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 A man pauses at a memorial of crosses near the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, the scene of last week's mass shooting.
July 26th, 2012
02:49 PM ET
My Take: CNN readers' 7 answers to 'Where was God in Aurora?'
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Over the last few days, CNN’s Belief Blog has received more than 10,000 responses to its question, “Where was God in Aurora?” The underlying concern here has vexed theologians for centuries: How can evil happen in a world that is lorded over by a good and all-powerful God? As CNN's readers struggled to make sense of God's presence (or absence) in the Aurora, Colorado, massacre, I counted seven different answers to this question: 1. There is no God. Self-professed atheists may make up only 2% of the U.S. population, but they are extraordinarily active online, and on CNN's Belief Blog. A commenter who identified as Jason spoke for them when he wrote, “Where was God? He was where he has always been. Nowhere because God does not exist.” Bob Dobbs agreed: “God is imaginary. The question is moot.” Many in this camp also quoted the ancient Greek philosopher (and skeptic) Epicurus:
2. Don’t blame God, blame Satan. Many theists on the site described the world as a battleground between God, who is working for good, and Satan, who is working for evil. “As long as Satan is loose to promote evil, bad things will happen to good people,” wrote kat. 3. Don’t blame God, blame us. Probably the most common response from Christian commenters was that evil is a result of free will. Do we really want to be “puppets” or “robots"? Of course not. So God has given us the will to choose either evil or good. Watch: Survivor of massacre says he forgives gunman Believer summed up this position well:
Here Deborah also chimed in: “This act of violence was not God's will. I get so tried of people blaming God for evil acts. Humans of their own free will do evil things.” 4. God was behind the massacre, and it was just. Some believers saw God’s righteous hand in the Aurora massacre, inflicting a just punishment on a wayward nation now run by secular liberals rather than conservative Christians. Lenny wrote:
Read: The man who made Aurora’s iconic crosses Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, took a similar tack in an appearance on the Heritage Foundation's "Istook Live" radio show, laying the blame at the feet of a nation that has turned away from its God:
5. God was present at the massacre but with the victims, not the perpetrator One classic claim in the Abrahamic tradition of Jews, Christians and Muslims is that God is with those who suffer - the poor and the oppressed. Some commenters saw God’s miraculous hand in the midst of this suffering, not causing it to happen but bringing it to an end. “This may sound crazy,” wrote Diana, “but I believe God had a hand in that the gun jammed so that more people weren’t killed.” CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The most common claim in this category came from peacemaker, who wrote, “God is and was with the victims and s/he is weeping.” In a more explicitly Christian vein, Lauren wrote: “He was there in the theater, pierced by bullets with the victims. He was scarred by the shrapnel. His eyes were scorched with gas and then burned with tears as He mourned alongside the broken.” 6. Which God? Some commenters interrogated the question itself, arguing that the knots it twists us into are rooted in what commenter Ego_Death called “a false idea of what God is.” After all, the problem of evil in a world ruled by a sovereign and good God only presents itself if you posit one personal God who is both good and all-powerful. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Referring to "our idea of a human-like personal God" as "an ancient myth," Northstar56 wrote:
Evoking something more akin to the “watchmaker” God of the deists, who makes the world and its laws and then refuses to intervene in its operation, Norm wrote: “God is not involved in our everyday mundane activities. How arrogant of man to think he’s the center of the universe and has God’s constant attention and every action is ‘God’s will.’” Taking a different tack, "varun" invoked the teachings of the beloved Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita:
7. Who knows? It’s a mystery Agnosticism is a rare virtue in the United States nowadays, but there were a few commenters who admitted to something less than the absolute certainty exhibited by atheists and evangelicals alike. "The answer," wrote Terry, "is we don't know where he was." Fluffy the Gerbil of Doom saw this "God works in mysterious ways" move as “ultimate cop-out/rationalization,” but I am not so sure. In September 1862, in the midst of a much greater American tragedy, Abraham Lincoln wrote a private “Meditation on the Divine Will” in which he struggled to make sense of what God was doing in the Civil War. He later reworked those reflections into his second inaugural address, one of the greatest speeches in American history. Surveying the corpse-ridden landscape of North and South, Lincoln observed, “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.” Clearly there was little good in slavery, he reasoned, yet equally clearly God was not giving a swift and sure victory to the Union. So what was God up to? In the end, Lincoln had to admit he did not know. Or, as he put it, “The Almighty has His own purposes.” I suppose this is in a sense a “cop-out,” but it is a humble one, uninfected by the absolute certainties (either pro- or anti-God) that have shed more blood on earth than agnosticism ever will. It is also a classic example of answering a question with a question: What is God doing with this war? Who knows? “Josephpusateri” also answered our question with a question. His comment was in my view the best of the hundreds I read, so I will end with it here:
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero. soundoff (4,074 Responses)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of 
Self-professed atheists may make up only 2% of the U.S. population, but they are extraordinarily active online.
