Why does God ......

Exactly, jingl.

I mean - I don't understand

I understand why people think God would be all-powerful. Why would he be? There is no magic involved.

Maybe God cries.

I know, Penstemmon, and I'm probably arguing a point which doesn't need arguing on this particular thread.

Good post, Mishap.

To be fair some of our human actions might be implicated in droughts and floods - but perhaps not earthquakes.

But there is no way that humans dictated the way the earth and those beings on it are constituted. We cannot take responsibility for viruses, bacteria, the bloodiness and cruelty of the food chain etc. These are simply grim facts of life, which, for those who believe in a deity, are as much god-given as a beautiful rose. So we say thank you? Or did he devil make those bits?

We do have free will, but that is simply yet another fact of life, rather than a gift; it is the same for all animals. We and they are free to act as we choose within the bounds of our physical limitations.

Yes Ana that is entirely my point! Believers in an omnipotent God are being asked why they think God permits that level of suffering.

I can understand their argument about man having 'free will' to be good or bad. I cannot understand why a loving & omnipotent God creates those natural catastrophes.

If God did create the universe etc. and gave us free will then it's up to us to cope with whatever life throws at us.

I don't understand the thinking of those who say that if there really was a 'God' then everything in the garden would be wonderful, because he/she/it wouldn't allow any suffering or natural disasters to happen.

No, that is not within human capacity.

Aren't those things down to natural causes?

Whose 'free will' is it to cause drought, flood or earthquake soontobe? As far as I know that is not within human capacity!

I asked earlier if people wanted free will.
No one has said that they dont.

If God repeatedly relieved suffering, that is repeatedly interfering with the free with that no one has said they dont want.

I guess the Christian theory is that God wants people to choose to do the right thing following the model of JC. However it does seem strange, to me, that a 'God of Love' /'Loving Father' does not use the omnipotent powers to protect innocents.
There are many good people, with faith and with none, who do work to protect vulnerable youngsters who have been, or are in danger of being, taken into prostitution.
It is the eternal battle of good vs evil. Religious people attribute the good in the world to God and the evil to the Devil and their religious leaders use heaven and hell at the carrot and whip to keep order.

I prefer to take responsibility for my own actions and try hard to do no harm to others and believe when I die that's my turn done!

I would consider myself to be a Christian and I try to be kind to others. I know many people who have no faith whatsoever who are much kinder and nicer to others than me just because that's the way they are.

I certainly don't think I am better than others because of my faith, far from it in fact. The fact that bad things happen to good people is a hard thing to come to terms with in terms of religion but I don't believe this is God's punishment.

I don't personally know any other Christians who would say people deserve what happens to them (although I am sure there are many Christians out there who do think like this).

I suppose like in all aspects of life, atheists, Christains, Muslims whatever, there are basically good people and bad people, and people who just do the best they can to live a good life and not cause or think of harm to others.

The basic question asked by the OP only arises because most religions regard their deity as being all-powerful, which causes people to ask that sort of question. Basically if an all-powerful deity is able to relieve suffering why does it not do so? It is not a question that I feel moved to ask as for me it is simply part of the reason that I cannot give credence to the existence of a deity.

"doing the 'right' thing because you want the same to be done to you, is a little 'above'"

Surely that should come right at the bottom?

I will wait for the link thanks, as I may be misunderstanding.

I would put them the other way round, if I am understanding your post correctly [which I may well not be].
It is far harder to do things you dont particularly want to do, rather than things you do.

ooops won't let me post the link- will try later, sorry.

Here is a very simple résumé of the stages, but worth having a look in more detail:

One real revelations for me, when I did my teacher training Degree as a mature student- was the study of the theory of the evolution of morality. In particular the work of Kohlberg and others, and the different stages of moral evolution. Well worth a read, if you are interested. Doing anything 'right' because on is instructed to do so, is a middle level, doing the 'right' thing because you want the same to be done to you, is a little 'above'- true free will is, of course, at a much 'higher' level.

oops! I meant to put there He does NOT bear...

God is my Heavenly Father. He does bear a whole lot of resemblance to my earthly one.

Do we spend all our adult life trying to do the will of our biological father? We don't. We make our own decisions, and any biological father who wanted to direct all the actions of his children for all their lives would be labelled a control freak.

Such men exist, of course, and some are famous/infamous. The father of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for example.

Send them to me, and I will put them straight!

For what it is worth, I dont think I personally know of anyone who thinks like Elegran's first paragraph, christian or otherwise.