Intelligent Discussion time

[fury]

the balance in nature is far from being destroyed

natural disasters are a form of vegetation control... if there were no form of vegetation control, each and every inch of the land mass would have thousands and thousands of plants on it with no place for animal life to flourish

 

[krusty]

So ... an earthquake is vegetation control....lol

 

[fury]

absolutely... it topples buildings which fill the area with dust and kill plants and stuff

(sorry, bad taste, I know in light of the recent WTC collapse that will probably rattle a few of you...)

 

[krusty]

oh yeah... all the buildings in the rain forest have already fallen down after the earthquakes.

Actually disasters like floods, landslides, drought can all be attributed to our destruction of the environment, you can see it reported everyday on television.

 

[fury]

Originally posted by krusty
oh yeah... all the buildings in the rain forest have already fallen down after the earthquakes.

Actually disasters like floods, landslides, drought can all be attributed to our destruction of the environment, you can see it reported everyday on television.

Floods: Caused by excessive rain, or moon's gravity raising the tide. Landslides: Excessive rain. Drought: Lack of rain

How are any of these things caused by our destruction of the environment?

 

[krusty]

yeah, floods that dont affect humans arent a problem, but when you destroy vegetation that would normally absorb rain so the water has to run off... or in the case of a landslide vegetation which holds the layer of topsoil in place etc... you gonna get b'tch slapped by mother nature.

 

[fury]

what do you mean, floods affect humans because the vegetation is not there to absorb it?

Well, we gotta get our food from somewhere...

 

[Gonzo]

Every year, the rich idiots that live in Malibu, CA get thier houses knocked down by mudslides because CA gets all thier rain(SoCal) in Jan-Mar. And these people build homes on cliffs that are made of mud & little, if any, vegetation growth since the hill slid last year too. The root systems hold together the soil substrucure & provide runoff relief.

 

[wine4all]

Originally posted by BigDadday

If God is so great and loving and forgiving then why has he let all of the people on earth down? We have homeless,sickness,wars,crimes etc

I think we all should be living happily and the garden of eden was a come on as well.

Didn't you watch The Matrix? We rejected that program!

But seriously, I do believe there are things about Gods plan we will not fully understand until we stand before Him in Heaven. Why for example, did he create the world at all?

To address your question I would say that many things happen in this world as a result of sin in the heart of man but even these somehow play a role in Gods plan. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.." Romans 8:18 Some things happen to help us grow spiritually. God is in control of all things great and small but we may not understand from our limited perspective how some things are part of His plan. Christs own words tell us: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Two anectdotes:

An old woman lived alone and was poor but managed to make ends meet month to month. She was also very devoted to God and would be seen and heard praying on her front porch by her next door neighbor who was an athiest. They would often engage in heated debate over the existence of God.
One day the neighbor overheard the old lady praying to God to help provide groceries because she was out of money and could not buy any. Thinking this was his chance to prove to her that there is no God, he bought a sack of food and placed it on the porch so she would find it in the morning. He waited behind a bush to see the woman open the door, find the sack and begin praising and thanking God for answering her prayer. The athiest jumped out from behind the bush and exclaimed "Ha! There is no god, I bought you those groceries" To which the old woman raised her hands to Heaven and said "Thank you God for providing this food and making Satan pay the bill."


A man was shipwrecked on an island for some time and fabricated a crude shelter from the wreckage. He was a religous man and prayed daily to God thanking him for providing for his needs and asking that He would allow someone to rescue him. One day while gathering food in the center of the island he spotted smoke rising from the direction of his camp. He ran as quickly as he could to see what it was only to find his shelter burned to the ground by the campfire. He was greatly disheartened and turned his anger to God asking why he could be so cruel as to take away his meager shelter. The man slept cold on the ground that night only to be awakened in the morning by sailors who had come to rescue him. Elated but stunned to see he was rescued he asked how they had found him. They told him they had seen smoke rising from the island the prior evening.

