"Why does God hate us?"

That's the question my ten year old just asked. I was stunned.

He walked into the room to say good night and caught some footage and personal accounts of typhoon Haiyan being played on the news. He was overcome by emotion and just really very upset for the people of the Philippines. I was caught off guard by the passionate anger and despair in his voice.

For the first time ever, I just didn't have a meaningful response...I couldn't frame it for him or put it in perspective....I gave him some thoughts on being grateful and counting our blessings, which clearly fell short of explaning the magnitude of what he was seeing and doing nothing to answer his heartfelt philosophical/spiritual question.

We're Catholic and he attends Catholic school, which is why I was so shocked by his quick reaction to blame God. To the best of my knowledge there are no other issues in his life and he has never expressed any serious questions or doubts about God....any thoughts on how to best answer his question?

Christ suffered, as you shall suffer.

This is but a test.

reply to post by kosmicjack

...any thoughts on how to best answer his question?

How about......

"Why do you think God hates us?"

"Why do you think storms happen because God is angry?"

"Storms happen when hot or warm air meets cold air, not because God is angry."

"God deals with people individually, through their hearts, not whole parts of the world through natural disasters."

Hope that helps!

reply to post by kosmicjack


kosmic,

Technology is used by evil people. The typhoon in the Philippines was weaponized weather by microwave
pulse. It wasn't God that did this...

reply to post by kosmicjack


Kinda sad really, while I grew up in a Christian household I made the decision that organized religion wasn't for me.

That said I can honestly say I don't recall ever blaming god for any of my or anyone's misfortunes.

Oh my. What a predicament. Let's see, wow. I guess I don't have an answer for that.

I suppose if religion is strong in your family, I guess it must be explained that those who lost there lives were "called home" for a reason.

The concept of god is difficult philosophy for us to grasp sometimes, and "Why does god hate us" and "Where is God?" are questions that impale the mind for those who are not enduring the tragedies that befall humanity.

We can calm ourselves with the idea that everything happens for a reason, however, that reason is not realized until will after the tragedy.

You know, I can keep typing here forever on the concept of religion and its place among societies, but I just don't have a direct answer for that question other than to say that from chaos comes order.

I wish you the best of luck on this conversation with your child, and am so curious as to what you might say and what your child might accept as a feasible answer.

I see people all the time in the Philippines say that they are unfortunate because there's not enough people praying to god and that's why there are these storms that kill 10,000 people at a time. God seem to get the blame because the majority of the citizens there don't understand science and never will because they have never attended school.

They don't understand that the universe has laws that works on its own, and that earth has a climate and that it works dependent on the conditions that it's in. If god was really angry, the US and Canada would be dead by now through unreasonable storms that would kill by the masses. But instead it seems that hurricanes only hit the south-east where there are the most concentrated amount of religious fanatics (see: bible-belt USA). The Philippines is about 95% christian, most of whom are Catholics. It's a very strange coincidence that the places that suffer the most are the places with religion, but as far as weather goes, I blame it strictly on mother nature because she's a cruel mistress.

Let's say that God is real and all mighty, it doesn't change how the universe works, he already put the rules in place just like a programmer puts the rules for a game. Now we have to deal with those rules and if there's a bug we'll hope that a GM (god) goes around and fixes it for us. But I don't think that typhoons are a bug, they are just simply nature taking its course. I don't think god is as evil as we make him seem to be, or at least the bible makes him seem to be. We're mere humans, and we let our imaginations get the best of us like when something happens in pitch darkness. It's scary at the time but afterwards we come to our senses and realize what it really was.

edit: I'd like to add a few other notes
When I was little, I was smart. That's why teachers hated me and I would outwit them even when I was 10 like your child. I attended Catholic schools and the logic presented made zero sense for some of it and then I questioned it as it was being taught. The principal would often call my mom to school saying that I got in trouble for making a fool out of the teacher because of the loopholes I would tell the class on the spot and the teacher had no way to refute. They would say things like "this is not the right school for him" etc etc...

But honestly that's the reality of things. You have children that are smart and start questioning the logic of what is taught to the children because a lot of it does not make sense. "Just because" is not an acceptable answer for our kind. In the Philippines, they blame god for everything and then blame themselves. They are also very much into Satan invading people's lives and some guy that got his wang eaten by his horse claimed two months ago, that the horse was possessed rather than admitting that he was trying to have sex with it. The public, news and the police bought the story.