Yup, the Self-professed atheists are the loudest people online.
That is because they are the Evangelists for their Fundamentalist religion called Neo-Atheism.
They even have their high priests like Richard Dawkins
yes, and not-collecting stamps is my hobby
rAmen
Then why do you care so much that you are always trying to convert people to your "enlightened" way of thinking?
"A" is a prefix meaning without, or lack of.
"Theism" is the belief in a god or gods.
"Atheism" is a lack of belief in a god or gods. That is all.
How can an atheist "convert" someone?
Why would he want to do so? I don't see many atheists here trying to force others to think what they think. I do see a number of believers here claiming that they alone know the 'real truth' and attempting to blame our secular government and the separation of church and state for these murders.
@Menno
No one is trying to "convert" anyone. An atheist can only hope for a person to understand the ridiculousness of their religion and reject it, conversion on the other hand involves proselytizing and rites and oaths.
You can say an atheist "proselytizes" but you and I both know that's not exactly true. Atheists only point out flaws and illogical reasoning and are able to back it up, they aren't going to door to door with a richard dawkins book, or opening up soup kitchens/hospitals to prey on the vulnerable or going to africa with food in one hand a bible in the other. That's strictly in the domain of religion.
Tommy Boy and Chuckles
You are the ultimate examples of "trying to get converts."
Look at your own posts. They are filled with it.
If you didn't care to convert then you would not be here trying to convince people of your world view. I bet you guys are the ones at the party who sit around with a beer and mock everything that you don't agree with.
You mush have loads of friends.
You're not big on reading comprehension, are you?
Well if you practiced what you preached and read our posts you would know that Tom Tom is a girl.
As for me, please point out in my other posts where I'm trying to convert someone. Just give me one quote please.
hmm, you seem to know me really well, and when did i try to "convert" people?
Really? Tom Tom is a girl? Tom Tom...you got some nice tatties? Are the built for speed or pleasure?
Tommy:
What is evil? Something that makes you uncomfortable?
Adam
1. The most plausible, and most parsimonious.
2. An argument for the impotence of "god."
3. A pathetic, self-defeatist casuistry.
4. A wretched, self-defeatist casuistry.
5. An exegesis of convienence, also an argument against the supreme agency of "god."
6. Good point. Also an argument for strong Agnosticism.
7. An arguement for strong Agnosticism, i.e. de-facto Atheism.
Athiest
There's still no god.
Use the free will and intelligence you have and stop being a puppet for money shakedown organizations who perpetrate hoaxes on you.
Until you morons realize DERRRRP, ITS JUST US ON PLANET EARTH, and we better all WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE LIFE BETTER, you will go on blaming god, or blaming the devil, or blaming muslims, or whatever.
Take CONTROL of your lives.
There is no GOD. There is no Heaven. There is no hell. There is no devil.
THERE IS ONLY US ON THIS PLANET.
Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Neo-Atheists.
