Why do bad things happen when God exists?

[JoStories]

Um, I also said:
"also, we will receive peace of mind and have all our negative emotions like hatred or envy revised and our reasoning as well to fit that. It is like living this life without those negative emotions, which does happen sometimes depending on our choice and reasoning.", which is like giving us another emotion that prevents us from thinking of committing any bad acts like murder, stealing, etc.

In Heaven there will be no needs (I mean feeling of lacking), no poverty, no hatred, not hard feelings, etc. which will also keep us from those bad things.

Description of heaven in Islam is a very wide separate subject of its own. One of its attributes is that its goodness is something no eye ever seen, ear ever heard of or heart ever thought of. The Quraan says that we don't hear bad wording, lies or bad happenings, we only hear of peace. Comparing this with this life, we do hear of bad news, like reports of murder or rape, from time to time. That does not happen in Heaven.

I understand this is a complicated subject, but that's what we believe in; Heaven in the after life is a perfect place to be. In Islamic teachings there is actually so much to talk about and explain in this.

I might be the wrong person to give more extended details due to my lack of enough information and reasoning skills in this.

My dear friend, you reason very well. And explained what you believe very well. I thought I may have been misreading you Smart Guy so you totally cleared that up. I don't believe in heaven so the concept, while I understand it well from a doctorate in theology well enough, from each person's own perception, it varies and I wanted to make sure I understood your POV. And I do now. I respect your beliefs Smart guy but I don't hold them. IMO, is this not still an either/or scenario? What happens if you don't get to heaven? Where do you believe you go?

I'll keep that in mind

You're a nice person and I really like you

You are a beacon of love and light for the Muslim community. And I wish to apologize to you for some of the more negative posts that seem to intimate that you and people of your faith are all terrorists. I know many peace minded Muslims, like yourself, and that some see you all as terrorists saddens my heart.

 

[JoStories]

And he didn't say that.



We're letting them wholesale in without vetting. The CIA and ISIS both say ISIS is coming into the country that way. The rest of that is irrelevant. Even American aboriginals were immigrants. In case you haven't noticed, things were different back then. But the biggest problem is ALL Muslims want sharia law, to which end they are all bound to struggle for if not fight for. If you allow Sharia, you allow theocracy pure and simple.



If the Left continues, you'll let the tide of Sharia wash over us and if you live to see it, You'll live to regret it more than your indoctrination will allow you to foresee--especially if, as I suspect, you're a woman.

I cannot find any good reasons to really respond to this. As I just said to Smart Guy, people that believe that all Muslims are terrorists sadden me. I wish you peace in your life. Namaste.

 

[JoStories]

If it hasn't been said already, and I'm not reading all these posts to find out, but
Satan is in control of this world.
Read the Bible & research this and learn for yourself.
If Jehovah and His followers were in control we'd have no crime or other
societal issues that we deal with today.

Until you can prove there is such a character as "Satan", your post, while I do respect it, is nothing more than your own beliefs. There is no evidence of such a belief. If you did even a cursory examination of history, you would find that humankind has been dealing with crime and all that since we evolved from primates and began walking upright.

 

[JoStories]

Oh, for the love of Pete. You couldn't just google that up?
One wonders why you are posting on a religious forum and don't know where
Satan came from.
New York city according to his birth records.

Again, prove this "Satan" exists. And as for googling this character, it came from the minds of men who needed a character to point to for people to see what would happen if they did not adhere to the Christian faith. And furthermore, the whole idea was stolen from older Pagan myths. Hell has mostly come from Dante and Milton, at least the characterization of what hell looks like, including the 7 realms. And as for NYC, while its reputation might be rather ...colorful...it is a vibrant city with so much to offer. I suggest going to New Years Eve just once there. its the experience of a lifetime.

