I Must Be Stupid

These are some of the things I just do not understand.  I must be stupid.

Does God really care who wins football games or elections or is he the one who deserves the credit for home runs and touchdowns?  If so, let’s just form prayer leagues and wait for God to tell someone who should win the election.  If not, let’s stop praying and pointing the heavens.

If God answers prayers why doesn’t some Christian pray that God end childhood cancer, birth defects and child abuse?

If it is God’s plan that children die of cancer, birth defects and abuse what the hell kind of plan is that if you want to call this deity a god of love?

If God is a loving being who encourages us to forgive each other why is he still punishing us for the behaviors of Adam and Eve?  Why does he threaten us with eternal torture if we do not behave?

Why do Believers pray to ask God to do what the pray-er wants him to do but ends the prayer by telling God to do whatever God wants to do?

If believers believe all things are possible with God, then why is God so stingy in granting prayers?

Does the believer’s God need the government support for his policies?  What kind of powerful God is that?

If believers believe God answers prayers then why do all the prayer studies show that there is no difference in outcomes for sick people whether they believe or not, pray or not?

Did God write the Bible?  Did God dictate the Bible?  Or was it written by men and changed many, many times before the final edition? 

Do believers believe the Bible is the literal word of God?  If so, why don’t they support the stoning death of anyone with a divorce, or adulterers?  If not, why not pick other verses that would be easier to ignore?  If believers can choose to ignore whatever verses they choose to ignore, why would we call this a holy book and follow it at all?

If God is in control do we have free will?  If he is not in control, why pray to him or worship him at all? 

Why do believers believe God has a plan, a plan that cannot be seen, cannot be understood, cannot be known by humans, but still believe there is such a thing?

Why when terrible things happen do believers simply say that is part of God’s plan?  Why not simply say God’s plan sucks?  Why does God’s plan include so much suffering?

Why did God choose to reveal himself to a small, illiterate, nomadic group instead of to the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Sumarians and other cultures that had a written language at the time of his revelation?  As a result the Old Testament evolved from an oral history and was changed multiple times before it was ever codified.

If it was OK for Thomas to doubt the resurrected Jesus why isn’t OK for the rest of us to do the same without some proof?  Why doesn’t God offer some kind of proof, perform some kind of miracle, post a selfie on Facebook, send us a text, etc., so we all know he is real? 

If the answer to all the above is “one must have faith” is that not the same answer that was given when believers opposed the notion that the earth was spherical, that we orbited the sun, that the planet was billions of years old, that evolution is a fact, that slavery is bad and that a woman has the right to vote and own property?  All of that stuff is in the Bible too.  Why doesn’t truth veto faith?

How can a person of science be a believer in such non-verified mythology? 

Given the teachings of Jesus, how can a believer be politically conservative?

Why do believers make so many excuses for their God’s lack of presence or impact?  Might as well believe in Zeus.

If our souls are eternal, how can we have a beginning?

Why is it so hard to understand that there will be a time when we die and we will have no self-awareness, no consciousness just as it was before we were born?

Where is heaven?  Where is hell?  They are clearly not up and down.  How can we measure so much and not have the GPS coordinates for a place that houses billions of eternal life forms?

Were there souls in heaven prior to Jesus?  If so, why did Jesus have to die?  Why not keep the same method?  Why couldn’t God figure out a way to save humans without killing his only son?

If Jesus had the power to come down from the cross, then wasn’t his crucifixion really suicide?

If God had the power to save Jesus from the cross and didn’t then wasn’t God guilty of negligent homicide?

Why is there no external, non-believer accounts of the New Testament events?  Or even the life of Jesus?

Why are there no original copies of the Gospels or other New Testament scrolls?  Wouldn’t God want to protect those?

Why did it take 400 years for the “church” to decide what was really “gospel” and what was not? 

Why does each iteration of the scrolls have changes from the previous iteration?  If this is God’s word how did men gain the power to edit it?

Knowing what we know, isn’t it truly more likely that we made God in our image and not vice versa?

There are more, so many more questions.  Guess I am just stupid. 

Or is it folly to ask rational questions when it comes to belief in mythology?  Just can’t convince 6 year olds there is no Santa.