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Why would God allow this?
Many times after a particularly tragic event, such as the latest school shooting, our reasoning is put to the test. We hear the question asked, “Why would God allow such a tragedy to take place?”
The brains of most people cannot even comprehend taking the lives of innocent children so why does God allow these things? My experience with the people asking me this question is that they don’t really want to know the answer. They usually walk away before I finish. I believe their intent is to slander or minimize God rather than hear the truth.
The simple answer is God allows all of us the freedom of choice. He didn’t create a world of robots to serve and worship Him. He created us with a freedom to choose Him or reject Him. He doesn’t suffer from a self image problem.
A movement started in our nation approximately fifty years ago to remove God from our government. This movement fell into the drug culture first. No one wanted to be told what to do. Everyone involved wanted “free love” and other pleasures with no constraints. No one remembered the words of John Adams, our second president, who stated, “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”.
Notice the focus is not just religious but also morality. Who should decide the moral standards for our society? The framers of our Constitution thought it should be God. As God is removed from our government, and our government loses its ability to protect its people, who will decide what type of government we should have in the future?
Unfortunately, the only government that will work for a Godless people is a dictatorship. When we remove God, we remove good. Once goodness is gone, the only way to keep law and order is with an iron fist. The dictator will decide what sort of government we will have and what we will have to give up. The chances of pursuing “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” will be minimal.
So, how can we prevent tragedies like the school shooting? It can be done by ruling man with an iron fist, or the kindler gentler way, by changing the heart of man. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
What did Jesus recommend? In John 3:3 He tells a Jewish ruler, ”Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then in Verse 16, He teaches this ruler what life is really all about: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And in Verse 17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
This is not about getting a flashlight app for your iPhone, but deciding to be led by the light of the world. If you want a world of peace, why not go to the Prince of Peace?
Noel Reese is the pastor at Calvary Chapel Rio Vista. He can be reached at nitronoel@att.net.
Discussion | 24 comments
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G-ManFebruary 24, 2013 - 2:57 am
A lot more people are going to die waiting for that change of heart..you better go with that iron fist..and That ain't gun control cause that's just the lazy way out..enforcethe laws you have..punishpeople who kill swiftly and mercilessly..then you may see some change..maybe..and also don't give me that free will crap and God..If God is all knowing..he knows what you're gonna do and when you're gonna do it...how's that free will?..I also heard he knows when you are sleeping he knows when you're awake he knows when you've been bad or good..so be good for...goodness sake.
Reply |JoshFebruary 24, 2013 - 10:02 am
First, neither of us know if God exists, but I believe and you do not. Second, though some Christians do not agree on the nature of the freedom, there is free will. Since your argument makes no logical distinction of the time period of such knowledge of behavior, if I knew what you were going to do yesterday, and also knew what you did yesterday, how would that at all detract from your freedom of will? Third, you are only harming yourself with your hostility, because if you do not believe in God, this life is your only reward, so why fill it with hostility towards God's followers? The only entity I know of that is so hostile is Satan, so why align yourself with him? God loves you, but He does want you to repent of this and live a loving life.
Reply |Danny BuntinFebruary 24, 2013 - 10:10 am
@Josh: " God loves you", but if you do not believe what other earthly people have written - you will burn for eternity. Reads like love to me ;)
Reply |G-ManFebruary 24, 2013 - 2:23 pm
If you're talking to me..shut up..I believe in God..what do you think the "G" stands for..I'm just a bit more pragmatic about it..a sinner..likeAdam...
Reply |SnoopyFebruary 24, 2013 - 2:36 pm
@ G-Sinner...Thou shalt be stew'd'in brine, smarting in lingering pickle.
Reply |Rocky GracianoFebruary 24, 2013 - 9:49 pm
Why do you believe, or more accurately, why would you want an evil & immoral god, like how the Bible describes, to exist?
Reply |RobbieFebruary 24, 2013 - 7:06 am
Pastor Reese puts it very well. Amen.
Reply |RobbieFebruary 24, 2013 - 7:08 am
Amen to Pastor Reese!
Reply |The MisterFebruary 24, 2013 - 7:41 am
Thank you, Pastor Reese.
