God’s dilemma

[naomi24]

Since the Israelis, the Palestinians and all the people around the world praying for victory for one side or another, or even for peace, trust that God will answer their prayers, don’t you think the faithful are creating a bit of a dilemma for him? What’s a God to do?

[bazwillrun]

as usual god is doing something........ nothing !

no doubt the believers as usual will put some slant on it to explain the inactivity as has been the case since time imemorial

[FredPuli43]

God works in mysterious ways, His killings to perform (or something).

[wildwood]

God backs the winning side and blames his alter ego (Satan) for the oppressors.

It appears to me that the Middle East's population is more religious than any other main part of the world, and there always seems to be major trouble. Is there a link?

[Old_Geezer]

A God would allow the kids to be naughty, and if it intervened it would simply be on an individual level.

[goodlife]

The Creator did not leave man without a guide. Why should he discriminate against his highest earthly creation? He endowed all the lower animals with infallible instincts to guide them, Certainly, then, he would also provide an infallible guide for man, and that he did in his Word, the Bible. The very fact that man has the qualities of love, wisdom and justice argues that God would have the same, and, having the same, he would not create man with an inquiring and reasoning mind and then not satisfy that mind with the answers that it needed for its own contentment and happiness. Man does not need to know the length of a light-year to be happy, but he does need to know his purpose of existence, (Matt 6:9-10)

[naomi24]

//The Creator did not leave man without a guide.//

He didn't leave the Jews without a Promised Land either. Hence the problems we are now witnessing.

[rojash]

"Man does not need to know the length of a light-year to be happy, but he does need to know his purpose of existence, (Matt 6:9-10)"

Blimey, that Matthew was way ahead of his time!

[naomi24]

//Blimey, that Matthew was way ahead of his time! //

Shame he was only working on hearsay - and making the rest up. ;o)

[douglas9401]

I've got a dead horse here, free to anyone who can use it. Comes complete with whip.

[naomi24]

^^ :o)

[jomifl]

Goodlife,/The very fact that man has the qualities of love, wisdom and justice argues that God would have the same, /
and the very fact that man has the qualities of perfidy, cruelty, disloyalty and ignorance argues with equal validity that god would have the same.
/Lower animals/ lower than what? snails?
/fallible instinct/ Like lemmings?

Stick to the bible and cut and paste, it's what you do best.

[Batexia]

I think there is a time and a place for everything. God has a timetable and nothing man can say or do will alter that fact.
I know that almost everyone here mocks those who believe, but I do believe that God will intervene in man's activities. When, no one knows, that is where faith and trust comes in.

[naomi24]

Batexia, //God has a timetable and nothing man can say or do will alter that fact. //

That is not a fact. It's something you imagine God has.

[jackthehat]

Both sides of the current crisis believe that their version of (the same) God will prevail.
Until such time as he decides to show exactly which side he favours (and thereby revealing exactly 'which' God he is) this crisis will deepen......or even if it subsides now, it will continue to flare-up across the centuries.
Just *how* bad will things have to get before, like any loving father, he steps in, bangs his 'children's' heads together and instructs them to play nicely together?

Rather than waiting for this to happen, his loyal and faithful children ought to exercise their own intelligence and restraint and try to rub along together...

[chakka35]

That particular 'God', the one with the upper-case 'G', is the god of the Jews. They invented him; he existed purely for their benefit and cared nothing for gentiles or other non-Jews. So we can sharpen naomi's original question to ask: why, in the Middle-Est conflict, does God not give unequivocal support to his own people?

One answer is that he doesn't exist. What others are there?

[flump1]

'He ' started it....he doesn't sound very humane does he ?

[beso]

From what I have read God loves nothing better than a bloody fight. So he tells both side that He is on their side to encourage them to slaughter each other.

[LazyGun]

Yes, and this is a recent iteration of that problem. During WWII, the faithful within the allied forces were constantly told that god was on their side, or that they were gods agency on earth; But of course the axis forces believed exactly the same thing - gott mitt uns and all that.

And that rallying call has been uttered by both sides in countless wars and skirmishes over the centuries, from roman times on.

Seems to me that god must be doing some kind of reverse pascals wager;Offer your support to everyone, and you can come out the winner.

Not much fun for the faithful though.

And the actual answer has to be to ignore religion and introduce some dispassionate, rational and objective thinking to both sides.
Whilst Hamas defiantly fire off missiles from batteries embedded within the civilian population, in what, viewed from the outside is a pathetic attempt to rally support and show defiance; whilst Israel continues to exercise their superiority in military might, this asymmetric superiority used to disproportionately and excessively punish Hamas and innocent bystanders there can be no mutually acceptable, peaceful and long lasting solution.

It is a bloody neverending war of attrition, rooted in religion and compounded by politics, cynically manipulated by the superpowers to further their political and economic interests.

[naomi24]

//And the actual answer has to be to ignore religion and introduce some dispassionate, rational and objective thinking to both sides. //

Unfortunately, since it is fundamental to the original problem, in this instance religion will never be ignored.

[argorstran]

...."Yes, and this is a recent iteration of that problem. During WWII, the faithful within the allied forces were constantly told that god was on their side, or that they were gods agency on earth; But of course the axis forces believed exactly the same thing - gott mitt uns and all that.".....

That was said to them by their leaders - human beings - not by God . Did you ever hear God confirm that he agreed with that ?

God's Dilemma : " You want me to intervene on behalf of those who abuse my name to wage war for their own political purposes ? "

An interesting thought : Were the Red Army told that God were on their side in WW2 ? I mention that because it was them who made the breakthrough to Berlin to finally put " The Devil " down in his lair .