susan, what you don't understand about religion is that everyone has a choice. God gave us the gift of choice, which is why He does not reveal Himself. We have the CHOICE to be good people or not, so yes, we have the choice to rape, torture, murder, etc. We have the choice to feed the starving children in Africa, so why aren't you staring a fundraiser to buy food for them? We even have the choice to refuse His love eternally, which is what hell is- eternal separation from God.Hmm... Just a couple things. If a person has a choice on whether or not they can rape and torture and murder, why doesn't the victim have a choice? My question isn't why God let these people do these things, it's why He let the victims go through something like that. If they live through it, they're going to carry that weight with them throughout the rest of their life (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome). It just doesn't seem right to me. And then... why aren't I making a fundraiser? Well, I suppose I could, but school is taking up a lot of my time right now and I don't have the money to just... donate. I mean, I could start a fundraiser when I'm older, but until then what are the starving children going to do? Are they going to just not die in the meantime? And why do people go to hell because they no longer love God? Sounds like parental issues to me...
Here's the second 'response' comment (heheh, I like that... response comments):
Those starving children do not die needlessly, God loves each and everyone of them. He will punish those rapists and murderers, but if they feel guilty at the moment of their death, then they have the chance to be forgiven. This does not mean that they will be let "off the hook"- we all still have to purify ourselves in purgatory, but they will go to heaven in the end.If my dad starved me but said "You'll be OK because I love you" I'd run away from home. Just saying. Anyways, the whole system seems terrible to me. We're talking about a man who has the power to create an entire planet in seven days (including every single living thing on it). If he can create an entire world, why can't he get rid of rapists and murderers before they make more victims? And, personally, I find it kind of wrong that these people are still able to go to heaven because they felt bad right before they died. "Ohh... I'm about to die... What did I do with my life? I killed babies. Ohh, maybe I shouldn't have done that... Wait, I get to go to heaven now? GREAT!!!"
I'm not saying there isn't a God. I'm not saying there isn't a hell. I just don't believe in either one of them.
And that's fine not to believe in it... it's not up to me to convert you. just remember that some people do believe in it with all their hearts, and martyrdom exists and is not uncommon at all, and at the very least, you should respect the beliefs that they died for. Feel free to ask me any more questions about my religion on my blog :D i'll gladly answer them.
ReplyDeleteI think you misunderstood what I said about hell. Hell is a decision. God would never force you to love Him, even after death, so that is what the belief in hell is- eternal separation from God. I am not too sure about the details of hell, but i might do a blog post about it or something.
ReplyDeleteI think I have more respect for you because you say that it's OK for me not to believe. There's not a lot of people who are willing to say that. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think you misunderstood one of the things I said. God will always forgive you for anything, as long as you want His forgiveness and His love. However, when you die, you still have to be "cleansed" (sort of lol) before you can go to heaven. This is what Catholics believe purgatory is. It is not a sentence or a punishment like incarceration is, but it is still "painful" in a way (I'm not sure how pain is after you are dead). Everyone goes through it- the better a person you have been, or the more you have suffered in life, the less you have to endure. But if you were a Nazi or a KGB agent- well, then. But the end result is the same- heaven.
ReplyDeleteLol it's fine.. i just hate how people attack me for my beliefs.. I'm a terrible debator so it's expecially humiliating >.<
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate the same thing... I happen to be a pretty good debater, though... But I'm not going to debate you. XD I was taught as a kid to never debate too much about religion.
ReplyDeletehttp://thoselittlesnidenotes.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-am-idiot.html
ReplyDeleteKinda reply :) more hypothetical and philosophical questions though... enjoy?