Reply |CD BrooksFebruary 24, 2013 - 8:19 am
Pastor Reese, you said: “The brains of most people cannot even comprehend taking the lives of innocent children so why does God allow these things? My experience with the people asking me this question is that they don’t really want to know the answer. They usually walk away before I finish. I believe their intent is to slander or minimize God rather than hear the truth.” The truth? Ma’am, I would suggest the truth is people asking that question aren’t really looking for an answer, they're trying to understand how the ever-so-absent god let the world down...again. Then you lay all the fictional blah, blah, blah on them and miss the entire point of their attempts at reasoning and reconciliation. So naturally, they walk away. You folks have been trying to sell this stuff forever and it has sadly, taken a horrific toll throughout history. If people like to use their faith as a comforting source that would be nice, but to run their everyday lives, to make law and fall prey to those of your ilk? You provide them a metaphorical crutch and placebos to assuage their concerns but no solid factual information. And the atrocities continue with no remedy other than “god works in mysterious ways!” That is BS pastor. If god was a mega corporation he'd have been sued so many times and lost so many trillions it would be unbelievable. The truth is we need to manage our lives in the best way possible without negatively affecting others. You don’t need a mythological entity to achieve that.
Reply |JoshFebruary 24, 2013 - 10:22 am
You clearly believe what you believe, but keep in mind nothing you said refuted this pastor. You can be angry and attack all of this because you do not understand, but that does not make anything you disbelieve false. You mentioned that God would be sued if He was a corporation? I feel that God should be killed for all of it. Yes, we have free will, but hidden in you is the truth that God is the only one powerful to do anything about it. God decided that someone needed to die, and He chose Himself, in the form of a man. He destroyed the flesh of this man, but rose him again. So, you might sue, but God feels that the wages of sin is death. Lastly, the truth is mankind is horribly violent with or without religion. Christ is the most powerful force in history for love and peace. All Dawkins followers and others are simply wrong. Jesus did not say to kill or sin, or even think of sinning, and he did not model a life of sin. He modeled a life of goodness and love. If all the people debating here were in a room, I would follow Jesus example as much as I could, which means I would not be hostile, insulting or hold a gun to your head, on the contrary I would model love and goodness and treat you like a real person. I would do this to attract your free will to what you would hopefully recognize as good. I could not be just like Jesus, but as good as I would be like Jesus in that scenario, choosing with my free will, I would be choosing to be like God. You could be free to attack me in any way you wanted, or anyone else, because you have that God given ability. God loves you.
Reply |CD BrooksFebruary 24, 2013 - 10:49 am
Josh, I think you are well read and a true believer. No problem there. But let's be clear, I'm not angry at all. But I will expect you to practice all that you believe to be good true and honest while going through everyday activities. Keep the hypocrisy to a minimum and I'll even support you! Have a great day.
Reply |G-ManFebruary 24, 2013 - 2:18 pm
Actually God has been sued CD..via his representatives on Earth..The one holy apostalic alter boy loving church..Tab is in the billions friend..evenGod doesn't have Trillions...that tell you anything?
Reply |Danny BuntinFebruary 24, 2013 - 8:23 am
More like the truth, as this man sees it. The old "Freedom of choice" smoke and screen argument. More words and false promises from a man who butters his bread with this rhetoric. You can fabricate more loopholes from the bible, then GE can from the bible from the IRS. As Carlin says, "He is all powerful, but he needs money!".
Reply |pornacFebruary 24, 2013 - 9:55 am
The kind of reasoning that the pastor promotes is one of reasons I'm an atheist.
Reply |JoshFebruary 24, 2013 - 10:06 am
The truth is, if the pastor promoted the iron fist, as other religious leaders of the past have, and other religious and atheistic leaders currently do, you might not be alive to be an atheist or religious person. Free will is nothing to be upset about, especially someone who chooses to be atheist because of a pastor mentioning it.
Reply |pornacFebruary 24, 2013 - 12:50 pm
Who said I was upset? You are the one trying hard to defend a cult.
Reply |Danny BuntinFebruary 24, 2013 - 1:01 pm
@Pornac: Standard operating procedure for the faith based argument. Your angry/mad, you worship atheism instead of their God. Same old same old.
