If God Exists.... why does he let the innocent suffer so much...
Example a young 3 year old child sick in hospitals all around the world...
and we are all made in the image of god.. no way if I was made in the image of god I would have his power... and then no children would be suffering..
The only thing god is... is a money maker for the church... and do not get me started on that one...
If you want to believe in something.. believe in KARMA and YOUR INNER FEELINGS.... and oh yer ALIENSSSSSSSSSS......
Well, there is the main question. I often think that the problem many people have (including several in the scientific community) isn't so much about the question of if God exists, it is more about if He does exist, how could he allow such suffering?
I am sure you have heard the typical debates on this matter. It becomes more a question about free-will vs. God's intervention.
My thoughts on it are as follows:
God creates the world. God creates man. Give man (Adam and Eve) free will to choose. Man chooses not to obey God (eating forbidden fruit) then man is given consequences for that choice. Sin enters the world because of that choice. With sin (and Satan's influence) comes death, sickness, suffering, hate, murder and all of the other painful things we deal with on a daily basis. But God provides hope and way to be freed from this sinful world we are currently in. He promises to send His son to pay the penalty for the choices we have made and offers us eternal life free from these things. Basically we have a gift of our sentence being pardoned if we so choose to accept it. This life is temporary. Eternity is the main goal we should be focused on.
All that said, do I often wonder why God doesn't intervene more often? Should he have a "smite button" that he presses anytime we, as humans, choose to do evil or make choices that go against Him? If He did that, I would already be smitten. Thankfully, He is patient and forgiving. He can heal sickness and I have seen Him do so at times, but He is more concerned about our eternal well being than our present physical well being. Why doesn't he heal all the time? Do I understand God's ways? Of course not. I can't. But I can understand that He loves me, loves you, loves the world so much that He gave His son as a ransom for our sins so we can have hope. That is enough for me. And if I had a sick child in the hospital I would still have hope. I have suffered abuse but I know Jesus was there with me. He understands our pain and suffering and we do not have to endure it alone. This life is not all that there is. To me, the thought that this evil and sinful world is all we have is the most depressing thought of all. As a Christian, it is the closest to hell I will ever be and it keeps everything in perspective. This is also why Christians can come across as so pushy and desperate at times to convince others to see things the way we do. We know this could be the closest thing to hell we experience as humans and we hope and pray others will see this and understand this and humbly turn back to God instead of being angry with Him. The flip side? This is the closest thing to heaven people who do not accept Jesus will experience. (For those that do not get a chance to accept Jesus because they have never heard, were born in the jungle, die as babies, etc. I firmly believe that they will still be given that chance in Sheol, after death. God is fair. He puts fairness in our hearts. However, the Bible is vague about what that looks like and it is not a commonly held belief. I think the black and white, heaven and hell translations is a bit too simplistic but I digress here.)
As for the "image of God" we have a mind, a physical body and a soul or "spirit." I believe it is the eternal soul that differentiates us. We also have the ability to see good and evil and understand these things. That is what I think of when I think about being created in God's image. Thankfully we were not created all-powerful. I can only imagine what the world would be like then. It might make for an interesting sci-fi movie though.
And yes, there are sinful people in churches doing evil things in God's name. They will be judged harshly, more harshly than anyone else I believe, for doing these things when the final day of judgement arrives.
I understand and respect your Christian views. With that, how do you explain the sometimes conflicting views of other religions? Are the other 70% of the world’s population dammed to Hell because they don’t believe in your God?