God works in mysterious ways
Offline Sure he does. I'll give you a few examples:
Someone who lives a lonely life, goes to work every morning has a car accident on his way to work. His car burst into flames. He is trapped inside. Next thing he knows, he is at a hospital, disfigured, crippled, scarred, unemployed, and with hospital bills skyrocketing. His life is ruined.
On the other side of the world, there's Amin Bubu Rahal, dictator. He has led the people of Urugasir with an iron fist, killing 300,000 people to preserve his power, and enjoying all the women and all the wines he wants.
But now Amin Bubu is dying of cancer. He is 83, and he doesn't care because he enjoyed life, and his legacy will prevail, for he shall always be the man who led Urugasir with an iron fist.
How do you explain that a ditator enjoyed life, and another man's life is ruined?
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
How do you explain a tsunami killing 300,000 people?
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
But wait, there's more. Maybe our burned patient will get a visit from Doctor Jesus of Nazareth. He will touch him in the chest, and his scarred, noseless, earless, hairless face will return to normal. He will sit on the bed, stand up, and run to work. "Thank you, Dr. Jesus of Nazareth."
Doesn't happen.
See, God only helps those who help themselves. Our burned patient may have to adapt to his new looks. And of course pay the bills. Maybe he can get a job in a horror movie. Then and only then, God will give him a hand, and I don't mean that literally (keep in mind he probably lost his fingers).
See, in this chaotic universe, where things are not supposed to happen, but they do, and things that are supposed to happen do not happen, Christians, and Muslims, and other theists, out of fear maybe, try to find reasons why God doesn't make things better. An atheist has it all figured out: there's no God. But a theist needs two premises to explain the chaos:
(1) God works in mysterious ways.
(2) God helps those who help themselves.
Number 2 is stupid. If I can help myself, I don't need someone else's help. What if someone shoots me in the face. Am I supposed to dodge the bullets Matrix-style for God to help me? What if a shark is chasing me? Should I practice a few Karate moves under water? I need help when I can't help myself. But Christians know nothing will happen if you don't help yourself.
The idiocy behind theism lies in those two statements.
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As a theist I agree with you.
Except in a few points.
That I'm God. Your God. We're all Gods. And that we do not work in mysterious ways.
But we do exist.
I posted this like two hours ago. Now I am back. I should be sleeping. Instead I am here. See, I work in mysterious ways.
I am going to bed. Take a sleeping pill. Get some sleep. Only then will God help me sleep. After I help myself fall asleep.
I agree 100%. And how arrogant is it when say there's a plane crash - 250 people die and one survives - the survivor thinks God saved him. Well was this guy so great, or were the 250 people bad, or did God pick him at random , or what?
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
There's something about it in http://www.godisimaginary.com/
I think the website is as good as this one. Look at http://www.godisimaginary.com/i2.htm
They say something that goes like this:
That means that if 20 people get this type of cancer, it is almost always fatal. Only one in twenty of the people who get the disease will survive. Knowing this, you can see what happens if we actually analyze prayer:
The fact is, believers who pray die from this disease at exactly the same rate as people who do not.
It is sad that if someone has cancer, prays and gets cured, it is a miracle, even though there are thousands who pray for a cure, die, and can come back from the dead and tell you prayer is bullshit. The dead can't speak, so that makes miracles nothing short of bullying the dead. The same thing applies to the plane crash victims.
My God is unemployed.
From the Heading " Sayings Not Found in Scripture"
God works in mysterious ways
Though uncertain in origin and certainly not found in Scripture, that God does work in ways curious and beyond the measure of our limited experience and conception is obvious. Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us that: The secret things belong to the Lord our God. The final chapters of Job present God's reprimand of Job wherein He asks how Job could possibly understand or judge the reasons for God's actions (Job being so far removed from God in power, wisdom, and longevity).
And perhaps the biggest mystery is revealed us in Romans 8:28. And we know that all thing work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Though we may not understand the purpose of our circumstances in God's plan, we are assured that every detail will work for the benefit of the Redeemed.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/sayings.html#works
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Someone who works in mysterious ways might give you a fish for a serpent, my son.
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Someone who works in mysterious ways might give you a fish for a serpent, my son.
I agree, and I would like to add something. This saying strikes me as entirely opposing a central idea in christianity, which is that you as a human is worthless and inherently sinful. You can't help yourself, which is why you need Jesus.
God's Away On Business
(Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan 2000)
I'd sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch
You're out of luck, you're out of luck
Ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pick
It's a job, it's a job
Bloody moon rising with a plague and a flood
Join the mob, join the mob
It's all over, it's all over
It's all over
There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away on business, business
Godddamn there's always such a big temptation
To be good, to be good
There's always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby
It's a deal, it's a deal
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby
Let her ring, let her ring
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.