Uh... yes. That's the whole point of, you know, having a brain, common sense, and an education. To give you enough logic not believe in some invisible man in the sky.

Nobody "decides." You are looking for an answer to the unknown and becoming afraid of it, and thus labeling it as an "act of god."

Really, what can you NOT understand about it? His heart FAILED. Nobody MADE IT FAIL. An omnipotent being did not snap his fingers and kill your friend. I'm sure the autopsy will provide a completely logical reason for his death. Perhaps he had a rupture in his left ventricle as a child and it became a problem that one night... regardless, he was not murdered. He simply died because his heart gave out.

This is just crazy. God did not create your body. Your parents created your body. Your life and death are not predetermined.

To quote Vonnegut - "Vy you? Vy anybody?" It's impossible to know all the reasons behind everything. However, there IS a reason behind every occurance and it is NOT a divine influence.

I have a genetic bone disease. I don't ask myself "why did god do this me?" Most likely, chemical spraying that occured in the city when my mom was pregnant caused it. That is hardly an act of god.

To be brusque, blaming stuff on god or any other "higher power" is cowardly and shows how weak your fortitude is, as well as your ability to understand the world around you. It makes you look stupid. You need to accept that things are constantly in motion. This causes "chance" that may not always be in your favor. But that does not make it supernatural. Just unfortunate.

some ppl say that these things happen just because of something bad that we did, but i think that it's not quite true. some ppl do bad things all the time and good things still happen to them. and sometimes good ppl die, but their death causes good things to happen. i know it's not fair, but just trust that God has a greater plan for everything.

and grav? why are you so intent on proving that God doesn't exist when you should be helping gruesomeBODY cope?. and why do you care what he believes in?! if you were religious, then i could see why you care, but you have no obvious reason!

I thought the reason was obvious. Blaming a nonexistant entity for your problems is not coping at all.

That's like saying terrorism is the reason you can't afford a new car.

Using a scapegoat is easy, real easy. It's seen repeatedly throughout history. Blacks, carpetbaggers, robber barons, judeobolshevism, communists, etc. And what does each of those situations usually end up in? Some of the worst atrocities committed in the world. Slavery, the KKK, oppression, the Holocaust, endless wars. Fear and misunderstanding causes no good. It leads to a "follower nation" who acts out of spite. In a sense, religion is no better than the KKK or Hitler.

And that is exactly where my point was before. Just because you think God is a nonexistent entity, doesn't mean everyone else does. People that believe in God obviously have a different way of thinking than you do, and they believe that God has a plan for everyone. They aren't blaming him per say, they are simply asking why the God they worship is being benevolent, when they've grown up believing that He forgives all and is a kind, caring God.

Just like you cope with death, etc. by looking at scientific facts as a reason for it occurring, other people look at it as God's will for the reason. There really isn't a different, other than the fact that they rely on faith, and you on tangible, scientific data.

i didn't think that he was blaming God anymore, but hey! I could be wrong.

You've all missed Grav's point once again, even though he's taking it farther than he should. Believing in a "God" or anything else is fine, but when you are just using whatever you believe in to blame your problems on, that isn't going to fix anything. Grav is just taking it farther than he should.

Well, I can agree with that. I don't think that you should blame someone, or God, for a death, but then again I don't think that is what Gruesome is doing with this thread in the first place. To me, he is more asking a question about why things tend to happen; Why God decided it was this person's time, because apparently he believes that God has the final decision over death..

after the last time that grav posted i understood what he said......... that's why I corrected myself and said blaming:

see?

anyway i think that Titusfied said it better than I. see above.

Titus hit my point exactly

What's a difference between a stereotype and a generalization?

Stereotypes are created through a lack of understanding.

Generalizations are based on fact.

Stereotypes are wrong and ignorant.

Generalizations are true and logical.

Asking why God killed your friend is like subscribing to a stereotype. It's stupid, illogical, and unprovable. Using that sort of thinking is akin to saying everyone from the Middle East is a towelhead terrorist. Are you that provincial?

I think the whole thing is rather asinine, using God as a way to cope with death. I understand it as a way to ease the pain that some people may feel, especially a child, when a person dies of natural causes. However...that's where it ends for me. How the hell do you describe to a child why "God" has allowed someone so important to them to die in a horrific act, such as a murder or being blown up over-seas, or even suicide. That just opens up a can of worms in a traumatized mind.

'Okay, so it was a bad mans fault, but why wasn't God watching over him? Why did God let him suffer so much pain? Doesn't God want us to be happy? Why did He take him away from me when I still need him in my life? Why did she kill herself? Why didn't God help her see that she was still important to us? Why does God allow people to die in painful ways?

Why?'


/rant

I agree with you on some points, Grav, but faith is faith . . . it's not something you can argue with, generally. If he believes that god decided it was his friend's time to go, then asking why god would do something like that is a perfectly reasonable question.

Not if he believes it.

Again, that statement doesn't prove anything, except that you don't believe God, and you think that anyone believes God is simply "Going to fit in with society". I am sure that he doesn't see God like that.

And bigots don't see it as racism.

That statement could be turned around on the atheists just as easily, though.

I don't see a connection between Religion and Racism. Care to elaborate?

In this instance, the absence of evidence IS the evidence of absence.

That line of thought has been scientifically disproven in many different instances. I do agree with you on God, but I don't find that above statement to be true at all -- there is no evidence, which is why religion is such a divisive issue.

In our society, you cannot convinct someone of a crime without evidence. For school, you have to show evidence of your work. To call in sick, you need evidence from a doctor of your ill health.

Yet for some reason, millions of people around the world believe something to be true -- with no evidence whatsoever! Outdated books from many centuries ago that have no place in a postmodern society dictate millions of people's lives. This is madness.

Point taken, but oh how wrong this is:

People are going to disagree with you about what they see as evidence. Many will point out the the universe itself is evidence of a supreme deity.