Maybe this answers some things?

[Wolfeye]

I was reading the thread about why God allows bad things to happen & had a possible answer for it. If there was an Ambient Santa Clause Principle (where only deserved things happen), it would backfire. If this was the case, sure, someone would win a fight if they were right (actually, they could never do anything undeserved to deserve it), but that's not all.

They couldn't do anything undeserved which sounds good, but they couldn't do any of the things that deservedness would provide instead of them. They couldn't deserve to starve, dehydrate, or even deoxygenate- so they would be more like a mummy in its case getting propelled through time or someone that got shot with a curare dart in a movie. That paralytic effect would also be undeserved.

So it seems like, if there was anything designed on that level, it was "This started as a good idea, but it would destroy their lives. Just have to leave it & hope they act proportionately to each other."

[MarcosZeitola]

A more logical explanation would just be that there is no God, and appealing and soothing as the idea of a God and eternal life may be... it's just that, an idea.

[Zambales]

People mistake one god for all as their own "guardian angel". That's how I see it. A certain faith for example believes that an individuals time on earth is a test but when young children die from horrible diseases, how can that be deemed as a test? It doesn't make sense. Religion as a whole is just one big exaggerated maze and by entering it, people run the risk of getting lost.

[Neo]

God's ways are higher than man's ways, and He doesn't always tell us why certain things happen.

King David, Job, and Joseph all suffered, but then later they were glorified and magnified. Even good and innocent people suffer.

However, Job's ten children, Urijah and Abel all died early. What about them? We do know that God is able to pay them back for their sacrifices in the next world.

This world isn't the final destination. There is much more glory to come. (How about a world with abundant food, rejoicing, no sorrow, no toiling, no nighttime or darkness?) And this life is considered to be only a moment and a vapor compared to eternity. This world is is going to burn up at the end, with nothing left, and God will make a new one.

Personally I don't worry about the existence of evil in the world. My concentration is on not personally doing any evil in this world so it is not held to my account.

Concerning myself about the whole world of evil doesn't provide me with anything good or productive. It's one of those metaphysical questions that is really too high to be answered with sufficiency. The short answer though, is that people choose to do evil, and that harms themselves, their children and other people in the world. There will probably not be a better answer than this given.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

God's ways are higher than man's ways, and He doesn't always tell us why certain things happen.

This rationalization is worse than "A female works in mysterious ways," so that all of their abuse and mistreatment of men can somehow be justified.

You really need to visit and anti-cult counselor Neo.....

[Wolfeye]

Seriously, though- do any of you think it's possible that there IS something of that nature out there, but it's not the author of all activity?

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Seriously, though- do any of you think it's possible that there IS something of that nature out there, but it's not the author of all activity.

The only way to answer this is to give opinion without any evidence. In truth, there is no way to know for sure. Perhaps after death it can be known.

[Wolfeye]

I don't know that there's no evidence. Both bad & good shit happens. People always ask "Why does God allow this to happen?" Maybe the problem is the assumption that God authors all action on Earth.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

I don't know that there's no evidence.

Well would you care to describe this evidence for knowing God "allows" things to happen or not happen? I tend to think our existence is mostly a result of a combination of peoples' personal will, along with action and consequence.

Some traditions believe that everything that befalls a person was prescripted before a person was even born so that universal lessons can be learned. That goes beyond the traditional Western thinking of God permitting things to happen or not happen.

But again, there is no evidence in this lifetime so we can never know.

[Wolfeye]

That both good & bad shit happens. I think this proves there's no Ambient Santa Clause Principle. I think maybe it went down like I mentioned before, although THAT would be hard to know.