Without trust in God, I would have no hope

[Trailblazer]

If God cares what happens down here then why do 5 million children under the age of five die every year of pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, along with starvation. Throw in abuse of all sorts and it likely increases by a million. God could do something about this if God really cared and loved these little kids. But maybe God's definition of love is to just let them die in agony when he could stop it. And we get back to Epidurus. A God who is able to stop such horrors and chooses to ignore it is an evil monster by our definition.

Here we go again:
God is omnipotent so God can do anything, which for some atheists translates to "God is omnipotent so God should do what I think God should do."

What atheists leave out is that God is also omniscient so God is all-knowing. That means God knows what is best to do under any and all circumstances. It also means that no human can "know better"what to do since no human is all-knowing.

God designed the world to be the way it is and God entrusted humans to take care of the world and other humans. If children die of diseases or starvation or are abused that is something humans are responsible for and they need to address these problems.

A God whose presence is so scant that it doesn't eve register to our senses is a God that's non-existent by any rational standard. What if a deadbeat dad said, "Yes, I get involved with my child. I think nice thoughts of him on his birthday." Is that involvement?

It is the fallacy of false equivalence to compare God to a human parent, since God is not a man. God is God.

False equivalence is a logical fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency.[1] A colloquial expression of false equivalency is "comparing apples and oranges".
False equivalence - Wikipedia

 

[Thrillobyte]

Here we go again:
God is omnipotent so God can do anything, which for some atheists translates to "God is omnipotent so God should do what I think God should do."

What atheists leave out is that God is also omniscient so God is all-knowing. That means God knows what is best to do under any and all circumstances. It also means that no human can "know better"what to do since no human is all-knowing.

God designed the world to be the way it is and God entrusted humans to take care of the world and other humans. If children die of diseases or starvation or are abused that is something humans are responsible for and they need to address these problems.

It is the fallacy of false equivalence to compare God to a human parent, since God is not a man. God is God.

False equivalence is a logical fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency.[1] A colloquial expression of false equivalency is "comparing apples and oranges".
False equivalence - Wikipedia

Wait a second, Trail. Most of these 5 million kids are dying of diseases that GOD brought about. Humans have nothing to do with it. Full blame lands on God's doorstep. Nor can humans do a thing about the natural disasters that kill millions of people every decade whose responsiblity also lands on God's doorstep. So we're left with 2 choices:

1. a negligent evil God who doesn't care that conditions he created kill people mercilessly by the tens of millions which he could prevent if he wanted to but doesn't bother to

OR

2. There is no God governing all these events. They're just natural occurrences that happen on a typical godless body whirling through space that has developed by natural means into what we have today: disease, natural disasters, hunger, evil beyond measure, some pretty spots on the globe, climate change brought by natural and human involvement, etc. No God needed to explain all this. It's all demonstrated by science to be completely free of supernatural influences.

It does no good to whitewash God of any and all responsibility for evil he created that kills billions of his children he claims to love, this "For God so loved the world" crap that Christians are always spouting but which we never but NEVER actually see God demonstrate toward us. If that's love, give me good solid honest hatred any day of the week.

God is a hypocrit pure and simple. I absolutely hate God's hypocrisy.

 

[Trailblazer]

Wait a second, Trail. Most of these 5 million kids are dying of diseases that GOD brought about. Humans have nothing to do with it. Full blame lands on God's doorstep. Nor can humans do a thing about the natural disasters that kill millions of people every decade whose responsiblity also lands on God's doorstep.

God does not cause any diseases. Any scientist would be laughing in your face.

Human disease - Genetic, Inherited, Congenital

Human disease - Genetic, Inherited, Congenital: Certain human diseases result from mutations in the genetic complement (genome) contained in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of chromosomes. A gene is a discrete linear sequence of nucleotide bases (molecular units) of the DNA that codes for, or...

www.britannica.com

God does not cause natural disasters. Some of them are caused by human activities on earth and some happen by natural means.

So we're left with 2 choices:

1. a negligent evil God who doesn't care that conditions he created kill people mercilessly by the tens of millions which he could prevent if he wanted to but doesn't bother to

OR

2. There is no God governing all these events. They're just natural occurrences that happen on a typical godless body whirling through space that has developed by natural means into what we have today: disease, natural disasters, hunger, evil beyond measure, some pretty spots on the globe, climate change brought by natural and human involvement, etc. No God needed to explain all this. It's all demonstrated by science to be completely free of supernatural influences.

OR

3. There is a God rules and maintains all of existence, including the earth. Diseases and natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes are just natural occurrences that happen on an earth that has developed by natural means into what we have today.

