My fellow blogger Cenk Uygur wants to know where was God when Cho went on that rampage. Yes, that's right. It was Cho's rampage. So I don't thnk God gets the blame. Uygur wants to implicate God indirectly. Surely God could have stopped it, right? Then why didn't he?
This is a deep question about God's hiddenness in the world. Why doesn't God make himself manifest, especially when there is tragedy to be averted? Here's one possible reason. Imagine if there was divine intervention to prevent Cho from doing what he did. Leave aside the issue of what happens to human free will. Just focus on the consequences. Cho would have been--let us say by miraculous intrusion--disarmed, the shootings would have been prevented, and life would go on.
In short, life would proceed as if God had not intervened in the first place. So God in this view becomes a kind of cosmic errand boy, who is supposed to do our chores and clean up our messes and we then wish him a very good day and return to our everyday lives. But perhaps God's purpose in the world (I am only thinking aloud here) is to draw his creatures to him. And you have to admit that tragedies like this one at Virginia Tech help to do that!
Once again, it's absurd to blame God for what happened. Blame guns, blame Virginia Tech's security system, most of all blame Cho. But not Allah or Brahma or Jesus. Even so, it's not unreasonable to suppose that there's a providential purpose behind history, and if human horrors show us our dependence on God's love and restorative powers, that's not such a bad thing, is it?
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 3)
31. There is nothing in existence that is not of GOD... it is this Divine energy from which creation manifested and everything in it sustains life. The energy is available for the use of all beings in existence. The duality occurs when the choice is made to use the energy in a negative manner or with positive intentions. The energy flows in an impartial, all-inclusive manner.... each individual is created with the capacity to choose how to relate with each other and the world by how we engage the energy, whether creatively or destructively. Humans somehow still have not been able to grasp the concept that we are in the image of the Divine therefore, should look within ourselves in our quest to find God. Many may not understand but there can be no good if there is no bad as it is the polarities of existence that gives it meaning. Would we know what joy is, if first we had not experienced sorrow? Again, it comes down to each individual knowing that his essential being is of God which is LOVE and consciously making choices that resonate with his innate Godly vibration. As cliche as this may sound.... to everyone of us who have felt the intense pain and sorrow of the past week.... there is a purpose in all of this and it is our responsibility to understand and learn the Higher lessons from the experience..... maybe we can evolve from it with a mass consciousness of greater kindness, compassion and love for each other. May the Spirit of peace fill our hearts and minds.
Nerakami at 9:24AM on Apr 24th 2007
32. God is not hiding, he is investigating bloggers
who thieve e-mail PASSWORDS as if they were GOD!
He also may have fallen out of Seung-Hui's
delivered media pack!
Dorothea on the wall at 8:17PM on Apr 24th 2007
33. Words can not explain God, Other than to say, God is all there is, There is nothing that is not God, we are the mind and unconditional love is purest way, shape and form that can be created.
FOR SADAQAT: God rested on the seventh day because there was nothing more for God to do, God had achieved Gods goal "Life Itself". I hope this was of some help to you.
Dean at 3:01PM on Jul 2nd 2007
34. “A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal.6:7). So, most of the problems you face in the world is the product of what people sawed. You can be sure, that no one gets more than he or she deserves, but even if someone is effected unjustly by what other people around him deserved, you can be sure that in the day when God will judge people, people who were effected by the bad deeds of others (suffered undeservedly by someone’s actions) will be so much reimbursed for their suffering that they will be happy they had suffered.
As to why God is hiding, first, I think He is not hiding at all. God is Light and Him there is no darkness at all. So, as long as you are staying in spiritual and moral darkness, you wont’ see Him. He is far from you darkness. It’s not that He is hiding, but it is that you can’t see Him in and from your darkness. Second, I would like you to love me and like me, but you don’t’. You didn’t even know of my existence until today. Why is that? Don’t I exist? Well, it’s because you were not interested in me and thus did not look for me. How do I make you love me and look for me? If I had billions of dollars, I could run newspaper ad that everyone who shows me his love will get at least a million of dollars. If you were 100% sure that it is true (you watched news some or many people getting it from me), you would absolutely “like me”, “adore me”, and search for me to show me “your love” and “respect”. However, it be very foolish for me to assume that you are doing it from your heart and not because you want to get things from me. Running such an ad and providing 100% proof that it is true would program you and many others to look for me. You would become robotic believer. But, if you did not know that I have so many blessing for you, but only knew that I exist, that I am highly moral, loving, helping others, love to fellowship with people, and you, knowing only that information, searched for and found me because of only those qualities I possess and not because I have material blessings for you, then and only then would I be truly satisfied. Only then I would know that you are my true friend and not playing games with me to get “good stuff”. Only that way would I be able to sort out people who were looking for my things and not me. Something like that I think God has in mind when He avoids to demonstrate to you all His power, beauty, handsomeness, wealth, etc. He gave you enough information about His existence, who He is, and even what He has, but mostly about His qualities, and only if you attracted to those qualities, will you search for Him until you find Him. People who are interested only in His “material stuff” (e.g. healings, money blessings, health, miracles, proof if His existence, etc.), won’t get it because to have it, first they have to have faith, but they cannot have faith because they first they want to see those things or to see Him, and so they are stuck. Just like a natural selection. Believe, you will surely be provided with more and more proof of His existence as you search more and more for Him because of what He is and not what He has. When you travel somewhere, you first concentrate on the beginning of the road though with the end in mind. How did you get to 12th grade in school? By doing something right with the information you got in 1-10 grades. I guess you did not refuse to believe what you were thought in 1st grade unless you were provided proof that what 12th-graders are talking about is true.
One young handsome prince was loved by every girl in the country and they wanted to marry him, but he wanted to marry one who would love him with true love and not because of what he has, or because of his position. So, he changed his appearance by dressing poorly and went out to travel his country in search of a true love. Many beautiful girls despised him because he “was poor”, but one day a beautiful girl fell in love with him despite knowing that he “was poor”. He loved her too and eventually told her about whom he really was and married her. God often presents Himself in “humble” way to see if you’ll love him that way. He wants to see you heart before you see Him.
Leo at 11:39AM on Sep 5th 2007