When you look at the news comments, Filipinos will say stuff that blame god or that the lack of faith was the reason this happened etc... The reason why so many people died is because the provinces are very poor and that province in particular was extremely poor that they couldn't afford anything more than just huts. Richer provinces have homes built out of metal and concrete, usually they build in upper grounds while the slums are down the hill. Of course, there are ordinary houses but you'll find that in areas like in Cebu, Bagio, and Metro-Manila. They tend not to get affected by typhoons as much as the provinces but my point is, if you decide to build homes in areas that are easily affected by typhoons, the mother of all typhoons is bound to happen and if you live in a wooden hut it's going to just about guarantee your death and praying will not save you. Have you ever seen a house saved by mere prayer? It has never happened because the rules are in place and we have to understand that we can't beg god for mercy, mercy is never shown. We have to prepare ourselves and overcome the hardships at hand. In a sense, that's the real test of tribunal in my opinion. But don't go trying to tell that to just any filipino, they will get the village to hunt you down with pitchforks. I keep my opinions a secret over there lol

reply to post by kosmicjack

Just my thoughts, but I would tell him what you believe to be true, and make sure he doesn't feel like he did something wrong by asking his question.

Watch this youtube about the typhoon and microwave pulse.

www.youtube.com...

Heaven sees everything, two recent messages excerpts....read the underlined:




Locutions to the World

1. A Worldwide Conversion

Mary:

October 28, 2013

....I must return again to the problems that plague the world and even endanger its very existence. There can be no progress into the light until mankind deliberately seeks the help of heaven. All other solutions are no solutions at all. Because new inventions can be used by good and bad alike, what mankind calls progress, leads really to destruction. Evil people take advantage of all that is new.

www.locutions.org...

+ + +

message to Eileen Renders

November 10, 2013


...After receiving the Sacred Host, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of Holy Communion, I knelt in quiet communion with Jesus With both hands emotion and tears may spill over, I gave thanks to Jesus for His many graces and blessings. Then I prayed, "Speak Lord (always and only if it be His will), Your servant listens."

Jesus responded with these words for us; "My child Eileen, I want all My children to know that when My little children are injured in such a tragedy, it is not God?s will."

Note: That being said, I felt Jesus' words to mean that it is nature that causes such devastation (such as what just happened in the Philippines )not God. While God has given each and everyone of us a free will, He also has allowed nature to evolve. Just like mankind who does not always use their will to do good, nature as well is subject to the environment. There once again, it is we who also have some influence over our environment.

Yahoo Groups - Seers 2 #42032

kosmicjack
That's the question my ten year old just asked. I was stunned.

He walked into the room to say good night and caught some footage and personal accounts of typhoon Haiyan being played on the news. He was overcome by emotion and just really very upset for the people of the Philippines. I was caught off guard by the passionate anger and despair in his voice.

For the first time ever, I just didn't have a meaningful response...I couldn't frame it for him or put it in perspective....I gave him some thoughts on being grateful and counting our blessings, which clearly fell short of explaning the magnitude of what he was seeing and doing nothing to answer his heartfelt philosophical/spiritual question.

We're Catholic and he attends Catholic school, which is why I was so shocked by his quick reaction to blame God. To the best of my knowledge there are no other issues in his life and he has never expressed any serious questions or doubts about God....any thoughts on how to best answer his question?

He's ten years-old, I don't think it's time just yet to think he has doubts. But I don't have children, so I can't sympathize with what to say. But if I were ten years-old, and had quite a different life than most people ever could imagine, I didn't ever think God hated me, I knew that things happen.


The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

"The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike."

Great reference to Scripture.

Suffering is redemptive for all souls, that's why it is a win win to love and trust God. Even in our suffering
here.

Actually, that province got hit as badly as it did because it had just been struck by a pretty big hurricane just a few weeks before. Many people were sheltering in flimsy tents because of it. So these people were dealt a double blow.

Remind your son that God has appointed a time and a season for everything under the heavens, even hurricanes, and the rules apply to everybody. It's through life's challenges and even suffering that we start to find out both who we really are and what good times really mean. God also intends for us to pull together and help each other. If no one ever needed help, we could not learn how to do this.

