It's only natural to ask how any loving god could let this happen. I find it appalling that atheists have rushed forward to scream "where's your God now?" and I find it equally appalling that theists have rushed forward to say "not allowed in schools, that's where!" If anything should unite believers and unbelievers it is the tragic loss of so much young, innocent life.
Shame on you, atheists who have used such a painful tragedy to make anyone question their faith, the very means they draw comfort and hope from. Shame on you, Christians for your poor response. This is not the answer:
How dare you marginalize God this way? God is the supreme being, creator of heaven and earth, omnipresent and omnipotent. How dare you suggest that God is bound by politics. Do you think God was allowed into Egypt when he freed the Jews from slavery? Do you think the Roman's wanted God to violate the laws of nature when he raised his son from the dead? God is not bound by laws or politics. There is nowhere God cannot go. There are no laws, no walls, no boundaries mere mortals could construct to keep him out.
"Where could I go to escape your spirit? Where could I flee from your presence? If I climb the heavens, you are there, there too if I lie in Sheol. If I flew to the point of sunrise, or westward across the sea your hand would still be guiding me, your right hand holding me." Psalms 139:7-10
'"Am I only a God nearby,' declares the Lord, 'and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?' declares the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 23:23-23
"Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20
We live in one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. You don't have to agree with anyone else's religion, but you have to respect their right to have it. Government employees are not Sunday school teachers. If you want your children to know God, teach them. If anyone seeks God and has a relationship with him, that does not stop at the doors of any building.
To suggest otherwise makes your god a very small god indeed.
Love this! Thank you for showing me that I'm not the crazy one!
ReplyDelete"I find it appalling that atheists have rushed forward to scream "where's your God now?" ... Shame on you, atheists who have used such a painful tragedy to make anyone question their faith, the very means they draw comfort and hope from"
ReplyDeleteWho on earth is doing that? None of the atheists on any of the blogs I read have been clapping their hands in glee at the prospect of people doubting their faith in the wake of this tragedy. We've been calling out right-wing Christians who have been saying insensitive, hurtful things.
No one is clapping their hands in glee, but both sides have resorted to childish reactions.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my friends on Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere are saying things like "why pray for the victims now when God was no where to stop the slaughter before it happened?" or "This just proves there is no God ... "
I could not disagree more. The barrage of negativity has been coming in the form of public statements released by people like Mohler, Huckabee, Piper, Fischer, Hovind, Rennard, and others.
ReplyDeleteI think you're creating a false equivalency by saying that atheists as a whole have been trying to score points in the wake of this tragedy. I have not seen anything remotely like that. No atheist organization or prominent atheist has released a public statement in order to take potshots at religion. The American Humanist Association's statement did not try to destroy anyone's faith.
I'm not on Facebook or Twitter, but I'd unfriend or unsubscribe from anyone who looked at this as an opportunity to make negative jabs at religion. Plus, statements like "this just proves there is no God" are immature, not mention odd, things for an actual atheist to say. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of rude, immature people online, but I have not seen any of the behavior you describe on Friendly Atheist, which is where I normally hang out, or among my real-life atheist friends and relatives.