Why should you need me to do it?

[Just thinking]

Why is it that religious fanatics, who belive in an all powerful god of whatever name they wish, feel that they must carry out their god's will? Why can't they ever ask themselves ... "If God wanted it done, why doesn't He do it himself? After all, it would be no effort for Him. And if God doesn't do it ... maybe He didn't want it done."

[Genesius]

Why is it that religious fanatics, who belive in an all powerful god of whatever name they wish, feel that they must carry out their god's will? Why can't they ever ask themselves ... "If God wanted it done, why doesn't He do it himself? After all, it would be no effort for Him. And if God doesn't do it ... maybe He didn't want it done."
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. put it quite well with his Church of God the Utterly Indifferent, in "Sirens of Titan":


O Lord Most High, Creator of the Cosmos, Spinner of Galaxies, Soul of
Electromagnetic Waves, Inhaler and Exhaler of Inconceivable Volumes of Vaccum,
Spitter of Fire and Rock, Trifler with Millenia - what could we do for Thee that
Thou couldst not do for Thyself one octillion times better? Nothing. What
could we do or say that could possibly interest Thee? Nothing. Oh, Mankind,
rejoice in the apathy of our Creator, for it makes us free and truthful and
dignified at last. No longer can a fool like me point to a ridiculous accident
of good luck and say, "Somebody up there likes me." And no longer can a tyrant
say, "God wants this or that to happen, and anybody who doesn't help this or
that to happen is against God." O Lord Most High, what a glorious weapon is Thy
Apathy, for we have unsheathed it, have thrust and slashed mightily with it,
and the excesses that have so often enslaved us or driven us into the madhouse lie slain!

[Meffy]

*ahem* Works in strange ways, not for us to question, et cetera.

(It's the get out of any untenable position free card.)

[Just thinking]

Perhaps too much of that is true, Meffy. But as I grow older I find it more difficult to swallow such.

[Meffy]

You do, and I do, but sadly they don't. :-(

[GodMark2]

*ahem* Works in strange ways, not for us to question, et cetera.

(It's the get out of any untenable position free card.)

You forgot the eternal "God helps those who help themselves" (which is almost indistinguishable from "Those who help themselves help themselves", but that point tends to be lost on fundies).

[Nex]

You forgot the eternal "God helps those who help themselves" (which is almost indistinguishable from "Those who help themselves help themselves", but that point tends to be lost on fundies).
It's always fun to point out to the believer who says this that it's nowhere in the bible. IIRC, it was first published by Ben Franklin in the Poor Richard's Almanac.

[grayman]

It's always fun to point out to the believer who says this that it's nowhere in the bible. IIRC, it was first published by Ben Franklin in the Poor Richard's Almanac.

Can you tell me where "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" came from?

[Dark Jaguar]

It's always fun to point out to the believer who says this that it's nowhere in the bible. IIRC, it was first published by Ben Franklin in the Poor Richard's Almanac.

Which in and of itself is high cause for suspicion of sarcasm :D, and highly enjoyable at that.

[SaintDymphna]

Just thinking
"If God wanted it done, why doesn't He do it himself? After all, it would be no effort for Him. And if God doesn't do it ... maybe He didn't want it done."


My very religious brother says "God always answers prayers. But sometimes he says NO"

Religious people always have an answer. ;)


Peace,

Saint Dymphna

[Nex]

Can you tell me where "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" came from?
Many attribute it to Sir Francis Bacon (http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/5/messages/1209.html). However, I think either his interpretation or the modern understanding of it is a bit off -- in ancient Jewish times, the ideas of "clean" and "unclean" had different meanings than they do today. I think a better interpretation of the original Hebrew texts would be something acknowledging that difference.

[David Swidler]

The OP assumes that the goal is the end result of the process, but in fact it might be that the process itself is the goal, with the result secondary (in fact if the various prophecies are to be believed, the end result is foretold; it's only a question of when). A relationship is only possible with something other than oneself, so God created humanity as that "other." That "other" can only really participate in a satisfying (certainly from God's perspective, possibly also from man's) relationship with true independence (or a damn good illusion of it). To maintain that separate identity, there's gotta be meaningful participation, i.e. important stuff to do.

[Mojo]

Can you tell me where "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" came from?I have never seen a laundry next door to a church.

[David Swidler]

Can you tell me where "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" came from?

No idea. I do know that cleanliness is next to impossible.