This is not a mockery of religion, but I am confused about something....

I belong to a religion that is independent and based on the basic principle of love and unity. Whatever way you see it those things is always the intention and always the outcome. If we learned anything from the ten Gurus (teachers) we have had and the eleventh eternal Guru (teacher) in the form of our Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib, is that we are all equal. We are all children of one God. The definition of God as defined by the founder of Sikhism and the first Guru (teacher), Guru Nanak Dev Ji is the root verse. The Holy Book is the elaboration of that root verse. I think I told you this before in an email perhaps. Ik Onkaar Satnaam Kartaa Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal Moorat Ajooni Saibhang Gurprasaad Meaning in simple words:"There is but one all pervading spirit, and truth is its name! It exists in all creation; it does not fear; it does not hate; it is timeless and universal and self-existent, You will come to know it through seeking knowledge and learning!" I am about to step on to a mine field saying this... My religion does not recognize Jesus Christ or any one else as God. They are believed to be prophets not Gods. Because according to our religion, God can never be born. God can never die. God is timeless, endless, limitless. God has no end and no beginning. BUT we don't have any issues praying and bowing down to Jesus, Allah, etc... We respect them and their followers along with their beliefs. That is included in our religious teachings. To answer your question about why some are spared and others killed? Dani, what I have always heard is (not sure how true it is), we are born to fulfill some purpose in this lifetime. We trudge through life lost until we find/realize that purpose. If not in this life then the next.The circle continues until we finally reach enlightenment and are united with God forever. Every good and bad deeds done are paid for in this lifetime or the next. No one is spared. If a very good person suffers, it is some past life bad deeds. The good you do in this life will be rewarded too. So maybe there purpose was fulfilled. Maybe they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything happens for a reason, they say. We appreciate things more after losing them. Maybe that is the reason. Much of the crap going on is our own faults as human beings. We brought things upon us. If we want to blame God (if exists) for anything, blame him to give brains to us. It would have been much easy to handle mindless puppets then letting us thinking and contemplating our ways. Personally, I don't have or have seen any proof of his existence. I just believe in good. But there must be some explanation for unexplained or unnatural things. I can't dismiss them either. I imagine God as my parent, my friend, or make believe one. He knows everything without having me to tell him. I yell at him at times and call him names too when I am angry and just plain fed up of all bad things happening. I know he doesn't mind. We humans may not be flexible when it comes to religion but HE is very much flexible and welcoming to all. He doesn't care which religion you practice or none at all. Whew! That was all for now......... ( I am adding the link because I copy-pasted the root verse from there. Just for rules sake )

I won't usually go near these sort of posts, but as @Daljinder suggested it I will. I am too pragmatic to believe in a god. I think Karl Marx was right when he said that 'religion is the opium of the people'. That is all I'm prepared to say - I'm absolutely not going to get in any debate or argument about it.

I feel happy whenever i think of God and have prayed . The more i always pray , the more i feel so close to God .

I am and always have been a atheist. To my mind religion is the opium of the people, it drives rational people to become idiots in the name of a belief. As an atheist I live by very high moral standards, which doesn't always seem to be the case with some religious people, who break with moral values in defence of their particular faith.

This is a good question to which I'd like to know the answer myself. I'm sure your post will get loads of comments as the site is full of religious people. I don't ask religious questions here, because no real discussions ever ensue from them. Religion is a minefield, more than politics as it seems to me. No one is willing to move even one iota away from their position.

I stay away from talking about religion as much as possible because things can get very heated.

I believe in god. I pray for 2 to 5 minutes only each day. God is my neglected parent. lol So here I come to fight god's case with you. As long as we are not hurting anybody, our actions are alright. That brings me to your specific question. I feel happy my loved one survived, even though others did not. No..I am not HAPPY...I am RELIEVED. Please check the difference. I thank god, yes, that he took care of my loved one at such time. But thanking god is not saying thank god you chose my loved one over the other! Or better he die than my loved one! Yikes nobody thinks like that. If I thought like that, I would be wrong. That would be reading too much in that innocent statement. God does very little. We do so much to ourselves. God has become very lazy because he does not have to do much ..we do his job in hospitals, we do his job in farms, his job in growing fish...he was to provide us fruits and food, we do the farming...he gets to doze. When we thank him he does get up, good for him. He will get cardiac arrest otherwise. We can't expect him to be responsible for human error in flight, or technical failure in flight. That is just an expression of relief ...thank god. No statement of thanks for giving preference to loved ones over others. If we know somebody did not make it, we do feel sorry sweetie, and they realize too that there was no ill-will when we thanked god. Effectively, it is not a bad thing. Had the shoe been in the other foot, the same would have happened. We can, at the most, be sensitive towards those around us going through similar stress about loved ones, and underplay our sense of relief. That would be signs of a good human being. It has not been mandated, but empathy is proof of intellect.

