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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:
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  About this blog
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 
Satan is sitting back and laughing at all of you who are blaming God for this. He is saying ha ha, I got these people to blame God for what I've done and created and even better, I got the others to believe God doesn't even exist!
cool story, breh. Is satan playing Risk with Sauron and Voldemort?
Blaming God? I don't know that anyone is "blaming" God. What they are saying is if God couldn't stop this, then what's the point ? And if he could stop it and chose not to, then he is at least partially to blame. If I found you unconscious on some train tracks and there was a train speeding toward you, if I choose not to pull you off the tracks, I am at least partially responsible for your death. I find it amusing that so many religious folk are quick to say that this wasn't God's fault, but if one of the hospitalized victims makes an unexpected recovery, you can bet that those same religious folk will be jumping up and down thanking God for "saving" that person's life.
That is correct burps
So, the "Lord" allowed "Satan" to destry the life of a 6 year old girl? For the master plan?
If God exists why did he create Satan? Who created God? Where did God come from?
For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God. – Book of Mormon
God is in full control of Satan, according to the Bible.
God loves us all. Even all of you who do not believe. You can be saved.
GOD-control-good-and-evil.-amos-chapter-three-verse-six.-satan-can't-do-ANYTHING-unless-GOD-allows-it-to-happen.-make-sure-if-you're-a-believer-make-sure-it's-the-king-james-all-other-bible-are-BS.
Yep read what mac posted here for you. The Bible states that god is under control 100%. Addistionaly the tally of deaths commited by Satan in the Bible is 0, the ones commited by God are in the millions; the flood, Sodom and Gammorah, the list goes on and on. Lets keep on leting God decide for us shall we.
Born again atheist??? You're not talking like you don't believe in God. You're talking like you hate God. You can't hate something you don't believe in. I bet you even celebrate Christmas.
Where was God? Where he always is, in the minds of those that choose to believe. Nowhere else. God is an idea, nothing more.
Why is cnn even talking about this. This plain stupid, where was god during WWII, where was he during 9/11, where was he during the London bombings... you should be asking: How did an unemployed kid get so much money to buy so many explosives and firearms, how did he learn to use these weapons, how were the booby traps so professional that it took so long to get the apartment cleared...etc.
The US media isn't allowed to talk about stuff like that! They are trained to report what the government tells them to and nothing else...
shh let them blame god so they won't realize that it was rap, violent videogames and the internet.
god is nature itself – so there is no expectation of god – because so long as nature is, god is – and god does not do anything for us other than what nature does through and around us
You are right on the money, Rabbit.
I’ve always said that there are two ways to look at god:
God IS
God DOES
I believe in the first. God does in fact exist. But god is passive; god does not control events, but can help us cope with tragedies like Aurora. We can even help others heal through prayer by projecting energy to people in need.
God is the energy that is the essence of Life itself – Life being carbon-based molecules infused with energy. The human brain is capable of far more than we can even imagine, and we ban achieves our ??? objectives by using god’s power. ESP is a way many describe many of these abilities. As I learned it, ESP is “Effective Sensory Projection”. It’s not an ‘extra’ sense because we all have the capability to use it. We just need to learn HOW to do that.
When we ask god for help, I believe it’s like posting on a Psychic Help Forum. The answer will come to us, but in ways we might not expect.
We can even talk with god in a way. I believe we all have an inner voice that we can have real conversations with. I believe we have all had these conversations, but were discouraged from having them. Think of a child and his “imaginary friend”.
So, yes – god IS. We can’t blame god, nor can we credit her with miracles
He was hanging out with the 1% because that's who God really loves.
Everybody has to die. For those that live, it is sad that our dear ones have departed before us, but their souls do not die, they will all be granted rewards and or punishment for the deeds they did in this life. We will also join them one day. Yes it was a massacre that needs to be prevented in the future with all the means at our disposal, but I am sure the innocent victims, especially the young ones are not suffering at all right now, they are seated comfotrably in heaven.
Atheists make up a lot more tha 2% of the population. Try 13-15%. It's probably higher but due to the persecution of non-christians in this country many have to hide who they are.
