re: Have you ever lost faith in your higher being?

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What has me shaken is that father posted pictures saying his daughter was in recovery and someone replied something to the effect of “god can heal all, god is great, amen”. If that is the case, why does he let an innocent sweet 4 year old get mauled almost to death by a dog

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I preface this by saying I am not much of a practicing christian any more but my studies in the past taught me many things about the religion people seem to forget. Now whether or not I believe these things doesnt mean that the answer to your question can not be reconciled with the beliefs of Christianity itself. That is, innocent suffering is not in contradiction with Christianity but in congruence with the necessity of faith amongst Christian culture

The most innocent human being within the entire faith was Crucified on a cross. The entire new testament is about the concept of the suffering servant. So I guess if you are looking at it through a Christian lens. If Jesus could suffer and Die, why not a child? Who is a christian to question suffering when the savior of mankind was asphyxiated on a cross for your sake. In the Christian faith, He did not suffer so that you would not have to, rather Jesus Suffered so that one day you may be redeemed in your faith with an ultimate reward not of this earth

Now in the first testament you essentially open up with original sin and the entire concept that simply by being born a man you are born into sin and needless suffering. It is the curse of being born into a world of sin or a world of man. Thus the gift of faith in redeption through the previously mentioned crucifixion

Then you have the book of Job as well. The entire concept of which is that bad things happen to good people. Although the plot is somewhat controversial the concept is that during your worst suffering is when you should turn to god the most, that suffering is merely a tool which is suppose to draw you closer to God rather than away. The second idea of which is if you remain faithful you will be rewarded. Im guessing this does not necessarily mean cured, healed, physically saved (although in some instances maybe) but rather it means a more spiritual reward. One which in the midst of suffering you might not be able to comprehend

Judeo-christian religions are unable to be separeted from the concept of faith. What need is there for faith if you knew how and why things happen the way they do. There is no need for the concept of faith if everything worked in accordance with the laws and reason of the human mind.

I am a bit out of study but i guess the short of it is that it is a very christian concept to turn to faith in times of need in suffering knowing that faith will be rewarded but not necessarily within the bounds of your time as a human walking the earth. Your rewards are not necessarily of this earth

I am convinced that if there is a a higher being man has managed to frick up his current day influence on people.

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have never not believed but I certain am straining with all of the violence as of late.

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It is, no doubt, troublesome. The Word says it will be worse before it gets better.

I wish it were not so.

Great stuff, Mr Pecker.

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innocent suffering is not in contradiction with Christianity but in congruence with the necessity of faith

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The entire new testament is about the concept of the suffering servant.

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Jesus Suffered so that one day you may be redeemed in your faith with an ultimate reward

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during your worst suffering is when you should turn to god the most

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suffering is merely a tool which is suppose to draw you closer to God

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it is a very christian concept to turn to faith in times of need in suffering knowing that faith will be rewarded

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That just makes you warm and fuzzy doesn't it? You will get no debate out of me that these statements are an accurate reflection of the teachings. But it is just more rationalization for the unexplained. Blind faith is dangerous! Take the recently canonized Mother Theresa for example...she took those teachings to heart. Yes, she housed many of the needy and suffering, but she did so with the belief that her purpose was to elevate their suffering to bring them closer to god. She denied those under her care basic comfort and readily available treatments while she herself lived quite the opposite. She is even quoted as saying “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion”. The mortality rate of those under her care was 40%! 4 out of 10 people that went to her for help wound up in a permanent dirt hole. She was a despicable human being lead by her "faith" and now heralded as a hero. And that is just one example of the atrocities of religion. SAD!

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I certainly will not belittle or speak down to someone that see’s faith as a tool for hope. Nor will I try to cut down that hope for no other reason than self gratifying cynicism. It’s just self righteous and narcissistic. Nor will I condemn a system of beliefs because of the corruption of human nature. Perfection of institution is not meant for a world run by man

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While I certainly understand you (and many others) believing this justification. What you are saying is that with absolutely no evidence whatsoever people will believe they have the answer to a question, because it makes them feel better or it was "Gods will". I am all for people feeling good about themselves and having hope, but we just seriously need to move away from the acceptable conditioning of society that something can be held as truth because it makes us feel good, regardless of the lack of evidence. To me, this is the lazy way out. Instead we should be continuing to strive for the verifiable answer to the questions. Quite frankly, this has severely stifled our advancement and progression as a society. Data does show things trending in the direction of my position, but as with all things that evolve...it is a slow process. If we can manage to get through this bumpy period without wiping ourselves out, I am certain in a few hundred years Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc. will all be looked upon the same as Odin, Zeus and Isis. That thought gives me hope!