@Menno
That was some impressive stupidity. It had everything. Caps, incoherency, and the kind of crazy misrepresentation that only religious zealotry can give you.
hawaiiguest,
I couldn't agree with you more. Looks like some really zealous religious nuts doesn't it?
But no, they aren't trying to evangelize, they are just shouting "truth" from the mountaintops.
Loudest 2% in the nation.
@Menno
Awww how lovely that you can use selective responses as well. So tell me, how is what you spouted exclusive to atheism? What was the whole point of your incoherent idiocy? Were you actually trying to convey something or just make it as unclear as possible?
I think the word Menno is looking for is *deconvert* Atheism is the default position (just as disbelief in fairies or any other enti.ty for which there is no evidence). Therefore when a non-believer is criticizing one aspect of belief or another, he may be trying to deconvert you, but not convert you. Atheism isn't something that you convert to, but when you deconvert from theism (whichever type of theism), it is the default.
And to Menno's defense, many of the atheists on here are definitely trying to deconvert people.
Sweetie, the quote you posted wasn't mine.
@Menno
I specifically asked for a quote from one of MY earlier posts to show that I was "proselytizing". As shown, you could find none.
Secondly, the quotes you did find are from atheists stating views, that's not prosletyzing. Calling someone stupid for believing in god is the not the same as telling someone to become an atheists. I doubt you'll see the difference, but believe me when I say, there's a pretty big one.
hawaiiguest,
You good at reading aint' you?
Thank you again for proving my point that you guys are fanatics
Tommy, but you posted it you claimed it as yours.
But thanks for calling my sweetie and not a name.
Chuckles. You are correct, I lumped you into the group of the radicals and yours are not as radical as others. Sorry, I was am wrong,
But then again do do go on to write:
"Secondly, the quotes you did find are from atheists stating views, that's not prosletyzing. Calling someone stupid for believing in god is the not the same as telling someone to become an atheists. I doubt you'll see the difference, but believe me when I say, there's a pretty big one."
Nope, don't see the difference.
They are the same thing.
Ridiculing somebody's beliefs and then saying that yours are correct?
Your only answer is "believe me"? Sounds like an evangelist for Atheism to me.
@Menno
You realize that you're only making yourself look dumb. Your post had no coherency, and no point. You did not represent anything except your own inability to be intelligent.
Hi MennoKnight. Thanks for quoting me! I'm glad you liked what I wrote! Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
@Menno
The difference is easy.
A christian doesn't go to Africa and say tell a bu.shman, "You're wrong and I'm right" (well that's not what their MAIN goal is anyway). They go and say, "You're wrong, I'm right but you can be right by giving up everything and joining me"
The difference is subtle, so I'll walk you through it. Atheism is something that a person comes to on their own time. You can't make someone an atheist by simply di.pping them into some water or have them say that science is the one and only way. It's a process that can only happen once you begin to understand religion and both theistic context and historical and understand a ful.ler picture.
If you were to become an atheist tomorrow I would be pretty susp.icious and probably ask you to do a little more thinking before becoming one. Proselyization's goal is to win over members by aggressive marketing tactics through door to door canvassing, ads, websites, etc...., Keep in mind, not all religions proselytize (see: Hinduism, Judaism), but are still confident of their religions veracity and will tell anyone about it.
Comprende?
Chuckles
The only reason you see a difference is that you have deluded yourself. And what you said about your atheism is so not true about going to nations and telling them your mantras.
Have you not seen on buses and on billboards sayings such as "There is no god, get over it and enjoy life." That my friend is proselytizing.
All I am pointing out to you is the the hypocrisy that you, the 2% "devout" atheists have in spreading your "good word"
And hawaiiguest, simply read the discussion before you showed up. The wonderful thing about you is that all your comments brilliantly show my point, you are proselytizing your faith in Atheism.
Talk about delusion....
