The Blame Game
Put up your hand up if you have ever heard someone say when something good happens it is the power and glory of God, but when something bad happens it is the work of the Devil, because God would not allow or do bad things. Being Agnostic I always consider that thought pattern as somewhat hypocritical. But that is me :-)
Lets say for the sake of argument that God is what the Bible tell us so and does have a plan for us as individuals. Lets say that sometimes things in life is not always going to go our way and could even be bad. Is it possible that God could actually plan something bad for us to happen? Would he allow something to harm us in some way? I say...YES!!
If there is a God the way the Bible tells us so and He does have a plan for us, maybe he would allow us to feel some disappointment to make us a better person, to let us grow as individuals. In other words, if something goes wrong it is the work of God, and when something goes right it is the work of God. What a concept!!
Or, maybe that is just life and there is no God directing our lives. Who really knows?
I bring this up because a good friend actually gave God credit, good AND bad, for something that happened with his family. He didn't use the tried and unproven excuse most Christians use. He put the religious blame on both sides of the equation. I sure respect someone like that. Good on ya, Mate!!
11 comments:
that's more like it...God has a cruel streak. Why not?
I believe God is good. I think it's more our perception of what is bad. We call pain bad because it's uncomfortable, inconvenient rather than looking at the benefits of pain, what we can learn from pain. Ultimately, I think that when we live in the mindset of what Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, things become less about us and our earthliness and more about eternal things, less selfish, serving a greater good and growing out of our self-obsession in a desire to serve God and others.
I think western Christians have been putting forth a comfortable Christianity - in my reading, that's not at all Biblical. We are told to take up our cross, that the Son of man had no were to lay his head, that we should spend our time in hospitals and prisons, give to those who ask, and that Jesus' followers would be persecuted. Is God causing bad here, or are those who follow Him in this way simply suffering at the hand of those who are rebelling?
Christian martyrs were praising God, giving Him the glory as they were eaten by lions, thrown into cauldrons of boiling oil, and burned at the stake. Go figure.
I think you have a good observation Zaak. Christianity isn't about Christ as much as it should be. It seems to be more of a man made religion these days and money play a big role in it too.
Sorry it took a few days to respond to this one, and thanks for your kind words.
If I smack my child for doing something dangerous (or put her in her room or whatever other punishment), am I evil or malevolent? I'm ultimately protecting the child... so yeah, as the Bible says 'who the Lord loves he rebukes and chastens'. It's a bit of a copout to ascribe anything bad - or, as my wise friend Zaak said, uncomfortable - to the devil and only the stuff we like to God.
I think it's also kind of unfair if we're expected to give God all the glory for anything good that happens (and by extension, not take any of the credit ourselves), but then take the blame ourselves for anything bad that happens (because we 'stepped out of God's path for us' or whatever) and by extension save him from the blame. It seems fairer to share both...
So in the particular instance that got me thinking about this, Sue had a horrible time finding a job in Canada, and get kinda frsutrated with God about it - 'what are you trying to tell me?' When we moved back to Oz she got a good job immediately... so it seemed like maybe that was what he was trying to tell us.
I dunno: I tend to think he doesn't play those games, and what he does is more about helping us cope spiritually with whatever the world throws at us. Sue, on the other hand, takes it much more personally!
Interesting topic, for sure, and one I know I still have a lot of thinking about to do...
I enjoyed reading this. I have lots of thoughts on the subject, but there is no way to clearly state them in a comment section :) But I liked the post, and just thought I'd say so :)
I think the same thing whenever I hear about a school bus full of children heading to some Christian Bible camp that falls off the side of a mountain road, killing every innocent child inside.
It can't really be explained in terms of a plan set out by God can it?
I think it's just life.
Some really good things will happen, some really bad things will happen, and we just have to do what we can with the situation we find ourselves in.
Helping others doesn't hurt either.
In fact, for $1 a day, you can save a ...
dollar. And think of all the compound interest you could get if you just saved a dollar a day!
Do I hear $2?
No you heard $1.
Loonie?
Perhaps Mr. Anonymous is American and is not familiar with the Loonie.
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