And your proof? Its easy to claim that 1 in 6 are atheists, but I suspect it is a lot harder to do so. Sure it might be true amongst the group you hang out with, but all you are proving there is that you have parochial views just as much as any one else does.
Well, the powers that be would like people to believe that secularists (meaning atheists, agnostics, and those who are otherwise secular in their beliefs) are a crazy fringe minority. Everything points to people becoming less religious as time goes by, so it's pretty clear that that number is waaaay too low. It's also convenient to just say "atheists" and leave out all the others. That helps to skew the number and not look like a blatant liar.
The Pew Research Center puts the secular population at about 12%.
Actually the number is 19%. The group identified as Nonbelievers has now become the 2nd largest "denomination" in America. This research was recently released by The Pew Center for the People and the Press. They conducted the survey in 2011.
It's amazing to me to see how deeply and utterly threatened Christians are by the growing secular population. You'd think it falls right in line with their end-of-the-world fantasy, and that they'd shrug and even welcome it. But instead, they'll declare the "war" on Christianity till they are blue in the face. Just wait folks.
I would guess 19% is even low. This is not surprising. Politicians who use absurd "Christian" interpretations of global events, who use Christianity to debase God's children who are not like them, who attempt to force their interpretation of God's law on other Americans, who use their self-serving interpretations to deny health care to millions of people – they are lowering the number of believers far more than any activity of Satan or crazy people with guns. I believe in God, but not in God's action in people's lives. So, although a believer, I am all for a secular society. Many (most?) of the abominable acts of man and woman throughout history have been done in the name of God and state. I used to think it is all the same God. Now I think humans, in their lust for power, have created a God who is a total flip-flopper. God created the universe, but man (literally) has given God His personality.
Why is this a link on the front page of the CNN website. This is not news. This is not an editorial. This is just inappropriate. This is why CNN is my *last* choice for news these days. I'll take Jon Stewart over your ridiculous iReports and twitter voting. You've become nothing but a well-funded social networking site and you should be ashamed of yourselves. CNN does not have news, it does not employ journalists. It has become a sound-bite machine.
What rule is there CNN can't or shouldn't link to an editorial from their main page? Editorials are part of every newspaper and televised news program in the country. Perhaps you should consider switching to decaf.
treadondreamspoetry:. This is why CNN is my *last* choice for news these days.
And yet, here you are... heh heh, you're funny.
and to those who keep saying that ATHEISM is a religion in itself.....
thats like saying NOT smoking is a habit.
Do you deny that Atheists have faith?? Since you are not omniscient, there is no way for you to know otherwise, making you reliant on your faith that there is no God. No one is saying you're religious. Its pretty easy for an atheist to sit back and say, " there's no evidence so I can't believe it," while having no evidence to disprove it.
nope, dont need faith to know that there is no Harry Potter either
Atheism is not automatically the assertion that there is no god. It's merely the disbelief in the claim of a god. If you can't tell the difference, it's the difference between not-guilty and innocent.
@Romans, faith means to believe without proof. The burder of proof is on the believer to show their religion is correct not on the Atheist who says their religion is false.
not smoking crack is a habit.
Atheists do have faith. We have faith in ourselves, we have faith in the world around us (sometimes), other people (occasionally), and other TANGIBLE things. Faith does not need to be some blind thing that guides us, we can have faith in things we KNOW that have come through for us before. And I am sick of hearing: "Being an atheist is silly because you can't DISPROVE god" in some bad-attempt to use the scientific method against us. Of course we can't disprove or prove, but most atheists (at least myself and those that I know) use deduction of the world around us to make CASES against it. I personally believe that there is no god, no heaven, no hell, no sin. Why do I believe that? Because, I've never heard or seen anything with my eyes and ears (there's that pesky tangibility again) that would say otherwise. Animals and plants don't have churches or gods, how are humans any different? Were animals too. And just because animals "can't reason" as lay people lie to say is no excuse. If god existed he should have made himself eligible to all on earth, and other planets (provided that is the case) as well. Our faith is a different kind of faith, one in things we can see, and hear, and smell, and deduce ideas from, that does not make it any less important, or gives any reason to say that we are crazy because we "can't disprove" god. In my world, he does not exist. Period.