Menno, you have to understand a couple of things. First, an "atheist" ad may well exist (I've never seen them) but it's still far from proselytizing, because again, and heres the difference you keep failing to understand. It's one thing to point out if you believe someone is wrong, it's another to try and get them to join you. I understand your tiny brain is probably having issues with such a distinction but mainly, when you see an ad that says, "God doesn't exist get over it" (essentially), no where does it say "Become an atheist" it just points out you're wrong. I refer again to my examples of religions that also don't proselyte: Judaism and Hinduism.
As for "atheistic faith" – a sad attempt to try and drag an atheist down to your level and beat me with your faith. As if by characterizing atheism as a religion in of itself you can equate the two. It's pathetic really, but people of your ilk have no problem being disingenuous in order to win.
As Carl Sagan used to say, absence of a belief is not a belief. Menno can try to hold on to his xtian belief given out by the churches that it's only 2% of the population, but that's not even close. Most recent polls show that between no faith or a lack of any religious affiliation it's at least 10%.
I've also noticed a direct correlation beween religion and intelligence. The stronger the belief, the less brain power is used. I still say it's a drug and that it's also a form of mental illness.
"Most recent polls show that between no faith or a lack of any religious affiliation it's at least 10%."
I would guess that the lack of religious affiliation makes up the vast majority of that 10%.
If you don't want God in our nation, stop complaining when people are dying from left to right.
LOL! You're obviously as delusional as Fred Phelps.
How 'bout from right to left?
No more silly than your post.
Actually, the death rate in this country has been dropping at the same time as the belief rate. We liver longer, healthier and safer lives than at any time in the past. Apparently doubting and/or disbelieving in gods is correlating with an improved lifespan.....
Like you moniker you make no sense.
It's time America stops obsessing about the myth of the Sky Gods, think for a just a second... do you really think a Sky God planned this world... a world where people slaughter each other with machine guns. When will people start thinking for themselves?
Funny you say that because many of the greatest minds in the world (including our founding father) stated as soon as our nation stops believing, we will faulter as a nation because of it.
Now you can always name off the little tidbits of reason(s) why our nation isn't what it use to be, but anyone can agree that we have moved from being morally right to being politically correct. Regardless if you believe in god or not. We can all agree we were a much better nation when we did.
If you remember God went away and took is son with him because he was sick of all the crap we do down here. So we are all dead in sin. So he lets all this happen because we rejected him 2000 years ago. But he will return some day and all you athesists will finally disappear and go down to the pit to join Mr. Holmes. That's unless you repent and accept him.
Qman, so we were a much better nation when we were still enslaving the black and Chinese people and still slaughtering the natives to steal their land? Get out of here.
Atheists also don't beg for money on tv, or send atheist missionaries out to "save souls" by trying to convert people who already have their own religion. It's the ultimate form of religious conceit. Then they tell these people they are trying to "save" that they are there to teach english to them. Lying for Jesus is generally accepted by the xtian community as long the results are there.
God is a just God. If God took away the free will of the shooter in Aurora, the 9/11 terrorist, Hitler or any one how has committed evil crimes, then he would have to step in and take away ours as well. As the scripture says in Matthew 5:45
"In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike."
but i thought god designed every aspect of this universe, including just exactly how every second of history will be written?
you are dumb.
Well God was there, God sees everything in this world He says in the Bible that there is evil out there and that we must be alert, but we must have faith in God, just like wind that we cannot see we can also not see God, the only thing is we must have faith and know that God's Will will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Look what happened to one of the girls who was barely shot in the head and they diagnosed something that could have shortened her life here on earth, but why did they find it? God has a plan for her and maybe we will hear from her again in the future.
So the little girl that died was clearly part of his plan, along with the dad that died in his teenage daughter arms.
I gotta say this, your god is a poor planner.
I have no idea where the 2% comes from. Nonbelievers are closer to 20% of the USA population.
I guess it depends on your definition. Nonbeliever can be a broad term and in this instance I think the article is strictly referring to self professed atheists.
