A 16-year old girl died on Saturday after falling 40-50 feet from a ride called Air Glory. Please understand, I think this is a horrific tragedy, but Christians, please explain, without the "god's will" party line, how a loving god could allow this to happen at a festival devoted to Christianity? It could not have been this girl's "free will" to die like that.
How do you reconcile something like this with your faith? Where is your god when such a thing happens?
2007-07-15 11:49:35 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, happygirl, this isn't even close to the most unjust or horrible situation I could come up with, but when I asked the same thing at the time of the Virginia Tech shootings, I was accused of using tragedy to make a point. The thing here is, this girl was at a CHRISTIAN festival. If god won't protect you there, then where are you safe? Don't you see the irony and the illogic of this?
2007-07-15 14:29:03 · update #1
I appreciate that some of you are trying to explain this to me, but, I'm sorry, there is just no sense to this. What happened here not only "cheated" this girl out of the rest of her life, but imagine what it did to her family. If god wanted this girl in heaven so badly, it could have had her die peacefully in her sleep. And, given that life is an eyeblink compared to eternity, couldn't god have waited another 80 years before taking her? Sorry, you cannot explain or justify something like this.
2007-07-16 05:57:26 · update #2
Many of you are entirely missing the point. This girl would not have been there if she weren't a Christian, and she dies in an accident. You're trying to tell me this wasn't an accident, that god would plan something like this?
"Free will" does not enter into this. It was nobody's free will for this girl to die there, was it? Wow, this is like trying to explain to a blind person what the color blue looks like.
2007-07-17 13:44:56 · update #3
Same place as always: nowhere.
2007-07-15 11:55:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 7⤋
As Christians, the hardest thing to deal with is tragedy. The morning before her death I attended an atheist/Christian forum at Lifest and the pastor there admitted as much. The truth is, Isaiah 40:28 says "...his understanding no one can fathom..." You will hear many responses, but sadly, we may not be able to fully understand why the Lord took her the way he did. God is just that - God. We will never be smarter than him or unable to outwit God. We will never fathom his understanding. I can try to tackle a few issues though.
First of all, God can't go anywhere - he is always there. I assume you mean, though, "why didn't God stop this event from occuring." God's plan. Why is it God's plan? I'm not sure - nobody is sure. However, we reconcile this event with our faith because of Romans 8:28 - "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." A lot of good came out of Lifest - I saw hundreds of kids be sponsored through Compassion International, an organization that will feed, clothe, educate, and teach the gospel to them. I got turned down for being a blood donor because they already had too many donors. Although it is impossible to comprehend at the moment, I believe good will come out of this tragedy. That night, I ended up sponsoring a child and saved that child's life, as well as did several others. Liz was surrounded by friends, family, and thousands of Christians, and the love of Christ, when she passed away. Many will be inspired by her story, realize that life is short, and make more of an impact on this world. I know I will.
We also know John 3:16 - " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Liz is in heaven right now!
So as a Christian and attendee of Lifest, I mourn. I pray for the family. I also know that Liz is in heaven right now and that God works for good, and something good will come out of this awful tragedy.
2007-07-16 20:11:47 · answer #2 · answered by drew 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not a christian but you have something in common with Christians, you believe in free will. You stated in your answer that atheist 'practice free will' after you insulted me for being open minded to the existence of God. You also changed the subject to religion. FYI there are a lot of non theistic religions, like Buddhism and Stoicism. One can logically explain God (a force not bound by our laws of physics that was the direct cause of our natural laws) Free will on the other hand, which is the ability of any individual to have a thought outside the laws of physics, can not be explained. So under this understanding God created everything just to 'to be' or for reasons and causes beyond our ability to understand. A child dying is part of the creation as is the existence of morality, but morality (and immorality) as is free will , is an illusion but part of creation but in our minds and our history.
2007-07-16 11:55:49 · answer #3 · answered by wisemancumth 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In answer, we must separate the concept of "God's Will" with our own choices. This is a common fallacy -- understanding 'predestination' and 'free will'. It is NOT a matter of "God protects us from harm" -- to think that is illogical. First, this makes the assumption that it's "God's Will" that death is not to happen. Second, it makes the assumption that we are all 'blindly protected'. Third, you wind up with a 'paradox' in that is it "God's Will" that events occur because of situations NOT in "God's Will"?
From the Christian theological perspective (as I understand it), "God's Will" refers to matters of spirtuality, or things beyond our temporal (Earthly) existence. In other words, it is "God's Will" that none should die *a spiritual death*, NOT an *Earthly death*.
This type of thinking has often been used to 'prove' one's faith -- stepping off a cliff and expecting God to somehow 'magically' keep you from physically falling to a fatal injury...
