Yes... all judges are dictators. Got it
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Why should we love God?
- Thread starter Trailblazer
- Start date
Happy Easter you you and your family.
Thank you!
We had wonderful services and then a family get together Now... I am resting!QuestioningMind
Well-Known Member
That's exactly what I said.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Yes, I know. I often write statements as questions for emphasis.
DNB
Christian
I thought that I offered one: love is not derived from matter.
...if the spiritual disposition called love, exists (rhetorical), then it came from a spiritual source, namely God.
DNB
Christian
No one is denying logic - we all have sinned egregiously and without restraint, and are all worthy of death. The fact that anyone one of us is still alive, in any capacity, is only due to God's mercy, allowing us all time to repent. Everyone suffers to some degree or another. Some make the best of it and achieve great things despite their 'handicaps', others are resentful and spend their time lashing out wherever they can. Some either find, or come closer to God due to what their tribulations have taught them, others find an excuse to blame Him.
We all deserve to die, one's suffering does not give one license to either accuse or deny God.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I do not think 'everyone' has sinned egregiously and without restraint. I know I haven't done so.
To him whom much is given, much is expected. Everyone does not have the same capacity to endure suffering so I do not judge people for how they handle their suffering. I know we should not blame God but nobody's perfect.
I do not think we all deserve to die as men are not all equal in the sight of God.
“Let no one imagine that by Our assertion that all created things are the signs of the revelation of God is meant that—God forbid—all men, be they good or evil, pious or infidel, are equal in the sight of God.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 187
One does not need an excuse to deny or accuse God, they just do, but it does not affect God, it only affects the person. I am sure God understands and forgives.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
I agree that puting ones owns need away to help others is the right thing to do in a normal situation with someone dear to us are sick.
And my reply yesterday was maybe a bit cold, but what put me off by the OP was the way of blaming God for her situation. Honestly i do not believe God put us through it like that.
@Trailblazer i am sorry for my words yesterday, i had no intention of hurting your feelings.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
Yes, serving God is a evidence of love.
I believe in Sara's dream of Lloyd's happiness in the next world as well as the Baha'i Writings.I sure hope your beliefs are true as otherwise God would not be just.
But of course we can never know until we die, and even then we might not know what happens to other people, only what happens to us.
ppp
Well-Known Member
All judges over whom there is no oversight, recourse, or appeal are dictators. Duh.Yes... all judges are dictators. Got it
Brian2
Veteran Member
I'm sure people get a chance to state their case. But I do not see the decision resting on whether someone has been a Christian or not.
ppp
Well-Known Member
What is the decision that is being made? Whether or not one spends an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell?
Last edited by a moderator:
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
Say the Short Obligatory Prayer regularly.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
(Compilations, Baha'i Prayers, p. v)
Clues: In the second sentence you confess you are powerless to know Him, you are in poverty in knowing Him. Only God can help you to know Him. That's also why you say "There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting." You are in peril. He will help you know Him and only He can do this because only He is God. Your problem is that you truly don't know God. Perhaps if you truly know God you might love Him.
He could help you with that, too, if you said the Short Obligatory Prayer regularly, keeping my clues in mind. You are powerless to not want to love God, only God can do that because He is God.
ppp
Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure I have said all of those things to you and you have told me I am wrong.The idea for this thread came from what I was discussing with @Truthseeker on another thread.
A verse in the Qur'an about a possible good outcome for people from all religions
Why is it always our fault if we don't love God enough? Why does that have to mean that we are in some way deficient? What did God ever do to prove His love to us? Oh, I know, He sent His only Son, but big deal. He did not lose His only Son because Jesus is with God in Heaven now.
God also sent other Messengers, but what did God do to sacrifice anything for us? Nothing. Sure, the Messengers of God sacrificed a lot, but they are not God.
Then there is all the suffering in the world that God created and God created a world in which He knew humans would suffer, and worse yet, some people suffer much more than others. Logically speaking, God is responsible for creating such a world so God is left holding the bag.
It even says that this world is a storehouse of suffering in the Baha’i Writings: Storehouse of Suffering quote
I do not understand why Baha’is cannot understand that God is responsible for this suffering since God created this world. Please note that I am not referring to the suffering the results from human free will choices, as I believe humans are responsible for that suffering, God is not responsible for it.
Please spare me the religious apologetic about how suffering is ‘good for us” and how we should be grateful to God for suffering, or how people really don’t have to suffer, implying that their suffering is all their fault because they cannot be more detached. Save this for another day. Nothing could be more insensitive to say to people who are suffering.
I am looking for a reason to love God, other than what the scriptures say about how good God is, and I am coming up empty-handed.
Maybe my downfall is that I am logical rather than just believing what I want to believe based upon scriptures.
Hmph
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
Respectfully, I don't agree with that. Even if they do, you don't have to do that.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
I didn't remember the year, but I remember it was summer, and I knew you then. You have said in the past that was the turning point.You remember that? I guess your memory is better than you think it is.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
Baha'u'llah was the Manifestation of God and he cared. He Manifested all the attributes of God and if caring was not an attribute of God why did Baha'u'llah care?
ppp
Well-Known Member
If Baha'u'llah had the exact same attributes as God then Baha'u'llah would be God, and not merely a messenger.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
You did not understand like I do. She was not blaming God for her own situation, she was blaming God for everybody's suffering. It's okay, it was just a misunderstanding.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
That's okay, I know you meant well...
Please look at the OP and see that I was not blaming God for my situation. I was only talking about suffering in general. I knew that some believers would not like it, but the reality is that God created the world in which people suffer so God is responsible for the suffering that we do not cause by our own free will choices. God also deliberately sends people tests so God is responsible for the suffering that ensues as a result. Whether people think that is loving or cruel is up to them to decide. I am just stating the facts.
“Meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you, that you may inhale the sweetness of a spiritual and imperishable fragrance, and that you may acknowledge the truth that from time immemorial even unto eternity the Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, His servants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns. Even as He hath revealed: “Do men think when they say ‘We believe’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?” 5
Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 8-9
5. Qur’án 29:2