yet the adults who make the wrong choices and hurt and torture children are exercising free will. what about the innocent children who haven't got a say in the matter...does god just sit on his cloud whilst this happens. ??? is the ' freewill ' clause gods get out of it loophole ???
2007-09-25 05:59:24 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
They believe in a God that punishes everyone for the mistakes of a few. Those children are being raped and tortured because Eve ate from an apple that God told her not to eat.
2007-09-25 06:04:32 · answer #1 · answered by Biggus Dickus 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Your question goes back to whether man deserves life handed to him on a silver platter or not. If he is innocent, or even neutral before the Lord, then perhaps he does, but that makes God impotent. The other way to resolve this is to put God in the position of absolute sovereignty and mankind as completely guilty and standing condemned before the Lord. This will allow man to go to hell in any fashion he desires, torturing people, making bad choices, etc., nobody is good, and no one will ever attain heaven on their own merit.
Unfortunately, this line of thinking also takes away the love that God must have for all people. He only loves some this way, those he draws unto himself. You get your choice of free will with a powerless God, or God's sovereignty with its restrictions. Or you can deny God altogether, as some have already done here. Your call.
2007-09-25 23:39:20 · answer #2 · answered by ccrider 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
And yet, you still blame God for the evil that men do. God will deal with them in time and it won't be pretty. Remember, the pain that many go through hear on earth is not even an inkling of the pain that those that will do evil to little one will suffer as then they will also have the knowledge of their previous existence and will know that they will never know or see such beauty again. That is like imprisoning a chocoholic and leaving a piece of a "Death by Chocolate" cake outside his cell just out of reach. Now that is pain.
2007-09-25 13:09:48 · answer #3 · answered by LDS of Three and Loving It 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The brain of a tortured child is *permanently* changed. The tortured child has a good chance at growing up to be an adult who tortures, if given the chance. Combine this with the idea of "god-given free will" and "salvation through faith," and you'll see why the Christian god is fallible.
2007-09-25 13:12:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
this is a very sad and touchy subject. i have some books on a man name Dave Pelzer that was abused badly as a child by his SICK mother. he now travels throughout the world promoting inspiration and resilience. in 1994 he was the only American that received the "Outstanding Young Persons of the World" award. he carried the Centennial Olympic Torch and received commendations from presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. during the times of abuse you never see the good that comes after it. it is very sad but God uses situations like this for many reasons. He knows what each individual is able to deal with. i was abused as a child not as bad as the man i was just talking bout but bad enough and i myself have overcame it to.
2007-09-25 13:26:03 · answer #5 · answered by warrior*in*the*making 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good point! But honestly, we were obviously just put here to pretty much fend for ourselves and each other. I quit blaming God a long time ago. There was no answer or future in being angry and holding "Him" accountable. It didn't change anything in the world at all. If mankind was truly made in the image of God, are you really impressed?
2007-09-25 13:07:05 · answer #6 · answered by bjstree 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is no evidence to indicate that there is such a thing as free will. Free means unbounded or unconstrained. What we will and the choices we make are limited, as evidenced by my persistent non-ability to levitate. Being able to choose among a limited number of choices is NOT free will.
Scrap the paradigm. We live in a prescribed, clockwork universe with definite physical laws. Pretending you have free will is intellectually dishonest.
Edit: Thanks Hippie! So God Gives us "free will" then threatens to send us to hell for using it and not blindly obeying without thinking about what we are doing. Makes sense to me.
2007-09-25 13:03:22 · answer #7 · answered by coralsnayk 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
God's ways are different from man's. "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
In giving us freedom to choose, God has given us room to accept or reject His guidance, to choose rebellion or submission, to make foolish decisions or wise ones. In doing so He has given each of us an undetermined future.
We are free to drive carelessly or after drinking too much, free to dump toxins into our environment, free to eat unwisely. Each of us has that freedom, as do our neighbors and everyone else around us. All of our actions-and theirs-bring consequences. Sometimes we suffer for our own decisions; sometimes our neighbor does-or vice versa. Freedom to choose is a wonderful gift, but it is a responsibility we have seldom handled well, as evidenced by our sorrowful, suffering world.
This gives us some understanding of why the innocent, including little children, at times suffer as a result of the poor choices of others. It is during these times that we most need the comforting help from a loving God and support of family and friends.
None of us is immune to the consequences of actions-ours or others'. The person who develops a disease that is not traceable to his specific personal behavior and the infant born with a congenital birth defect both suffer, though not necessarily because of anything they did.
Those who are injured or killed in accidents or natural disasters are often innocent victims, too. Not all suffering is the result of personal disobedience or irresponsible behavior by the one who suffers. Even in the Ten Commandments God reminds us that the consequences of wrong actions can affect one's descendants for several generations (Exodus 20:5).
Often the specific cause of instances of suffering simply cannot be precisely explained-at least not in this lifetime. Sometimes the best we can do is to accept it as explainable only by what the Bible calls "time and chance" (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Although God does not cause accidents, neither does He micromanage the lives of every human being to prevent them. Paul tells us that in this life we see through "a glass darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12, KJV). We will never fully understand some things during this life, but we will in the world to come.
We should realize that even suffering that is a result of time and chance is not causeless. If it cannot be connected to a specific behavior, it is often nevertheless a consequence of one or more behavioral patterns followed by the human race since creation.
Adam chose, by sinning, to turn away from God. The rest of mankind has taken the same path. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, ... death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
One of the consequences of humanity's decision to live contrary to God's instruction is a world subject to the capriciousness and vagaries of "time and chance" and the actions of others. This pattern will prevail until Christ returns to establish God's Kingdom on earth. The entire world will then be filled with the knowledge of God and His righteous laws (Isaiah 11:9). All of humanity finally will thrive in a world that is just and fair.
2007-09-25 13:15:29 · answer #8 · answered by TIAT 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So you want God to interfere in "others" lives just not yours? Free will means just that. God wont lie and wont take away what he gave. Hell is destined for all who will not accept his other "free" a free gift of Jesus dying on the cross. And that one is for all who want it. You want God to stop what you deem bad (making you God) and leave you alone so you can sin at will. Kinda puffed up aren't ya?
2007-09-25 13:07:24 · answer #9 · answered by jesussaves 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Do remember that children grow up and are destined to sin with the rest of us. Therefore, they cant be eternally universally be considered "innocent."
God allows suffering in this life to make us stronger and give our faith a chance to persevere. You are in error because you assumne that this life is all there is. Its a mere dress rehearsal.
2007-09-25 13:09:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