God's "Mysterious" Ways

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I believe in a God, I do. But I was just reading about a plane crash, and thought "you know, where was God here?"

Not just any plane crash either. Oooooh, no. This was a plane evacuating ORPHANS! Orphan Flight! Baby Plane!

That's right, "God" brought down a plane of orphans being evacuated from a warzone, killing 138 of the little toddlers. As an encore, maybe He'll set fire to a warehouse of puppies, kittens and baby seals.

Sooooo... I dunno. Maybe he just has a really weird sense of humour.


True questions get true answers. Questions disguised as questions, which are really nothing more than opportunities to say this is why I'm right, and you're wrong, are actually thus perceived, and no real answers are forthcoming, only....circular debate about a same old tired issue.

a If you didn’t believe in God, I would say that the premise of this comment is argumentative and disingenuous.
b If you believe in a Supreme Being (God), but are unsure of where s/he fits in the overall scheme of things and are skeptical of all things religion, I would say that the premise of this comment may be argumentative or may be genuine. Argumentative, because if you are the one that says you believe in the random existence of a Supreme Being and reject all typical explanations offered, then simply come to your own conclusion about it - why is anyone beholden to explain it to you? Genuine, because if you do believe in a Supreme Being and do not reject all typical explanations offered, or are at least open to hearing more, you may genuinely want to hear the explanations offered.
c If you completely believe in God, and accept your (any major) religion's explanation of her/him, I would say this comment is wholly sincere in an attempt to understand something you do not understand.

I continue to be taken aback at the assumption that anyone who believes in God is required to justify to an atheist what we call by law "Acts of God," which are to the naked eye "acts of nature" really. I have yet to meet a Christian (any of the sects or non-sects), or a Muslim, or a Catholic, or a Jew who is astonished, worried or surprised in any "why would God let this happen" way by these tragedies. The people who are (or pretend to be?) surprised/overwhelmed are either atheists, or people who believe in some random God and are so far from comprehension of their random God that they are unable to reconcile his/her perceived acts with their understanding. But they do believe in him/her though, and they expect us to explain their God to them. Or else they don’t believe in God at all and are faking surprise and asking the question to be argumentative.

Here’s the thing. It is really not worth arguing about unless you are truly willing to listen to the answer, and conversely, those being asked are truly able to hear the question. most people have some sort of answer from somewhere, even if from their own Sunday school from back in the day, whether they agree with the answer or not.

If you are truly looking for a new answer, that's one thing, but if what you really want to say is “Hey! Here is why I DONT believe in God! And I'd like to debate the issue with you!” you have the right to say that. Just say it.

Other than that, you already know you are not required to believe in God, and you will no doubt go right on living your life as it is if you don’t. I truly believe that everyone at some point in their life has a God-Experience (religious designation irrelevant), and until you have that experience, arguing about it or attempting to dissect the finer points of things you don’t understand is really a waste of time. Because without your own God-Experience the words and rhetoric, no matter how heartfelt and meaningful, mean nothing. The sad tragedy is that there are a vast majority of people walking around the entire world who claim Christianity or Muslim or Jew or any other major religion who lack a God-Experience, and are no different really than say....you, or any other atheist, save in rhetoric and words. Nothing about them has been changed or is different from you in any way other than a religious affiliation.

So, it is true. Religious people can be false, or have a dead or vain religion, and how can you know what to trust? What to believe in? Who can really blame you? I blame no one this distrust, because I honestly believe that people have more of a reason NOT to believe than to believe.


I could go on, but I'm not sure there is really any point in it. I only say that if you do not believe in God, then you should need no explanation for tragedy. If you do believe in God, and you lack the explanation, it is your responsibility to seek out the answer, if only for the peace of your mind.

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