Right you are. "nones" were found to be over 19% in a recent poll. However many of those people who answer "none of the above" on the religion question have been conditioned to think atheism is some sort of faith position equal to religion. This is, of course, not the case but it doesn't stop people from shying away from the word. Self-professed atheists, as the columnist put it, are well below 20%, but I have to believe they are over 2% – and fortunately we are growing.
But not being involved in a religion does not necessarily mean that you do not believe in some sort of higher power.
the imaginary poll you just took in your head?
JW – that's also true. I'm just glad "nones," if they were a denomination, would be the second largest in the country.
Based on – here you go: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-07-19/no-religion-affiliation/56344976/1
Unfortunately, atheists are thought of in the same concept as child molesters (Bush Jr said that) or as Satan worshippers. Well, we think satan worshipping is just as silly as god worshipping. And praying will accomplish just as much as reading chicken entrails. Actually, praying is just another form of bio-feedback or using a mantra. Makes the person praying feel good but does nothing for the person being prayed for.
Why would God be where he isn't wanted? As a whole nation, we have become a nation without God and then when these things happens, you want to blame him? Ha, what a laugh! Blame science, blame the individual because God had nothing to do with this and besides, who is to say that every person that was killed even believed in God anyway? Except for the child, of course, I know she is with God, but I can't speak for the rest of them. I pray that ALL of them are R.I.P.
Blame science? For what? Science is no more to "blame" for anything than it ever was.
Crimes like this have occurred throughout history, including eras when many more people were believers.
Who invented the deadly weapons? Science and technology, right? So let's blame those who has made it easy for psychos to get these deadly weapons.
yes, we should totally blame Boeing for 911. makes perfect sense.
By that logic, atheist4christ, you would have to credit the lives of about 6.5 billion of the currently living 7 billion people on the planet to science and technology, since it is exactly that which allowed us to be here in the first place. You think we would all be here if not for the industrial revolution, modern agriculture or modern medicine?
How ridiculous can you possibly be?
Try to remember that science also saved the lives of the victims in the ER.I do not believe any of the saints were there to help out with miraculous healings.Were they?
He would not be there because the Abrihamic god of the bible exists as much as the islamic one and as much as the jeudaic one. All three cultres clash over who's right and guess wich one actually is.
"Where God tears great gaps we should not try to fill them with human words".
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Where God tears great gaps we should not try to fill them with human words.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
You would think that a Professor of Religion i.e. Stevey P would be able to tell where and who god is but alas he simply summarizes what others think.
You pose many questions, but we (you included) obviously do not possess the mind to answer. Perhaps the answer lies beyond our mental capabilities?
Or perhaps the first answer is correct.
I know God was there. Even in this time of loss and sorrow, the good in people still came out and communities banded together and became stronger. http://bstrait.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/a-miracle-inside-the-the-aurora-shooting-one-victims-story/ <<even a miracle took place. We make our own choices. James Holmes made his and while influenced by "The Joker" he may have thought that society can't pick itself back up and is corrupt, but we did and are still doing so. Whether or not you believe in God at least we can find light in this time of darkness. #aurora
Religious folks have an answer for everything. It's God's will....but that would make god evil. No, it's satan taking over....that would make god not so all-powerful. No, it's 'our' fault because we have free will....huh? It amazes me that a majority of people actually believe that some version of a diety monitors and judges the thoughts and actions of all of one species temporarily occupying a tiny spec in a vast universe.
So what you are saying is that as humans, we're no more important than protozoa or bacterium or other organisms on the earth?
@Romans
We're only a little more important insofar as we have the idea of importance and can assign importance to different things, places and events. If you're asking are we more important than the protozoa to say, an alien in an uncharted star system, then yes, we're no more important than any other speck of dust according to them.
So if we're no more important than bacteria or protozoa or a squirrel then shouldn't we prosecute everyone who uses 409 or bleach to kill bacteria?? Or everytime an Eagle kills a fish?? If that's the case, then why should we prosecute anyone who murders other humans if we're not that important or no more important than a single celled amoeba???
