Where is God in All This?

[AgnosticBelieverParticipant]

The question “Where is God in all this?” could apply to many tragic situations, both in the history of the world and for many of as we struggle with the trials of life. But for those of us in America, the most recent incident that brings this question to the forefront is the shooting in CT. Questions of why did God allow this to happen are being asked alongside declarations by the Religious Right that God should be put back in a public school system that serves children of all faiths and those with none.

I do not have a good answer as to why God allows us as human beings to choose to do right or wrong, especially when the wrong actions can have devastating consequences. My best guess is that faith would be too easy if you only had one choice and we would essentially become Godbots. God wants us to freely worship and love Him because choice is the key to any healthy relationship, even between us mortals and an Almighty Creator.

But I do want to address this idea that God has left our school system and that by having mandatory school prayer and Bible in study in a public school system that serves children of all faiths and those with none (yes, I said it again) will remedy all of our ills. First of all, name a time in history where God has directly intervened to stop one person or group of people from harming others? And I don’t mean the Bible. I mean wars, murder, child abuse, rape, the Holocaust, racism, school shootings in the past, etc. All those things that we humans choose do to one another that cause pain and suffering. God has not stopped one single event.

I would also ask those who want God back in the schools to prove to me that a mandatory Bible Study and prayer in school would have stopped it. Last time I checked, Christians do not any special protective force from people wanting to do harm. Again, my guess is the whole faith would be too easy if it were true bit applies here. As a Christian, I am human and I can and will suffer the same pain of loss, hurt and death as any other human being. I can get sick, get in a car accident or be shot and die as a result. The Bible never guaranteed me physical immortality.

I know that many on the extreme right want to separate themselves from the rest of the world, but the human condition is surprisingly common. We may not all look alike, believe the same things and worship the same way but we all have basic needs, not so basic needs, dreams we want to fulfill and people we love and we want to be loved back.

My final point is the by saying we need to put God back into the schools implies we can actually kick him out of places. I am sure many of you have seen the t-shirt with the kid asking God why he allows so much violence in school and God replies “I’m not allowed in schools.” To me, that sounds like a teenage girl who is upset that she did not get invited to a popular girl’s birthday party. Come on, my God does not act like that! It makes God look week and whine and not one I would worship.

One of the characteristics of the God I worship is that He is omnipresent, everywhere all the time and this attitude of God being removed reminds me of David’s cartoon where a person is putting God in a box. If some of his most fervent followers think an omnipotent, omnipresent God needs an invitation to be anywhere in the world He created, it makes God look weak which is pretty disrespectful in my opinion.  The awesomeness of God is that He cannot be contained in time, space, or any other finite concept we have created.

And many of these kids were involved in church or synagogue which we are unfortunately learning through their funerals. Was God not in their hearts because they went to public school? Was God not with these children, these teachers and the principal and their lives flashed before their eyes and they took their last breath?  I hope that those who claim to love Him the most would answer that He was.

Our humanness while wonderful is also our downfall. We are not perfect and those around us are not perfect. Our bodies are not perfect and when a disease affects the brain it an sometimes, not often, lead to hurting others. While I hope the issues of tackling reasonable gun control and the crisis of our decimated U.S. mental health system can be addressed, I think we need to be more thoughtful in our assessment of God and where He is or where he can be during times like these.

• This topic was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  .
• This topic was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  David Hayward.

[Author]

Posts