In my own opinion, I agree with the poster about it's a test. From a historical perspective, suffering was always there, from one generation to the next. I wasn't alive in the 1700s, but I know I don't have to hunt, technology makes life more sedentary, and success comes from the pain of others' ignorance. To prosper, is to engage in negative tactics with your fellow human being. Gaining prosperity through others' ignorance. I must be in Hell or what different religions claim Hell is. If people were as divine as they claim to be, we wouldn't see the events that pass through our perception of reality at this current point in time and others. This is just my opinion though.

God doesn't hate us. God loves us.
It is impossible to know the will of God. It is necessary only to believe that He has one, that He has a plan and a purpose for everything. The typhoon probably wasn't created by God, but He only had to allow it to happen to soften the hearts of every person who is touched by the tragedy. We should believe that God judges fairly and that any righteous man or woman among those who died went to everlasting life.

That's how I would respond.

reply to post by kosmicjack


KJ, you should be very proud of him - he has virtually said "Why have you forsaken me" and the passionate anger and despair in his voice is the sound of love.

Out of the mouth of your babe comes pure, unadulterated love for everyone.

Tell him that THE GOD OF THIS WORLD controls this world and desires destruction and hatred - which is all around us.

Christ is not the God of this world - he is the God of eternity (aka - the next world)


reply to post by iunlimited491


LOL

reply to post by Em2013

I blame it strictly on mother nature because she's a cruel mistress.

Yes it is mother nature but who is the cruel one? The mother that protects herself and all life she has grown upon herself or is it the virus that ravages all she has created over millions of years?

I would tell my child that everything happens exactly as it is suppose to and God has nothing to do with it. God only has to do with how you handle yourself, others and situations in life that you can do anything about. If you are fair and just and help others with 0 selfishness or greed then you will be rewarded in heaven when your time comes and that time is not set out by God but by life itself. God is inside of you not outside making the world run its course, that is best left to mother nature.

reply to post by Sakrateri


We're not a virus and we're not destroying the planet and the planet wouldn't care if it blew up. It's not doing anything to protect itself, it has the power to kill itself, which is what a lot of people don't realize. Earth is not perfect nor is it capable of surviving for all eternity if humans weren't around. It has no intelligence and just reacts to certain forces within itself and outside. We are more like the miracle savior instead of a virus. But that is of course if you put value on life and personify our existence which is arguably not even real. Either way, that doesn't matter because what matters is that we need to learn how to control the planet's elements if we want to be protected.

Dear Kosmicjack - Your little one is 10 years old so if you explain it in relation to something he can relate to it may help. Say he has a large saltwater fish tank - full of shrimp, worms, starfish, variety of fish, plants and the usual air system. Your son bought the tank, chose the fish, the gravel, rock, etc and put them altogether.

Generally you leave a saltwater tank to take care of itself as long as everything is working in relation to each other - its natural way. Of course your son feeds it and keeps it clean because he has to, but I'm using the tank as an example of our earth and in our case God watches.

Because your son doesn't have to do anything else the system generally takes care of itself but things happen in that tank. Say he watches for a week straight. He'll see that the shrimp eat the dead things, the starfish move about, the worms will try to catch other critters, the fish swim about. Maybe one day one variety of fish attacks another and kills the another fish.
In this way you can explain that your son is watching the natural cycle of the tank. But if your son were God and one of the fish cried out to God, "Save me God," your son would take the bad fish out, or move it to another tank and save the fish that asked for help.

This is the way our life is: God allows things to happen because otherwise we'd all be "robots". Just like your son prefers (if he has a pet) a real dog/cat compared to a stuffie it's the same thing with God in terms of wanting our affection and to believe in Him.

God will help those, as He sees fit, when we ask for help. He always helps but sometimes we don't understand why He didn't answer our prayer as we think it should be answered. And just like your son loves all the critters in the fish tank our God loves all us humans.

This will most likely raise more questions but hopefully it will help reassure him that God has everything under control. And in the end as believers if we die then we go home to be with God, our Father. We just have to have faith in Him because He's our creator and He knows everything that goes on in this world.

reply to post by ccseagull

That was a nice analogy and with that in mind I pray God stops the muslims from beheading and killing His children .We are overwhelmed and in despair. Faithbrother.calm