Without such organisms we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be able to digest food. It is not opinion, but fact that the earth is an ever evolving planet and that eventually, life as we presently know it will be impossible. So if there were a God, his grand design has many flaws.....
Romans: In the big view of things, yes. Make each day valuable but in the end, you die, just like those little creatures you mention. They are forgotten, we will be. The end.
@Romans – you hit on the human condition. "we" think we are more important....and we are – to us...but not to anything else.
What is taking place on Earth right now can be considered a proving ground. God's sovereignty was challenged by one of His own creations. A perfect creation that thought he could do a better job then his Creator. This being's first act was to get another creation, man, to also challenge God's wisdom and to disobey. But being God, in which there is no evil, He set into motion a way for mankind to regain what was lost and that was a sacrifice of His very first creation whom, we call Jesus. The challenge is still going on as even Jesus acknowledged who was currently having sway over the Earth amd misguiding mankind into believing what is exhibited in us today, greed, lust, murder, lying and a host of other evils. No, mankind isn't perfect but some of mankind tries very hard to live by standards of love thy neighbor, do not steal, do not kill, be honest, do not slander, but the weakest of mankind can't or won't understand this. They live under a belief that says mankind can solve all of its problems, to them I say mankind has had over 2000 plus years to do that and yet there is still hunger, still disease, still famine. There are those that say evolution is the answer, again I say if mankind is evolving and this act is part of the proof then just what are we evolving into. All I can say in ending is God is where each individual has Him, in your heart or not, for reference I submit Hebrews 1:1.
@Romans
Had you read the first part of my sentence you would understand my meaning. We are important because we can assign importance. Why prosecute people for murder? Because as a society we've deemed that unacceptable.
Is it really that difficult to live in a world where we are only as important as we decide we are?
Ok so what's worse....
6 million Jews being exterminated in Europe
Or
6 million bacteria being killed on my kitchen countertop this morning?
@The Woof – all the characteristics you list could be (and are) arrived at by a humanist, with no "god" required. Basic morality is innate, and we choose to do good or bad. Atheists are as charitable, if not more so than religious folks because we place a higher value on life right here, right now. We do not dismiss our mistakes by asking some imaginary being for "forgiveness" and then all is ok. That is how believers justify immoral behavior. It's quite pathetic.
@Horus: Atheists are more charitable??? Statistics please.....I assume that you have some?
@Romans – well that would depend on your position. I suspect the bacteria would hold a different opinion 😉
@Romans – do your own homework. Stats are for the easily manipulated.
@Romans
Is that a joke? Of course it's the people, because you know, murder is wrong. This could be for a couple of different reasons. 1) I believe murder is wrong 2) I had a grandparent die in the holocaust. Ask a neo-nazi however and he might tell you the 6 million bacteria could be worse. The importance of the event is subjective, not objective.
@ Horus: Since the bacteria are not conscious, then its an easy conclusion. I know you're backing away from making any choices or any definite decisions because if you do, you venture down the path of morality, which is one of the very traits that humans seem to possess at a VERY high level over any other organism on this earth. Why that is, I guess is up to interpretation.
@Romans – how do you know bacteria have no conscience? If you are coming from a biblical approach did "god" not create ALL living things? Are bacteria not living things? do they have souls that ascend to bacterium euphoria if they were "good" bacteria?
@ Chuckles: I was arguing that people are weighted far more importantly on this earth than any other organism. I was trying to get Horus to admit to the fact that Humans are highly intelligent, moral beings capable of things that no other organism is capable of. Aside from arguments based on religion and our value deriving from God, we are still more important than any other organism including bacteria. I wanted Horus to choose, thus backing him into a corner reductio ad absurdium.
Based on scientific knowledge of the behavior of bacteria as well as knowledge of their DNA, they are simple organisms with no intelligence. Don't be coy. You're dodging my rhetoric so as to keep yourself from possible refutation. Its ok, I get what you're doing. You're only reinforcing my premise.