Yes, I know what Atheist means. Listen.....you are also in the absence of proof that God does not exist. Therefore everyone is an agnostic because no one really knows for sure. Atheists dont believe in any gods, and I believe in one God (which I have evidence for). An atheist does not have any evidence that God does not exist, therefore, they have faith that their position is true.
what evidence? do you also have evidence that Gandalf doesnt exist?
So Romans you would also agree that you are agnostic when it comes to Santa or unicorns or the Easter bunny correct? You can not say they don't exist because you have no evidence that they do not exist. When your child asks you at age 10 about Santa you will tell them that Santa might exist but you aren't sure correct? If you don't you are a hypocrite.
@Romans
The two terms are not mutually exclusive. agnosticism/gnosticism deals with knowledge, and atheism/theism deals with belief. Two very different things. It is fully possible to be an agnostic atheist, as I am. It seems, and I may just be reading into this too much, you just don't like the word atheist. If this is the case, is it because of the 50's propoganda that equated atheism with communism during the cold war? Or is it something someone else told you about what atheists supposedly believe or don't?
Waiting for Romans' evidence of God.
A-theism simply means "without a belief in god" – It is NOT a definitive declaration about the existence or non-existence of the supernatural. It requires absolutely no faith whatsoever. One may claim that the Universe was created by a purple alien living in your underwear drawer. It requires absolutely NO faith on my part to have no belief in what you claim. It's pretty simple folks.
Maybe he was sorting out the thousands of dead towel heads who also died that day.
reported.
Don't worry, I reported the reporter. His handle offends me...
"How can evil happen in A WORLD? that is lorded over by a good and all-powerful God?" – The world according to God is full of evil and wickedness and we are not beings OF the world, we are just IN it. God does not Lord over the WORLD, He "Lord's" over the PEOPLE IN it. Not all of the people, and not all the time. But those who choose Him and are walking (and striving to walk) in his covenant know that we are also supposed to work together to fight the evil that persists in this world from affecting our brethren. It is work, and all of God's children are still not on one accord... fighting about money and taxes and policies.
You have verifiable and repeatable evidence of this "Lord"?
Using all CAPS for certain words DOES not make your b.s. ARGUEMNT any more valid.
god lets17,000 children slowly starve to death, everyday
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/17/italy.food.summit/
12 people in a theater in privileged america would hardly be a blip on his radar when he is starving 700 children an hour! he must barely have time to look up he is "gunning" those kids down so fast.
but seriously, why does it take 12 privileged white people dying to realize there is no god?
Reported for racism against white people.
We're a minority now.
This is the kind of angry, irrelevant comment that makes pretty much everyone, whatever their faith, not like atheists. For whatever reason, most of you are rejecting the culture you were born into, along with the faith of your parents or the society you live in – and for reasons no one can seem to adequately explain you are all very angry. Whatever your opinion on god, God, or the gods there's no need to trivialize the victims in Colorado because they happen to be American. I guess they are guilty of the crime of not being poor enough, or miserable enough, and therefore in your eyes they somehow deserve to be terrorized and murdered for the sin of attending a movie? Please keep your foolish disdain to yourself. You should be satisfied to sit smugly in a corner by yourself secure in the knowledge that you are one of the few proud geniuses who has figured out there is no god.
I don't see anything particularly angry about his post, unless of course his disdain for thousands of children dying needlessly when a deity could intervene but was so concerned with his own ego that he chose not too. I like how life is supposedly a morality test (noted this "morality" is not based on real morality but on having faith in jesus, Genocide is secondary consideration) and yet god allows infants to die and not even take the test.
I find it bizarre that atheists are always accused of being angry when they do not threaten anyone with indefinitey torture and hellfire. With this in mind who really is the angry one? Religious people just hate having their teddy bear and hope pulled out of their arms, the rage is so high against atheists for this reason, it is like someone who takes the alcohol away at a party. The original poster was not really angry, your reaction was to paste him as such in an almost reflexive way. You are accusing someone of exactly what you are doing. Hearing his truthful points, that you know are true, and then lashing out and accusing him of being venemous.
