I think) on here.

If you prove a defendent's alibi, would the defense lawyer ALSO try to enter DNA evidence into a trial that wouldn't happen?

So, Chippy, am I to gather that you believe there is a vindictive and cruel God, but a God nonetheless?

Answer 1

Those are common arguments used by unbelievers in an attempt to get Christians to questions their beliefs.

edit: Consistency is not a necessary requirement of ridicule.

Answer 2

Thats a bad analogy:
You didn't create that dog and the world it lives in, and then give it free will. You didn't communicate to the dog that you are the creator and set down laws that it has to follow or it will go to hell. Its a dog.
If there is a God (which I don't believe to be true), he would have to allow both cruelty and benevolence. The reason is that, neither of these two concepts have any meaning without the existence of the other.
And if you do believe in God, even if he has the ability to stop death and destruction, he's not going to. Either everything has been predetermined and things are going to happen the way they happen (the good and the bad) because the future has already been planned out, or if the future is open to people's influence's, then people should do something about it. Praying isn't actually "doing" anything about cruelty. Unless you are God's favorite person ever, and decides to make an exception and produce a miracle. To quote Jimmy: "I mean, c'mon."

Peace

Answer 3

Have you ever been frustrated with your biological father or maybe a friend but then later saw to the heart of why you were frustrated and could understand things from their perspective and were able to accept why something happened a certain way and you grew more mature in a relationship with the person. Its like that with a relationship with God. Did God let Moses down ? No he helped him as needed. Did he let David die in a lions den? No he didnt he prevented them from attacking David probally David even used the lions as a pillow and blankets and had good nights rest. Did God let Shadrach ,Meshach , and Abendego die in a fire? No they were protected and delivered. God is not cruel his timing is perfect and will take care of a situation when its needed according to his purpose and will.
You give an example of your wife leaving the gate open well wheres her common sense to check to make sure the gate is closed. If she leaves the gate open but she realizes its her fault can she in all honesty blame you for the dog causing damage whether you do something to stop the dog or not. No she needs to own up to her mistake.

Answer 4

How in the world can you connect a dog digging up your garden with death and destruction?

Mankind is capable of horrible evil. This isn't God's fault. Do YOU want to be a puppet? I don't.

If God handled everything, people would be just as angry and frustrated because there would be NO free will.

Answer 5

I believe that all wise brains believe in God existence. God is the only absolute truth in this universe that all brains admit it directely or indirectely. But the confusing thing is when someone tells you they are athiests... You can realise here that they are not denying the existence of God but they are bashing the way things go in this life... They want a perfect world without suffering...poverty...wars...earthquakes...and so on...
Briefly they want God to make the world more beautifull... That is te all story.

Peace

Answer 6

Although I don't follow the Christian God, I think you need to hold the people who speak for him to blame. The idea that your God would put you through hell just to prove some person's point just doesn't make sense.

As a Pagan my God and Goddess are spiritual parents and they hold man responsible for the poisoning of this planet and the diseases that is caused by them. Maybe stem cell research is ok since it would be better to make something good out of a fetus or blastocyst.

Maybe is it better to cure than to condemn. Do Christians pray for the organs that are transplanted since their owners might have died to give this gift? Please!

Answer 7

The analogy is interesting...
The difference is that your dog is acting upon his own instinct, whereas God has gifted mankind with the ability to think and make a free-will choice.

It would be cruel for God to rescind our free will, and then deny us of the opportunity to choose who or what we will worship.
Sin (bad choices, if you will) has its consequences. If the consequences lead us to righteous choices, then God has given us an ability to say, "No," instead of acting instinctively like a dog.

Answer 8

The price of free will is His not interfering in our daily lives. if He intervened everytime something bad was about to happen, it wouldn't really be free will, would it? Personally, I don't think we've shown that we deserve or can even handle free will, so I think it might be a big mistake to have given it to such ignorant creatures in the first place. He's not cruel, He gave us what we wanted, so now we piss and moan about it. Typical.

Answer 9

Yes, a lot of my fellow atheist seem angry at God. It is rather like holding a grudge against Santa, isn't it.

Some hold to the belief that all is fair in debate. They don't seem to mind using invalid reasoning to attempt to manipulate an others ideas. I happen to disagree with this idea. It would seem the truth is the best tool to getting at the truth.

Answer 10

Not exactly, atheists don't believe in God. But when we are told that we should believe in this God and how loving he is, we assume for the sake of argument that God does exist, and attack this attribute of extreme lovingness that we are told we would feel if we opened our hearts to him.