@Romans
Why do you keep ignoring the most important part of my passages? Yes, humans are weighted higher than other creatures...... BY HUMANS. You're not backing anyone into a corner when you ask a dumb question. Horus is merely pointing out that since we have yet to communicate with bacteria in any way, they could have ethics and morals.
The fact remains, man is more important than baterica because man says so. In a world of evolution and a "us or them" mantra, man will always be more important. Get it?
@Romans – what a silly game. There's no corner to back me into. I stated several posts ago that yes, we are important – to ourselves. That's why we made up gods to suit us. My original post is accurate – we as a species are irrelevant to the universe's process (other than speeding up the siesmic death of earth).
Lauren wrote: “He was there in the theater, pierced by bullets with the victims. He was scarred by the shrapnel. His eyes were scorched with gas and then burned with tears as He mourned alongside the broken.”
.
For her to know this I am guessing God told her and she heard him tell her what "really happened". **rolling eyes*
She must have a hot line to the almighty as many believe they do.They think they can speak for him and know his thoughts.
They think that everything THEY think must be Gods will.Delusional thinking @ best.
One day they will know the name of Chuckles and will use my words in every article they use.
Whatever your answer to the question, this tragedy happened and can't be undone.
In a lot of ways, this goes to the heart of man's need for religion, the reason man has long searched for spiritual meaning, the reasons we have gods in the first place.
Maybe there are no answers...or maybe there are many answers.
You should have some of your comments in the articles too. They ignore the most brilliant minds always.
I'm not inflammatory enough I suppose.
And I advocate thinking and personal responsibility for our words and actions. Doesn't do much to further the conversation I'm afraid because most folks just want to hold on to their preconceived understandings, and thinking outside of that is too uncomfortable for them.
Which, now that I've said it seems very...self-aggrandizing of me...which isn't how I mean it at all. Forgive me...I'm in a very thinky place at the moment and not at my most articulate.
I suppose that is true. I tend to be one of the nice guys on here so I may just not be exciting enough.
Why do I not see any of my comments? They are determined to never use me no matter how brilliant my comment is.
Keep trying, man. It has to happen eventually.
• The moderators of this blog have set up a secret forbidden word filter which unfortunately not only will delete or put your comment in the dreaded "waiting for moderation" category but also will do the same to words having fragments of these words. For example, "t-it" is in the set but the filter will also pick up words like Hitt-ite, t-itle, beati-tude, practi-tioner and const-tution. Then there are words like "an-al" thereby flagging words like an-alysis and "c-um" flagging acc-umulate or doc-ument. And there is also "r-a-pe", “a-pe” and “gra-pe”, "s-ex", and "hom-ose-xual". You would think that the moderators would have corrected this by now considering the number of times this has been commented on but they have not. To be safe, I typically add hyphens in any word that said filter might judge "of-fensive".
• Make sure the web address does not have any forbidden word or fragment.
Sum Dude routinely updates the list of forbidden words/fragments.
Two of the most filtered words are those containing the fragments "t-it" and "c-um". To quickly check your comments for these fragments, click on "Edit" on the Tool Bar and then "Find" on the menu. Add a fragment (without hyphens) one at a time in the "Find" slot and the offending fragment will be highlighted in your comments before you hit the Post button. Hyphenate the fragment(s) and then hit Post. And remember more than one full web address will also gain a "Waiting for Moderation".
Zeb’s alphabetical listing
o “bad letter combinations / words to avoid if you want to get past the CNN "awaiting moderation" filter:
Many, if not most, are buried within other words, so use your imagination.
You can use dashes, spaces, or other characters to modify the "offending" letter combinations.