 

[Gonzo]

Riddle me this batman.
Why would a "just & loving god" make it's followers blindly follow what cannot be proven or even justified? I mean, when asked "his"name-"I AM" was the answer. Nice.
The deity that flooded the earth for 40 days & 40 nights-killing everything in it's wake, later apologized for that act. Can't an all-powerful god see the future & know that A)it's gonna happen, B)know he'll dis-like that after it's done and C)stop it from happening the first time?
OK, he sent his only son(I thought we were all childen of god) to be crucified in the name of our sins-nice martyr story-but whats the point? Again, back to the all-knowing, all-seeing thing-IF this deity knows, in advance, what will happen, why send a messenger to change the story mid-stream(as happened-there are several contradictions between old & new testament). Seems pointless.

And my favorite question about Christian/Judeo religion-if God made Adam & Eve the first people, then they had 2 sons-where did the others come from? Didn't there have to be females to follow the actual first commandment-"Go forth & multiply"?

 

[75renegade]

QUICK ROBIN, TO THE BIBLE MOBILE!

Gonzo, ya've some good, legidimate questions! Questions which are worth persuin' answers to.
Seems sometimes, folk really want answers even if it's not what they wanna here, they're willin' to actually risk bein' wrong, maybe even consider changin' their once comfortable position.
Other times we jus' wanna question fer the sake of the question itself.
Kinda like when someone feels a lump in some part of their body where it shouldn't be. Myself fer example, first thing I'd think is the worst, "oh no, could be cancer". At that point, I 'ave to make a choice....go on as though it's presence is no threat, (since at that point I'm still feelin' fine), or go to any extreme necessary in persuit of the medical truth.
When I read the questions an' contradictions ya posted, first thought was to break out the Bible an' try to offer support fer the way I believe. Then I thought, "naw, maybe 'is mind is already made up anyway". I know when my mind's made up, gettin' me to change it can be as tough as tryin' to "pull" a mule across a field.
Either way bro, nobody tried crammin' their beliefs down my throat.
If they woulda, I'da jus' left their ass in the dust an' only felt more justified in my unbelief.
Way I see it, I didn't find God.
He found me.

 

[wine4all]

OK Gonz... sorry about the delay but I have been busy and needed to do a little research so as not to mislead you with my answers. Bear with me I will be posting this in pieces.

1) Why would God want us to blindly follow that which cannot be proven? I don't have any biblical reference for this one, only my opinion. That which can be proven is knowledge rather than belief. Knowledge requires nothing more of the one who receives it than recognition of fact. Belief requires faith and ongoing commitment of the believer and this is exactly what God desires from us. Those who require proof are those who reject belief, in part, because it requires more of us to believe than to know. It is the easy way out.

2) God referred to Himself as "I Am" in Exodus 3:1-22 specifically verse 14 when speaking to Moses about a task he was to perform, "This is what you are to say to the Israelites:'I Am' has sent you." The Hebrew name for "The Lord" is Yaweh and means "He is" or "He will be", which is the third person form of the word translated in verse 14 as "I Am". When Christ referred to Himself in this same way in front of the Jewish leaders (John 8:56-59) he risked death by stoning for blasphemy because they CLEARLY understood the meaning of "I Am" as his declaration of diety.

3) God did not apologize for destroying the world with the Great Flood. Genesis 6:5-8 clearly indicates that God had become disgusted with man's wickedness and evil and therefore decided to wipe the slate clean (except for Noah and his family) and start over. Did God know this would happen? I believe so. So why didn't he prevent it from happening? Because God allows us to chose our own destiny. He has given us free-will. The rainbow was his promise to Noah and his family that He would never destroy the entire world by flood again. My personal feeling is that He did not want them to live in fear of His wrath and yet still remind them of his awesome power.

4) Re: sending a messenger (Jesus) to change the story mid-stream... seems pointless. Actually, sending Jesus to walk on this earth and die on the cross WAS THE PLAN and did not change the story. Christ says in Matthew 5:17-19 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. The "point" is in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

5) Re: where did the others come from? I could not find any verse which explains this. Several verses in Genesis, however, do imply that other people either existed at the same time or would exist very shortly thereafter. Sorry I don't have this answer but it really is a minor point in terms of the real thrust of Christianity.


I would ask that anyone with other questions, please post them. It helps me to sharpen my own knowledge of the Bible as I research biblical support for my answers. I am blessed by your questions, I hope and pray that you are equally blessed by the answers I attempt to find in God's Word.