Reply |CD BrooksFebruary 24, 2013 - 2:50 pm
I have always taken the position that you should worship as you like so long as it doesn't negatively affect or hurt anyone. Sadly, throughout history, god and religion have proven that to be a difficult path. The number of heinous crimes committed in the name of a god and literally, under what some consider “his roof” are well documented and no less tragic. Look at their treatment of American citizens and women because they are “different”. Clearly, death is an ultimate threat to any and all non-believers. The garbage these folks preach and get away with is absolutely obscene I happen to express and believe in an idea that does not sit well with many. If you choose to believe, that is great I just don’t share your enthusiasm, and if you had an experience that helps and comforts you, wonderful. But don’t throw your faith up to me as if I’m somehow wrong or the hypocrite here. For those of you chastising me and excoriating my words, remember them well as you travel through your daily routine. Keep in mind I am calling you out for your praying on one side and crapping all over society in however manner you choose because you believe there is a god behind you on the other. Your arrogance is pathetic and your willingness to cash in on a ruse is mind numbing. I like to cite the hypocrisy in your infinite challenges to anyone not believing as you do. In other words, if you’re gonna live it, live it. But then practice it before you decide I’m the one “not worthy.”Carry these thoughts while you drive, go to church, to the grocery store or the mall and think about it. Think about how you cuss, flip off other drivers and cut them off for varying reasons, and break every traffic law along the way. Think when you blast through the parking lot after church and giving others a bad time. It is windy, try not letting your car door hit another….then ignore it. Think about the risks you take putting yourself and others in harm’s way. Think DUI. I know good manners and common decency don’t mean the same as they used to, and surely for many of you because you certainly do not practice them. I wouldn’t mind so much you trashing everyone because of faith, but c’mon, how difficult is it to say please and thank you or hold a door for someone? Where did that whole “Golden Rule” thing go? Then remember all the stuff you do and the influence it has on your kids and those around you. Most of you will break laws others will lie some will cheat and steal. You can deny all of this and you will make excuses, but one thing I will guarantee without a single doubt: Your god will continue to give you and everyone else the same amount of attention he always has and you will continue getting the same results. And of course, you always have that to fall back on with fingers crossed and rosaries at the ready. So go forth ye fellow citizens, sin some more. Pray you manage your offenses out of view from law enforcement, lest your next encounter becomes more than just a blessing.
Reply |G-ManFebruary 24, 2013 - 3:00 pm
Yeh...the Crusades weren't exactly a trip to the Carnival were they?
Reply |StRFebruary 24, 2013 - 3:10 pm
@CD I am polite! Would you like to be insulted in a Shakespearn manner? Or has this form of jest lost it's salt?
Reply |You're a Heathen!February 24, 2013 - 7:47 pm
Thank you for sharing that!
Reply |Rocky GracianoFebruary 24, 2013 - 9:31 pm
Why would god allow this? Why would an all loving, all knowing, all loving god just watch over from above while innocent people, namely children, get shot to death or raped & killed & do absolutely nothing? This would imply that such a god enjoys it; like a sadomasochist viewing child porn. If I had the power & ability of a god, I definitely would not allow such to occur. So it's either that, or this god does not exist. Personally, I wouldn't even wish for a god, as evil as the Bible describes it, to exist. No thank you.
Reply |rlw895February 25, 2013 - 10:15 pm
I’m afraid I will need the deeper answer rather than the “simple answer” if God is all-loving and all-powerful. But setting that aside Pastor Reese’s linkage of God to American government and politics needs to be addressed. It seems we are to believe that bad things happen, such as the Newtown school shooting, because back in the 1960s, a movement started in the U.S. to remove God from government, and we are paying the price today for that poor choice. Must we keep fighting the culture wars of the 1960s? I guess the losers never surrendered, so we will. John Adams was perhaps the most scholarly and well-read of the Founders. He wasn’t at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but his influence was felt; he essentially wrote the Massachusetts state constitution that was the model for several other states. He was a devoutly religious man, so it’s not surprising he saw things in religious terms. But his quote refers to the Enlightenment idea of the day that a Republic, such as our Constitution created, required a Nation of Virtue. The idea originated with Montesquieu, who Adams no doubt read. In a Nation of Virtue, the people are not ruled, they rule themselves. In a Republic, that means they hold their representatives to be virtuous (not so much “moral” as we think of it today, but the best people they can be). Maybe the Framers thought God should “decide the moral standards for society,” but they emphatically did not put that in the Constitution. They made the Constitution a decidedly secular document. Pastor Reese makes the common mistake of linking the religious references in the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution. The linkage was broken by 11 important years and a different purpose. Instead of breaking from a king who claimed to rule by Divine Right, they were forming a new national government that had to respect the diversity of its people and states. In addition to Montesquieu, they read Adam Smith, who wisely noted that people naturally know morality. In forming a society, they desire institutions that will hold each other to the same moral standards. So morality preceded religion and government, not the other way around. And good government does not need religion to exist.
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