Lionclub2001 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 (edited) I think it is okay to get angry at God. I am a grace believing Christian and my recommendation is that if you are angry at God go ahead and cuss Him out and call Him names until you feel better. If it is true that God is not involved in our daily lives and doesn't care to take our prayer requests seriously then He should not take it personally if I cuss Him out. Go ahead and try it. You might feel better. I've called God every filthy name in the book and told Him to go f Himself and that He was stupid for even creating this universe that we live in. Go ahead and air your grievance to God. I believe in honoring my parents and treating women with respect and performing above the call of duty at work but I do not respect God at all. That's hard for other fellow Christians to understand and that's why I purposely date atheists instead of Christians. Edited March 6, 2015 by Lionclub2001 Link to post Share on other sites
Lionclub2001 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 If I could hit God in the face like a punching bag I would. Link to post Share on other sites
umirano Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 What makes you all think god actually exists? Wouldn't it be more sensible to explain the lack of certain successes with absence of luck? Do you really think there's a god who cares about 7 billion people on a personal level? Whether their favorite football team wins or their partners remain loyal? Or, respectively, that they are going to be punished for having masturbated too often, having eaten the wrong food or having had "bad" thoughts? I suggest that the existence of a virtual punching bag (or like one other poster put it, a nice little doggy to pet in case of success) is just very comforting. I have an idea: Shove these fairy tale stories of a sky daddy watching out for you aside and look at what YOU can do about YOUR OWN life here and now. I suppose you should be able to free up a lot of resources (like time and brain power) for your goals and aspirations. Think about the energy and time wasted on an entity that we have really no reason to believe in. And think about how much power you have about your own life if you just accept it, start acting on it and take responsibility for your own life, instead of waiting for a god to get things done for you. Link to post Share on other sites
autumnnight Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I think it takes a special kind of lack of empathy and callousness to suggest to someone struggling that they abandon the faith that has been their anchor for years WHILE they are struggling. Atheistic evangelism is always strange to me. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Timshel Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 umirano- A person's definition of "God" is complex and not necessarily defined fundamentally by a particular religion (Catholic, Jewish etc...) From your post it seems you are referring to the traditional, Christian God from more fundamentalist religions. There are many religion's, faith's and spiritual levels. A guy in the sky is for some. Lumping all people who believe in the existence of God or Presence into one particular mindset is dismissive to the multitude of other forms of religion and spirituality. I don't believe in the God you describe. Many people who are religious don't either. So you are not religious and don't believe that anyone would/should be to any degree or consciousness. Is that what you mean? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
umirano Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I think it takes a special kind of lack of empathy and callousness to suggest to someone struggling that they abandon the faith that has been their anchor for years WHILE they are struggling. Atheistic evangelism is always strange to me. Oh, how would you know about empathy? Mind-manipulating someone in need into a belief that clearly damages their emotional well being? How about that faith is the source and cause of their grief? Slowly eating away at their emotional security? You don't know me, so keep your little offhanded deliberations on my motivation to yourself. Link to post Share on other sites
umirano Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 umirano- A person's definition of "God" is complex and not necessarily defined fundamentally by a particular religion (Catholic, Jewish etc...)From your post it seems you are referring to the traditional, Christian God from more fundamentalist religions. There are many religion's, faith's and spiritual levels. A guy in the sky is for some. Sure, my post isn't directed at any particular god though. I'm saying the outcome that the OP describes isn't at all surprising. Believing, relying on a god, that we all have very little reason to believe exists necessarily must end in disappointment when real-world hardship strikes. Being convinced that god exists and watches as disaster strikes without interfering will undoubtedly raise concerns. Lumping all people who believe in the existence of God or Presence into one particular mindset is dismissive to the multitude of other forms of religion and spirituality.I didn't lump anybody into any category. The gist of my post is that belief unsurprisingly often leads to disappointment. People start questioning themselves, which is sad when it is the whole concept of belief that should be questioned. I don't believe in the God you describe. Many people who are religious don't either.The abrahamic gods are the gold standard when it comes to religiosity for 99% of the religious people in the western world. It's safe to assume that most religious people who come to LS subscribe to major concepts of those religions. My approach is easily transferred to judaism or islam. I've good first-hand understanding of hinduism as well. The concept of punishment, rewards and sins isn't as strange to the adherents of that religion as some western seekers may like to think. It's inherent in most religions (name exceptions please, if you happen to know any) to cause feelings of guilt of some sort in their believers for mainly virtual, not to say, thought crimes. It isn't necessary to be religious in order to live a life of compassion and decency. And if you don't subscribe to abrahamic religiosity, why do you defend it? The damaging properties of religiosity is still around because of "liberal", "modern" and "enlightened" believers like you who keep defending bronze age world views. Anyone on this forum can sit down tonight and come up with better moral standards than any of the traditional religions have to offer. So you are not religious and don't believe that anyone would/should be to any degree or consciousness. Is that what you mean? While my personal convictions aren't really relevant to this thread - correct, I don't believe in any supernatural entities - and yes, I haven't encountered a religion that improves the social, psychological or the physical well being of people -, so religion isn't useful. Needless to say that I don't think religions is truthful either. How much help can you expect from something that by any standard of everyday truth assessment isn't true? How much help can you expect from taking a real-world approach to understanding and addressing your problems? All I'm saying is that maybe in this case even more religion is not the solution. Probably religion was the problem to begin with. OP, I know from first-hand experience that discarding a life long belief can be hard, seemingly impossible and you'll probably worry that you'll fall and nothing else will protect you. This isn't true. There are great non-religious ways of looking at problems and solutions. If you take care of yourself, you're guaranteed that at least one person does take care of you. If you put your hope into god's intervention, you may well wait very long for something "right" to happen. Link to post Share on other sites
Timshel Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Umirano- Fair enough. Sigh... I do not subscribe to a traditional religion anymore but absolutely am religious. Most Christians take issue with my beliefs and since they are unconventional, I avoid engaging. However I do offer to OP that being angry at God is part of relationship with God and expressing anger, imo, at God is not a "sin" or something to suppress. I chuckle thinking of some of the most uncomfortable conversations I have had with fundamentalists. Like politics, I prefer to be vague except in situations of strong and tolerant friendships. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
autumnnight Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 People who say being angry at God is some kind of sin dealbreaker for God have obviously never read Job...or Psalms. Link to post Share on other sites
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