 

[JoStories]

Of course I know. You do not know that God is the source of all that is good, because you do not know God, and so therefore do not understand the nature of God. Perhaps you may grasp this intellectually, but God requires faith, and so you are left without a more complete understanding. I experience God, and know Him intimately. And I understand his nature at least to some degree greater than simple intellectual understanding. I believe in Him. My faith in Him allows me to perceive and understand that He is indeed the source of all that is good. But yes, I could be wrong. Maybe God created us with the ability to do good all on our own. But if God created us with the capability of doing good, is not He responsible for the good that we do?

You're right, I cannot prove there is a God. Thankfully, with regard to His existence, God has proven Himself to me.

I do not accept that people choose different paths. I surely respect the people who choose different paths, but I cannot respect the paths they choose. I often hear people suggesting that belief in God is a result of some kind of brainwashing. Surely, knowledge about God can be learned. And if such knowledge were to result in someone believing in God, surely we could say that their faith is a result of those learning processes. Well, atheism is learned as well. We believe something when we are convinced that it is true. If you have been convinced that there is no God, then you too have been brainwashed. I prefer a brainwashing that leads to salvation. And I hope, if I should ever be so blessed to exist as an eternal creature dwelling in an eternal place where our loving God is ever present, to see you there. Nope...I have no respect for your atheism. I have better plans for you.

You presume much here. I am not an atheist and your assumption seems an insult, given your lack of respect here. I firmly believe in God, as I understand that concept. For me, God has no gender, no human attributes whatsoever. God is a concept that no human can adequately describe, explain or even know this side of Enlightenment. You are free to believe anything you wish of me or any other path that others walk, but keep in mind that your post indicates that that mindset would include Judaism as well, given that they do not believe in Christ. It seems rather narrow minded, IMO, to believe that all peoples with the temerity to chose a different faith or even the lack thereof, would be going to your 'hell' simply because they believe differently than you.

 

[JoStories]

In a nutshell without posting links, the heavenly creatures were created with
FREE WILL as were the first humans.
With the ability to CHOOSE.
We ALL make choices all the time.
Do some goolging fer yerself.
I tire of posting links that anyone that can use a keyboard can do thus avoiding
redundant post, after post, after post.
Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.
Sadly my step daughter is severely schizophrenic and paranoid, yet even that poor
woman has learned to make better choices to avoid the consequences of bad
choices.
If no one gets the hidden meaning in that last I'll explain.
She's nuts and knows how to make better choices than the so called "normal"
people of this world.

I assume here that you mean she believes as you do, making said choices in the Christian faith, as many paranoid schizophrenics do. If being 'normal' means having to make the same choices as you, we would become an Orwellian society, with Big Brother making the choices for us. If that is the case, I prefer 'abnormal' any day. Namaste with your faith.

 

[The_Fisher_King]

More brilliant minds have accepted the notion, why can't you? What is it that you are lacking that is preventing you from being capable of accepting this notion?

How do you know those other minds are more brilliant than mine? And what do you mean by 'brilliant' here, in any case? If in terms of intellect, what has that got to do with anything when it comes to matters of belief/faith?

Why do I have to be lacking something to see things the way I do? Perhaps (with all due respect), it is you who lack something in this regard?

 

[The_Fisher_King]

All those scenarios result in chaos, which, looking up at the night sky, isn't evident.

Can you please explain how you think all those scenarios result in the kind of chaos which you think isn't evident when looking up at the night sky?

Will you say that a little louder please.

I'M A MUSLIM. AND I DON'T WANT SHAREE'AH.

PS. I'm far from alone; there are plenty other Muslims like me, perhaps even a majority of Muslims in the world today.

 

[Smart_Guy]

My dear friend, you reason very well. And explained what you believe very well. I thought I may have been misreading you Smart Guy so you totally cleared that up. I don't believe in heaven so the concept, while I understand it well from a doctorate in theology well enough, from each person's own perception, it varies and I wanted to make sure I understood your POV. And I do now. I respect your beliefs Smart guy but I don't hold them. IMO, is this not still an either/or scenario? What happens if you don't get to heaven? Where do you believe you go?

