There is definitely no loving God. Fact.

No RosieLeah, God exists whether people need him or not. I don't always 'need' Him but He's always here with me. Our ES doesn't need us and hasn't for nearly 5 years but we still exist.

I am sure that many folk lived by the rule of kindness long before Christ. It simply makes sense.

The 'golden rule' of loving others as ourselves is present in some form in all major religions.

Jesus Christ, born and raised a Jew, would have heard it and imbibed it through home and synagogue - He did not invent it, but restated it.

Man has the sin, it is the price we pay for being born and having free will. If there was no death, there would eventually be no life. I watch the television and see such cruelty and injustices liike everyone else, but I also see such acts if heroism and sacrifice, people laying down their lives for someone they dont even know, there is evil but goodness far outweighs it. That poor child and others like them, shouldn't have to go through that, that is down to the people that caused it to happen, men and women that inflict such acts and torture are dehumanised beings, they will never know true love.

Christ gave 'love you neighbour as yourself' when he condensed the Ten Commandments

Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself.

God is exactly where most of this so called Christian country wants him to be.... on the very periphery. The world has spent so long telling God he is immaterial and not relevant to them so they can't very well then complain when bad things happen. When beautiful things happen and they do, do these same people then say "oh how wonderful God is so good". Sorry if this sound harsh but so many books have been written on the subject of evil in the world and it is attributed to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. I don't think this forum is the right place to get into a very indepth theological discussion but suffice to say evil and bad things have always existed. We are just so much more aware of it now with the advent of advanced social media.

God does not exist, it is creation of man to provide comfort and explain things that can't be explained

Proof?

Proof from you, Annie?

Proof of what Devongirl?

That God does exist.

Believing has nothing to do with proving, in fact proving defeats the object of believing. I had to go to Sunday school as a child , it taught me to question everything ,distrust many things , & to always try to find some sort of proof or actual facts to substantiate anything that I'm told or anything I hear or read .

Of course that is the answer, norose4, but by the same token, why should someone be asked for proof that God doesn't exist? Surely that is also a matter of belief.

Exactly Devongirl, it cannot be proved or disproved one way or the other. I seriously have friends who believe in fairies.

Then pointless stating something as fact if it cannot be proved isn't it? I choose to say I believe in God and respect those who say I don't believe in God.

You are right Annie, it it pontless to look for proof that God exists or that God does not exist.

Faith means belief without objective proof.

We should let people believe what they like and practice their religion or philosophy however they wish as long as it does not restrict the freedom of others or harm society.

Just re read the title of this thread, so would just like to say if there is a God he definitely is not 'loving ' and going back to the writings of the Bible , in the Old Testament he was allegedly forever inciting war & for tribes to rise up & smote other tribes, thankfully (according to the bible) he realised it wasn't a very nice thing to do, so sent his son to show us the way, but by having his son killed in the most barbaric way ! ??

Our beliefs systems have changed throughout our existence. This is simply another particular period we are going through with world religions being dominant at the moment. This will change and a different evolved belief system will eventually take our current arrangement.

I agree with the OP that there is no loving heavenly father. To claim that there is is a unusual notion of what a father does.

However there is no need, because of loss of childish belief in Santa Claus -type God, to lose faith in eternal goodness.

I think, ( and it is just my own opinion, and I'm sure many will disagree), that it is we humans (some, not all) who do the bad and evil things, not God.

I do not agree with you.
Jesus was with that little boy in his suffering, just as he is with my 10 year old grandson who has suffered since his birth. He cannot walk, talk, is fed through a tube into his stomach, as well as many other problems. Yet he still maintains the most adorable smile.
Love transcends all pain, and if you allow Jesus into life, then you will know what I am talking about.
The Good News is that we cannot die, because Jesus, the son of God died for all of us, and his love is unconditional. God gave us free choice - he did not create wars - man does that. One day all will be revealed, meanwhile love and show to all those you meet.

God Bless

NannyC nice post. Sorry your grandson and family have so much to cope with.

NannyC2for me your post is proof that God exists. I hope He blesses you and your family.

Luckygirl thanks for the Epicurus says exactly what needs to be said.
But as for those who believe in god what do you think happens to someone who kills or commits acts of evil because they believe their god requires it of them?
What about someone who commits evil acts and then finds religion just before he/she dies will they be forgiven?
I can understand that it might be comforting to believe in a god when there are traumatic events in your family, but looking at the wider world must cast doubts on that.
As for those who claim god couldn't intervene, didn't he part the Red Sea for the Israelites? Are we to assume he has since lost interest and now can't be bothered?

There's a huge difference trisher in believing in God and some one believing in "their god". If someone who has committed and act or acts of evil finds God, not just religion, and truly repents then God will forgive them. It's a difficult concept for us to grasp but is God's promise to all.

It is difficult to understand why such terrible things happen in this world but they are examples of man's inhumanity to man, and not God's. We continue to live with trauma within our own family and our belief in God sustains us, perhaps because it is belief in God rather than a god. He has also shown us that He has neither lost interest or can't be bothered.