I'm not angry Andy, I'm disgusted. And so is my mother.
There is a God, and the human race is suffering for its rebellion agianst Him.
Andy....you are the angry smug one.
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.
Where were the lazy police. blame them for making the sheep not able to defend themselves.
I can't tell if you are trying to be incendiary or stupid. Please do one or the other better.
You really think the police are going to be preventative in situations like this? If you figure out a way to prevent crime, let us all know
Although this poster is the hindquarters of a mule, he does bring up a point... who wants to bet now that movie theaters, in an effort to avoid lawsuits by victims, will start getting infrared / nightvision cameras and surveillance installed. Or that we may eventually be screened going to public places.
Seriously, 1 idiot can ruin life for the rest of us.
with about a hundred patrons (maybe much more!) at the colorado cinema, it's a shame that a few brave men didn't rush to tackle this discusting killer. i wouldn't be surprised if some of the survivors have regrets for not tackling this cowardly killer
Hey genius... the Joker threw a smoke bomb into the theater first. Its hard to tackle someone you can't see.
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.
I am a Dumb sh!t.
How flattering. My favorite little troll is looking for attention again.
Maybe its you? Are you schizophrenic?
Its-possessive. The bandicoot stole its name.
It's- contraction for "It is."
Does it pay well to be a smarmy grammar nazi?
Just as much as it pays to be a believer who can't figure out the atheism isn't a religion.
God was where He is and has always been, and will forever be....ON THE THRONE
He has been on the throne all this time?! He must have the worlds biggest magazine rack in their.
and he must have the universe's worst pressure ulcer on his butt
Amen Emmagined
Well, if you two chat, tell him to get up off his ass and DO something. Do you know how many thousands of children die a day on this planet? Tell him to start there.
hey Stephen you d!ck you forgot mine God was behind it because the Jewish, Christian, Muslim God is evil. he loves to spread suffering after all he prays one it, with out suffering he get no converts
after all i know That God best
so please change #4. "God was behind the massacre, and it was just." to God was behind the massacre, because he is evil
death to the Tyrant god
That's about the same way that Satan feels about the "tyrant God." I guess we all know where you stand. If God came down to Earth right now and showed himself to you, would you love him and follow him?
which god?
you should um pt my name in to Google rel quick, and on that note Satan loves god Satan works for god
watch me tell Satan off in this epic Video game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TsWB2c55Mo
i love being me♥
and join with the second coming of Christ to do so,... if only this was true,.. its a shame ill probably have to kill Christ to, but humans come first
and don't thin we pagans are so weak i see your god hes a dead man/god i do it for my goddess,.. all but Amaterasu she want s all to just get along mainly just Athena(me), Lilith, Gaia, Danu wan him dead
i love this game check me out being a hero,.. why did the united states ban this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL4cFzbrb9M
bringing the American dream to heaven
This is why!!! James 1:13 When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone. 14 But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn, sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death.
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful”. – Seneca (ca. 4 BC –AD 65)
How do you know Seneca was wise?? You going to take his words to heart?? Maybe you should read the book of proverbs objectively and see if there's any wisdom in there instead......
@ Romans – well, there is more evidence of the existence of Seneca than "God" 😉
@Romans
I did. There isn't. Why don't you read the OT and tell us how your God was just to the Cannanites. (FYI your God demanded every one of them be slaughtered, even the children.)
@Romans, Jesus, Mithra, Osiris = the same God and the is and equal amount of evidence that they all existed look it up and stop taking history lessons from proverbs; it was a book of aligorical stories, none based off actual events and not that wise to takle to heart.
We can never question God! Neither can anyone understand His deeds. All we do is try to attach carnal understanding to what we see or hear that are out of the normal.
for a mindless sheep, maybe. free thinkers like to question things, that's how we learn
Thank you, rAmen. Has his noodly appendage touched you?
why yes he has, thank you very much. As an ex-Catholic I can tell you that FSM tastes a lot better than Jesus. Yum