Cool

And I respect your beliefs/views and disagreement, JS. This is what people should do to live in harmony together. Respect each other's beliefs/views. When taken into interfaith and respecting other beliefs, then yes, it is an either/or, or rather, a generally taken possibility. It's what I believe, which other might not.

I'm really bad at explanations, so I suspected that what I said could have been taken in a weird way, or even back fired with opposite meaning than what I had in mind. As for other places than Heaven, there is only Hell. Either this or that. Taking about Hell is really depressing and bothersome, next to being bad at wording my self, so I'm sorry I don't think I'm in position to talk about it. But the direct answer to your question is Hell. The default position anyway is Heaven, not Hell. Let say someone lives neutrally and never knew about Islam and died, they are believed to go to Heaven by default in Islam.

You are a beacon of love and light for the Muslim community. And I wish to apologize to you for some of the more negative posts that seem to intimate that you and people of your faith are all terrorists. I know many peace minded Muslims, like yourself, and that some see you all as terrorists saddens my heart.

No need to apologize, JS. I understand the emotions of humans and feel their suffering (cut the drama, Smart Guy ). No really, I consider the fact if the diversity in human emotions so I don't judge or take them in a bad way normally.

No worries

By the way, is my font size and color scheme clear enough for you? If you have specif preferences, please tell. I didn't use same of bigger font size out of respect.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Evil Existed Along with Good.

Evil can only be created by sentient beings who possess full self-awareness and thus have the prerequisite free will. Even God, being the essence of Truth, could not create it. And God, obeying It's own Prime Directive, can't (mustn't) prevent our creating, because by doing so it would destroy our free will through our knowledge of God's existence alone.

 

[jeager106]

Until you can prove there is such a character as "Satan", your post, while I do respect it, is nothing more than your own beliefs. There is no evidence of such a belief. If you did even a cursory examination of history, you would find that humankind has been dealing with crime and all that since we evolved from primates and began walking upright.

PROVE THAT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Can you please explain how you think all those scenarios result in the kind of chaos which you think isn't evident when looking up at the night sky?

Because everything is following natural law to the letter, a natural law that we are coming to understand ever more clearly with every passing hour.

I'M A MUSLIM. AND I DON'T WANT SHAREE'AH.

PS. I'm far from alone; there are plenty other Muslims like me, perhaps even a majority of Muslims in the world today.

How come I've never seen a Muslim proclaim it publicly--that is, non-anomalously. Every time I see Muslim ascendancy, Sharia is imposed universally with no Muslim opposition. Are you saying that all Muslims aren't compelled to struggle and fight (Jihad) to bring about Muslim supremacy in the letter and spirit of

Quran (9:29):

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

I see no Muslim opposition to that, much less a majority of opposition.

My only opposition to Islam is its agenda to establish itself as a worldwide theocracy--a nightmare we are seeing around the world to which I will never submit.

 

[yiostheoy]

If there is God and He is good, then why does “bad” exist? What is the reason for God to create all that is bad? Why couldn’t God create a world that has only bliss and happiness? Why has God made suffering? Why has God made problems? Why has God made poverty? Why do we suffer? Why do we fall sick? Why has God made death? If God is such a good God and if He is the creator of the universe, then why has He created this whole concept of suffering? Why has He let people become terrorists? Why has He let people create pain? And this is not just about people. Look at the animal world. Why has He created it in such a way that the tiger kills the deer, the cat eats the mouse, and the dog chases the cat? Why has God made the world like this?

We can go on asking questions as to why God has created the world like this, but the question that we need to ask ourselves is that should we question this way? Should we question His authority – Why He has done this? What He has done? Do we know better about what He has done, or does the Creator know better about what He has done? So from our limited intelligence and viewpoints, is it right to comment on or question and be judgmental about what God has created and why God has created so?