I agree with some of the members, but my view is that because God gave us free will to choose our actions, we've been destroying the earth and each other ever since the beginning of human creation. I do believe God hears our prayers and many times his answer is yes. But it can be "no" or "wait." I don't understand why some people are rescued and some are not. As children, we trust our earthly parents to do what's best for us. I trust God as my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity) to take care of me whether I understand or not.

You will never understand it until you see the power of God at work in your personal life. When things that happen defy logic or explanation and there is only one conclusion, it was God.

If you want the answer to your question, go to this link. This is the answer from Jehovah's Witnesses. Their answer is not always that "It's Satan" or "It's the demons."

You cannot understand God because He is not in your heart. Better read the bible to enlighten you.Though God said that religion cannot save your soul, but it is according ton our deeds. And that is how God does when He redeems for God owns the earth and everything that's in it. Without God, we are nothing.

I was a JW once upon a time @VivaLaDani13 . It's easier for people to believe that 'someone' or 'something' else is in control than placing the responsibility where it belongs; on us. If the End of Days is suppose to happen (Biblically), it should have happened already considering the crappy world we live in. You know what they say about a 'rumor' that is passed along changes with time; the same with religion. How do we know that what Jesus or Moses or anybody else said thousands of years ago, is actually accurate? Was Matthew, Mark, Luke or John reporters and their chapters in the Bible are hand-written, on-site versions? I don't think they had tape recorders back then; so it's easy to say that it could possibly be their 'perceptions' of what took place and what was said. I think as far as Satan is concerned, there IS evil in the world but it is brought about by 'man' and no one else.

I have no convincing answers as religion is belief without proof. There is no proper justice here and so I feel our Creator will ensure ultimate justice in his own way. Many think of after life, but what about before we came here? Our system is more of hypocrisy as though all are equal, some are treated more than equal. I am also more agnostic but believe in an all encompassing Creator. I try to understand all beliefs. We come with an inner knowing and I tend to see our Creator in His creations. When we are able to connect with others seamlessly we honor our Creator. We should get what we deserve in the end and the journey could well continue - siva

The Word of God should be our reference because it is the mind of God. So the Bible should be our reference, for you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free John 8:32, for your question i will refer you to the same word which said in all things give thanks to God for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you - 1 Thessalonians 5:17, also in Ephesians 5:20 it says always give thanks to God the father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is fact that there is evil in the World because the Bible likened the devil as a thief who comes to steal, to kill and to destroy but Jesus came to give us life more abundantly, the bible told us that the whole world lieth in wickedness but we are the children of God 1 john 5:19, so when you read all this bible verses you will understand better, you need to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior for you to be saved Romans 10:9 -10 shows you how to be born again, when this is done you receive the Holy Spirit to empower you to live a new life in Christ and become a regenerated man, then the old man that is susceptible to the life of sin will give way to a new life in Christ, because it is written and i quote 'if any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things have passed away and behold all things have become new' 2 Corinthians 5:17, So my friend you don't know what you are missing if you are not in fellowship with Christ Jesus, the life of struggling continues when you are not operating in the supernatural, when you discover who you are in Christ Jesus you will live as if there is no Devil, i want to ask you a question does the devil exist? when you reply then i can feed you more with Gods word, because you need to feed on the word of God day and night just as you eat natural food, hope from the above summary you have seen reasons to always thank God in all situations, at all times, our duty is always to give God thanks despite the condition and circumstances, Thank you for the privilege to share with you God's Word, remain Blessed.

Yes, I believe there's a God who are our creator since it's really impossible that we got here from nothing. There's a higher being, but people in a religious organization are just milking it out to serve themselves they are using the concept of god to gain power, money and influence.

you wrote something like, “How we thank God for doing something loving when there is so much crap?” and “Why are some people special enough for God to get involved with but not all” God is indeed loving. Crap happens. Sometimes it is for the best. Others times it just happens. God is not a control freak.

As a Christian I have wondered why God spares some in bad events and then other's die in those bad events. It is hard to explain but I really think that God is in control and that there is a reason for all the things that happen good and bad.

Have you ever shared a loaf of bread with your neighbours who are starving? You will enjoy the beauty and joy of 'giving' than cosuming for self. Not only you we are not doing it. I am not doing it (sometimes). This is what one has to develop, It does not require you to be rich. It needs one to be rich in his thinking and sharing (good or bad). We are all sinners. God is always great. He bestow his blessings equally on each and everyone. No one is his enemy and no one is his friend. All are equal. A friend will pray for him and takes his name and an enemy rejects him taking his name. Both are taking his name. Both are kept on equa footing. This is the greatness of the God. The moment you think about Him you are absolved of your sins.

I have always been curious about why people believe in a God when there is no scientific evidence of it and in fact science has no explanation either. I think we would be a better world without religion. One religion is pitted against the other and there are hundreds of religions. It's the cause of war and discord. I don't get it, but I believe it's just a way people choose to live because of tradition and without having to ask questions

My problem is understanding how people can believe there is a God when such terrible things happen. People are the ones who do terrible things and sometimes good things.