Death is still a part of life whether it happens from old age, or the inexplicable 'randomness' inherent in life.
Hope this provides at least some perspective.
2007-07-15 17:52:51 · answer #4 · answered by gently_warped 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God put us on this earth to learn he also let Adam and Eve have their free choice. With that free choice they partook of the tree of knowledge in doing so became mortal . The good thing is by being mortal they had lots of children. The bad thing is by partaking of the tree of knowledge they were no longer protected by God and were to live out their (our) natural life. If some one dies before they get old it does not indicate God does not love them. In fact during the resurrection they may get to start where they left off and grow until they hit the age of perfection. God will not walk with us during this mortal life. He will not save us from death be it from accident, illness, or the choices of others. If he did that would not truly give us our free Will. it is our responsibility to drive safe and buckle up he will not do it for us. It was her choice to go on that ride why would he stop her from making that choice?
2007-07-15 12:12:55 · answer #5 · answered by saintrose 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A guy from WA went to NY and someone fell on him at Yankee stadium and he died of a broken neck....
Our God knows what is going on...we are but a blade of grass on the hillside of life.....accidents happen all the time...
Satan and 1/3 of the heavenly host that fell are here on earth messing things up every chance they can find....why are people blaming God for not being there?? How do you know he wasn't there??
Did you see his angles protecting people and fighting the demons that caused the fall???
a Christian music festival would be a good place for satan to do something bad......
2007-07-15 12:15:42 · answer #6 · answered by coffee_pot12 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
'Anti-gay' Christians -- an exciting way of pointing out that Bible tells us that God created Adam and then Eve and then united them in the 1st marriage and that that they had the 1st family members / all being recent in Genesis. So the 'at as quickly as' theory of marriage and family members is God's plan. God additionally has given us regulations for what to not do in the way of sexual / ethical residing. Society on the different hand needs it rather is excuse to stay the way it needs to in spite of the outcomes. God's plan for our healthful emotional and actual life is for guy and lady jointly sexually purely after marriage and for as long as they the two shall stay. Society comes to a decision to be with Whomever, on each and every occasion they % purely they don't purely like the illness and emotional / psychological issues that result. Society has made a gigantic difficulty of marketing non-Biblical interest / we are instructed to 'tolerate' Sin and Biblical standards are ridiculed / seen to be archaic. it rather is totally unhappy while all and sundry chooses to make relaxing of all and sundry for Any reason. there's a lot stress for youths to 'pair up' -- what's so incorrect with Friendship FIRST. If a student 'seems' at somebody in a 'specific ' way or says or does some thing in a 'specific' way, the question is 'i ponder whether he / she is bi or gay' My lands human beings !! all of us is killing themselves out of entire frustration . permit's purely come back to God's regulations !!!!!
2016-12-14 09:52:24 · answer #7 · answered by borucki 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is this the worst and most unjust scenario you can think of? What about a baby who is tortured to death and murdered by her parents? Yes, there are tragedies in this world, yes, evil exists in this world, and yes, God allows these things to happen. Job asked God why good people suffer, and God's response was basically that we cannot possibly understand the mind of God because his ways are not our ways. We can't even begin to comprehend the "why" to suffering in this world.
No, that answer is not particularly satisfying, but God asks us to believe him anyway. And I choose to believe him. I choose to believe he sees and understands things in a way that I do not. I choose to believe that his wisdom far exceeds mine. I choose to believe that this life is not the best there is to offer for the believer and that if that girl knew Jesus she is actually blessed and happy right now and would find your question ridiculous.
We tend to see everyone who dies as somehow cheated or ripped off, but that is a skewed perspective. We don't seek death because we leave our lives in God's hands, but the ones who die knowing Christ are not to pitied.
2007-07-15 12:02:09 · answer #8 · answered by happygirl 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
that's not a surprise. Look, few blocks from my house there is this pathetic place called the "lite nite caffee". It's a christian room and they hold concerts every week, the funny part is that it is full of high school pot smoking coke snoring goths (not that all goths do it cause I was one), but also self pitting hard liquor drinking idiots called "emos".
In other words, that place is pure hypocresy. Outside is hard to walk by cause all the smoke from those kids, and all those emos cutting their wrists on front of you in hopes of getting your attention.... and then right inside that place says "WE ARE CRAZY ABOUT JESUS"
2007-07-17 02:53:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Our Lord does allow for things like this to happen and
it will just like with 9/11 on that September
Yes he is a loving Almighty God and death is a part of
life sad to say
And when our time comes same thing with each of us
2007-07-15 11:58:08 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
God allows rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.
2007-07-15 14:55:30 · answer #11 · answered by sdb deacon 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