Hunger and evil beyond measure are brought about by humans who do not follow the teachings and laws of God. Climate change that causes some natural disasters is brought by natural and human involvement. No God is needed to explain all this, but that does not mean that God does not exist.

It does no good to whitewash God of any and all responsibility for evil he created that kills billions of his children he claims to love, this "For God so loved the world" crap that Christians are always spouting but which we never but NEVER actually see God demonstrate toward us. If that's love, give me good solid honest hatred any day of the week.

God is a hypocrit pure and simple. I absolutely hate God's hypocrisy.

It does no good to whitewash humans of any and all responsibility for evil in the world which is fully caused by human negligence, selfishness, neglect, and failure to adhere to the laws of God.

“God hath in that Book, and by His behest, decreed as lawful whatsoever He hath pleased to decree, and hath, through the power of His sovereign might, forbidden whatsoever He elected to forbid. To this testifieth the text of that Book. Will ye not bear witness? Men, however, have wittingly broken His law. Is such a behavior to be attributed to God, or to their proper selves? Be fair in your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from yourselves. Will ye not comprehend? This same truth hath been revealed in all the Scriptures, if ye be of them that understand.”​

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 149-150​

God demonstrated His love for us by sending Messengers to guide us to the straight path, not by playing Superman.
Then most people reject the Messengers and say God has not done anything for them, just because that isn't what they wanted from God.
Humans are hypocrites pure and simple. I absolutely hate human hypocrisy.

 

[Thrillobyte]

God does not cause any diseases. Any scientist would be laughing in your face.

Human disease - Genetic, Inherited, Congenital

Human disease - Genetic, Inherited, Congenital: Certain human diseases result from mutations in the genetic complement (genome) contained in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of chromosomes. A gene is a discrete linear sequence of nucleotide bases (molecular units) of the DNA that codes for, or...

www.britannica.com

God does not cause natural disasters. Some of them are caused by human activities on earth and some happen by natural means.

OR

3. There is a God rules and maintains all of existence, including the earth. Diseases and natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes are just natural occurrences that happen on an earth that has developed by natural means into what we have today.

Hunger and evil beyond measure are brought about by humans who do not follow the teachings and laws of God. Climate change that causes some natural disasters is brought by natural and human involvement. No God is needed to explain all this, but that does not mean that God does not exist.

It does no good to whitewash humans of any and all responsibility for evil in the world which is fully caused by human negligence, selfishness, neglect, and failure to adhere to the laws of God.

“God hath in that Book, and by His behest, decreed as lawful whatsoever He hath pleased to decree, and hath, through the power of His sovereign might, forbidden whatsoever He elected to forbid. To this testifieth the text of that Book. Will ye not bear witness? Men, however, have wittingly broken His law. Is such a behavior to be attributed to God, or to their proper selves? Be fair in your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from yourselves. Will ye not comprehend? This same truth hath been revealed in all the Scriptures, if ye be of them that understand.”​

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 149-150​

God demonstrated His love for us by sending Messengers to guide us to the straight path, not by playing Superman.
Then most people reject the Messengers and say God has not done anything for them, just because that isn't what they wanted from God.
Humans are hypocrites pure and simple. I absolutely hate human hypocrisy.

I've never been guided by a single messenger in all the years I was a religionist. And I'd bet 99.999% of the human population would say the same thing.

 

[Trailblazer]

I've never been guided by a single messenger in all the years I was a religionist.

God will guide those who want to be guided. Only those who want to be guided are guided since God allows free will to choose.
If people choose to rebel against God by rejecting His Messengers, God is not going to stop them from rebelling.

"Some were guided by the Light of God, gained admittance into the court of His presence, and quaffed, from the hand of resignation, the waters of everlasting life, and were accounted of them that have truly recognized and believed in Him. Others rebelled against Him, and rejected the signs of God, the Most Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”​

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 145​

​

“Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” he shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: “In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him.””​

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 266-267​

And I'd bet 99.999% of the human population would say the same thing.

And I'd bet about 84% of the human population would say that they have been guided to God by a Messenger, holy man, or whatever you choose to call him.

84 percent of the world population has a faith and because most faiths have a religious Founder or what I call a Messenger that means most people believe in God because of a Messenger. It does not matter if you call them a Messenger; they are holy men who founded the religions, so they are intermediaries between God and man. Sure, there are a few believers who believe in God but not a Messenger but that is not the norm.

The point is that with no men who act as "intermediaries" between God and man very few people would believe in God. I believe the Messengers are the evidence that God exists because God sent them from Heaven as evidence.