There is definitely no loving God. Fact.

Ana you can nit-pick my words but I was really seeking a philosophical answer as to how a god who made the earth, which would be a fantastic thing to do, has no control over such disasters.

It seems that believers don't blame god for anything bad that happens in the world, but sing his praises for good events.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, viruses, volcano eruptions, bacteria, predation - all natural, all grim from humanity's point of view, and not our fault. Part of the design of the world - what might the "designer" have had in mind I wonder?

It is very hard to imagine a LOVING god watching these children suffer and deciding not to use his/her/its omnipotence to intervene. What a puzzle.

Well you did say

I'm genuinely curious as to how believers can love and worship a god who sends such destruction.

Perhaps those who believe in God don't believe he 'sends' natural disasters, that's all. They just are what they are - natural disasters. Not all believers blame God for everything that happens in the world.

Any more takers on the earthquake question?

The reason I ask this is, there is surely no greater natural catastrophe that can hit communities ..... and they were documented long before nuclear experiments, space travel, global warming, or any other man-made interference with the elements that it could possibly be blamed on.

I certainly don't think , God gets bored so sends an earthquake to brighten his day

Did anyone suggest such a silly thing?

We can have free choice with or without a god, or a loving god as the questioner has posed.

But a loving God could look kindly on terrified children and find a way to help them. That's all.

If you were wanting God to control everything it would do away with any free choice.
There is also 'where do you draw the line'? It makes it all black and white whereas there are lots of shades of grey.
How do you save someone from a disease when a cure hasn't been discovered? If you say the disease shouldn't be there does that mean that people's lifestyle doesn't have consequences? Does God not allow a person to be an alcoholic and destroy their liver or does he just magic away the consequences?
If someone decides to do extreme skiing does God make sure that life isn't at risk? Or is it OK if someone dies because they were a racing car driver but not if they were crossing a road when the green man was showing?
I could go on and on. It opens more questions than it would answer.
I prefer free choice, with all the flaws.

I certainly don't think , God gets bored so sends an earthquake to brighten his day

I will give an answer to earthquakes etc, - I don't know , but my knowledge of movements around continents is nil sorry

Who's to say he 'sent' it though? Presumably if God created the universe, including the earth, the planets, stars etc. he designed them to all have their own natural but unpredictable climates and eco-structure and just let 'em get on with it...we have to cope as best we can!

Grey the OP did refer to a man-made victim but that was answered with the usual men have free will and so it's not god's fault, which I fully understand and agree with; but then I went on to ask about earthquakes, which certainly can't be blamed on man.

I'm genuinely curious as to how believers can love and worship a god who sends such destruction.

I may have misconstrued this, but I thought that the original poster was questioning why a loving God could not intervene to save a child who was a victim of war, not a natural disaster.

I'm with the minority of grans - I am an athiest

Grey I assume that the majority of GN believers are of one of the three major faiths in this country, so they all believe in one god who is said to be benevolent.

This is what some of us are questioning, i.e. if their god is benevolent why do terrible, NON MAN-MADE/NATURAL DISASTERS, happen?

(Caps for effect, so no-one comes up with, free will and all that.)

Nor me.

Aren't we kind of letting the concept of "God" run away with us? We are talking about Christian God. What about all the other faiths that have more than one god, and civilisations down through history and pre-history, who have believed in their own gods, which seem no more than totemic to us. Good and bad things (some of them very bad indeed) happened to them. Perhaps 'our' God is totemic. I have been known to offer up a silent prayer without knowing to whom or what, but this idea of a divine being who could intervene to stop bad things happening but who sits there with his arms folded while people are being burnt at the stake for the sake of their faith doesn't sit well with me.

Lucky I try not to associate believers with oppression, mutilation, hatred, etc., as I think they're cultural constructs which are associated with those of religious faith, and those with none.

I'm more interested in the nitty-gritty ....... like the pesky earthquakes which I hope someone of faith will answer!

Chopping off hands, flogging, executions........

And I have respect for others' beliefs up to a point - or several points really: fundamentalism, child mutilation (either sex), suppression of women, hatred of gays...........

I am not an atheist, I am an agnostic - which means I do not know - just like every other human being. None of us know.

Doubt you will have cause soon, how can you believe God has favourites , he said - you are honoured in my eyes and I love you. He did not say Jo Blogs you are honoured in my eyes and I love you,

Annie I understand the father and the teaching bit and the following of a map ..... but, and I ask this is all niceness and without hostility, why would a god send earthquakes?

As Jings said, you believe he made this earth, so he's extremely well-placed to control it.

I will tell you everytime I agree with you on this thread if you want Anniebach.

As I probably said before, I disagree with Anniebach about no one being favoured by God.

Luckygirl, we dont tell God off when things go badly[I dont], because everything is up to him.

I dont know why he created us jingl. I probably should know, so I will have a think.