Why are we questioning what God has done? Why do we doubt God’s intentions? Why do we question God’s plan for our life? Why do we question what God has created on Earth? Should we not spend time pondering upon these rather than questioning what God has done? This is the question I ask myself today.

AiR

Your question about God has more to do with Philosophy than with Religion (or Science, obviously).

If you pick up any modern philosophy book, such as "Modern Philosophy" by Roger Scruton, there is a chapter on God and he answers your question for you.

Religion itself begins with faith in a certain Deity, and faith is the first step. Therefore asking if that God or those Gods can exist or not cannot be a valid religious question. This is why the question falls into the purview of Philosophy not Religion.

 

[yiostheoy]

Because everything is following natural law to the letter, a natural law that we are coming to understand ever more clearly with every passing hour.



How come I've never seen a Muslim proclaim it publicly--that is, non-anomalously. Every time I see Muslim ascendancy, Sharia is imposed universally with no Muslim opposition. Are you saying that all Muslims aren't compelled to struggle and fight (Jihad) to bring about Muslim supremacy in the letter and spirit of

Quran (9:29):

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

I see no Muslim opposition to that, much less a majority of opposition.

My only opposition to Islam is its agenda to establish itself as a worldwide theocracy--a nightmare we are seeing around the world to which I will never submit.

Unless you are smoking hashish at the time, Islam does not make any sense.

With copious amounts of hashish it all makes perfect sense.

Be careful though that you don't confuse the camel dung with the pure hashish -- it all smells the same.

 

[yiostheoy]

PROVE THAT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

You cannot prove anything in Religion. Religion is a matter of faith.

You cannot prove anything in Philosophy either. Philosophy is a matter of rational speculation.

You cannot prove anything in Science as well. Science is a matter of inferring general trends for data that you have collected.

For some people, Science is their Religion.

For others, Religion is their Science.

You must always separate Religion, Science, and Philosophy and never mix them.

Either way, you cannot ever prove anything.

 

[jeager106]

yiosrheoy:
That is the point I was trying to make.
One can theorize till the cows come home but NOTING about faith can be proven.
Anyone's faith.
Could be why it's called "faith" and not "facts".
Do people of a religious bent believe because of superstition?
Superstition that some "god" will get 'em if people don't believe?
I think so.

Did ancient people in the Christian O.T really live many hundreds of years?
THAT is hard to swallow.
Perhaps the ancients that wrote that genealogy were smoking some good chit?

 

[yiostheoy]

yiosrheoy:
That is the point I was trying to make.
One can theorize till the cows come home but NOTING about faith can be proven.
Anyone's faith.
Could be why it's called "faith" and not "facts".
Do people of a religious bent believe because of superstition?
Superstition that some "god" will get 'em if people don't believe?
I think so.

Did ancient people in the Christian O.T really live many hundreds of years?
THAT is hard to swallow.
Perhaps the ancients that wrote that genealogy were smoking some good chit?

I agree with you that nothing about faith can be proven.

 

[jeager106]

Just so we all are on the path of the topic:
faith1
/fāTH/ trust, belief, confidence, conviction, optimism, hopefulness; More

• "strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof."

 

[jeager106]

Can anyone "prove" God does or does not exist?
Do you love someone?
In the scientific sense PROVE IT.
How does one prove a feeling, an emotion or faith?
I believe the sun will rise over this planet. That is fact, and faith.
I can demonstrate how I love my children but is that proof?

 

[yiostheoy]

Can anyone "prove" God does or does not exist?
Do you love someone?
In the scientific sense PROVE IT.
How does one prove a feeling, an emotion or faith?
I believe the sun will rise over this planet. That is fact, and faith.
I can demonstrate how I love my children but is that proof?

Religion cannot prove it.

Science cannot prove nor disprove it.

Only Philosophy has "speculative rationalization" to the effect that on the basis of first cause, prime mover, artistic artificer, and/or purposeful designer, there is more evidence supporting the existence of a God or Gods than against it.

This is not "proof" in the mathematical sense, which is deductive. But it's all there is.