Why does God ......

They or perhaps I should say we are supposed to be trying to do Gods will. We may not always succeed, or succeed well, but we are supposed to be trying.

Yes, granjura the conviction that only one section of society knows how to be "good" or "nice" and if you are not Christian then you must have no charity and no conscience is a very patronising one.

Very often in sermons and religious literature there is reference to the congregation or readers as "children" and to God as "father". That is a very nice and comfortable concept for believers, of human beings as immature and in need of a rulebook and a stern but loving father to keep them on the straight and narrow path to his approval. No need to think, or to balance what will be the best action, just ask father, he has it all worked out.

But we bring up our earthly children to be independent of us, to use their experience and initiative and common sense to make their own decisions. When they are grown-up, they love their brothers and sisters because of the personal links they have with them, not because father says they must. They act for the benefit of the whole community, not just for their own selfishness, because they are a oart of that community. They look after the weak and the young and old because they need help, not because that is what father says they must do.

Perhaps when the human race was young, and had not long graduated from being half ape, they needed a strong intelligent leader who would use his powers to keep the troupe in order - and if he was brighter than they were, perhaps he could formulate a code of law and present it to them as what an even stronger leader than him had laid down.

But we have grown in sophistication and we are able to discuss ethics man-to-man (and woman-to-woman) without having the concepts handed to us ready-made, with heaven as a bribe if we are good, and the eternal fires of hell as a deterrent to being bad.

Becoming a christian is partly about obeying God, which involves giving up self will.

I agree that after that, some christians behave less charitibly than some non believers.

I feel the same granjura, 'do as you would be done unto'.
I'm not at all convinced that God has anything to do with it, more of an intuitive action, as you say it makes sense.
DH doesn't understand me behaving like this, he's far less 'giving'. Perhaps upbringing has something to do with it, my mum was incredibly generous to others, but neither of my sisters behaves this way and MiL wouldn't do anything for anyone unless she got something in return (and she was a three times a week church-goer!)

It certainly sounds weird to me, as well! I can hardly believe that some Christians think like that - they must have a very narrow view of the world.

Yes, I do (want free will)- and I dream of people doing the right thing because it makes sense, and because this is what evolved humans do, and what is best for all (and for us too). It may sound really arrogant to you, but humans are able to make the right choices, for the right reasons and without God, or some God or super power telling them what to do.

A few years ago, I met a young Polish/Lithuanian couple in the countryside, as I was walking. We began to chat- and it was clear they were knew to the area and were keen to meet people. As we walked back to town together, and we arrived at our house, I invited for coffee. We invited them for lunch a week later, to make them feel welcome. We then discovered he was a preacher for an Evangelical Church. We helped them in lots of ways, giveing them furniture and all sorts of bits and pieces, first for themselves, then for their community. His wife one day said she was so surprised, because I was so helpful to them and open- and yet I was not a Christian. How do you know what do do, she asked? Just makes sense, was my answer. She was absolutely taken aback. Met this kind of reaction again and again. Weird, as far as I am concerned.

Hi, Alie Greenblob

(Hello, cousin green-blob)

It is not just that people want free will, it is that most people believe that we have it.

Whether we were made by a supremely all-powerful being or we evolved to be what we are from a single-celled organism in the primeval swamps, we have analytical brains which take in information and process it to work out the best way to proceed, within the limits of our environment and the moral and/or social mores we have absorbed.

If God made us "in his own image" then he must have programmed in that ability, and chosen it from his own characteristics as something which we should have. You don't design a robot with qualities that it is not at liberty to use. Not to use it would be waste and ingratitude.

If we are the descendants of a tiny green blob, that is pretty good going, and we should not squander our progress by abandoning ourselves to the vagaries of chance, or the coding of a master programmer.

(I am proud of my upwardly mobile green-blob ancestors, BTW)

Thank you Soutra.

Do people want free will?
I appreciate that this is a hypothetical question. And I dont really know the answer myself.

True !

I agree Vampirequeen although it is people who believe in God that use this excuse when they don't have any other answer.

God uses the freewill cop out all the time.

Unlike the Pope, apparently...

Soontobe clearly feels she has a responsibility to defend the "God corner" and while I totally disagree with the sentiments or what I see as banal Biblical justification, I respect you soontobe for attempting to meet the challenge and answer an unanswerable question!

Isn't this thread just going over the same ground the Stephen Fry one covered?

Difficult question.
Yes, it is that free will answer.

God doesnt intervine all the time. That takes away free will.
God sometimes intervenes when someone has prayed. Sometimes, but not always.

One could ask all sorts of questions along the same line, for example "why the holocaust?"

If she has been taught that god is all-powerful, then it was reasonable for her to ask the pope her question.

She 'deserves' to hear what people think. That's what I think. Someone who thinks something else can say so.

If the child who asked the question believes in God she deserves an answer other than that (some people believe) God doesn't exist.

Indeed.

The answer is "God doesn't*.

Well if the Pope doesn't know the answer I'm not sure if any GN will!