--–
ar-se.....as in Car-se, etc.
ba-stard
co-ck.....as in co-ckatiel, co-ckatrice, co-ckleshell, co-ckles, lubco-ck, etc.
co-on.....as in rac-oon, coc-oon, etc.
cu-m......as in doc-ument, accu-mulate, circu-mnavigate, circu-mstances, cu-mbersome, cuc-umber, etc.
cu-nt.....as in Scu-ntthorpe, a city in the UK famous for having problems with filters...!
do-uche
ef-fing...as in ef-fing filter
ft-w......as in soft-ware, delft-ware, swift-water, etc.
fu-ck......!
ho-mo.....as in ho-mo sapiens or ho-mose-xual, ho-mogenous, etc.
ho-rny....as in tho-rny, etc.
jacka-ss...yet "ass" is allowed by itself.....
ja-p......as in j-apanese, ja-pan, j-ape, etc.
ji-sm
koo-ch....as in koo-chie koo..!
nip-ple
pi-s......as in pi-stol, lapi-s, pi-ssed, therapi-st, etc.
pr-ick....as in pri-ckling, pri-ckles, etc.
ra-pe.....as in scra-pe, tra-peze, gr-ape, thera-peutic, sara-pe, etc.
se-x......as in Ess-ex, s-exual, etc.
sh-@t.....but shat is okay – don't use the @ symbol there.
sh-it
sl-ut
sn-atch
sp-ic.....as in disp-icable, hosp-ice, consp-icuous, susp-icious, sp-icule, sp-ice, etc.
ti-t......as in const-itution, att-itude, ent-ities, alt-itude, beat-itude, etc.
tw-at.....as in wristw-atch, nightw-atchman, etc.
va-g......as in extrava-gant, va-gina, va-grant, va-gue, sava-ge, etc.
who-re....as in who're you kidding / don't forget to put in that apostrophe!
wt-f....also!!!!!!!
–
There are more, some of them considered "racist", so do not assume that this list is complete.
-–
Allowed words / not blocked at all:
anal
anus
ass
boob
crap
damn
execute
hell
kill
masturbation
murder
penis
pubic
raping (ra-pe is not ok)
shat (sh-@t is not ok)
sphincter
testes
testicles
–
The CNN / WordPress filter also filters your EMAIL address and NAME as well – so you might want to check those.
Lol I wasnt talking about the word filter. I mean when they write an article featuring comments mine never show up despite how great the article would be if it included my comments.
"Reality" has an interesting post below. I would add that the basic reason why there is censorship is that the U.S. is such an immature country – everything is babyfied. The powers that be don't want certain words affecting the health of our virgin ears and are willing to act as the morality police but don't seem to pay much attention to the ugly truths of no universally accessible health care in the U.S., lack of a full employment policy, crumbling infrastructure, bankster bailouts, and an electoral system we people cannot select persons who represent the 99% of us. What paradoxes in land of corporatist nightmares, where "In 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States 1 (Coleman-Jensen 2011, p. v.) [http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/us_hunger_facts.htm]. Go figure.
We need to stop blaming God and start blaming ourselves. Its that simple.
I blame the tooth fairy.
Maybe god was busy training his she bears.
No one blames God for the action, Romans. It's the inaction. If I watch a child abused I am blamed not for the action but my inaction. Get this and you must indict God if you think he exists as his own Bible will.
If you are a believer then you understand by the biblical definition we were mad in the image of god. He takes all names, war, death, jealous, hate, but alas the one he claims is the one least apperent in him- love. So god is just as responsible here as we are. Wehn we start making god accountable for the attrocities wh will own up to them to. I have and I am a better person because of it.
Maybe I am missing something, but I blame the guy who committed the crime.
What is evil? Something that makes you uncomfortable?
Evil destroys, not makes you uncomfortable.
Not my post.
You are funny.....even an evil comment can break a spirit to where it can be destroyed, especially those who don't believe in God.
The original post isn't mine, but your response is complete gibberish.
Well, your stupidity is showing because obviously it shows to be yours and not somebody else's.....get a life!
More gibberish. Do you know how to write a sentence? Are you new here? Anyone can post under any name. I can type your name in the box instead of my own.
Dumb sh!t.
And yes, I am a jerk but you'll get used to that after awhile as well.
And too friggin' tough if you don't.
It's about the pig. Always has been.
Get over it. It wasn't your bacon anyway.