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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)« Previous 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 
OMG I drove thru I-95 and as soon as I entered Maryland or Delaware (Forgot which state), I saw a huge Virgin Mary statue next to the welcome sign. How could that be possible??
The property is owned by a religious organization. They can do what they want on their land.
I think it was Maryland... There's a mental hospital right off I-95... Must have been an escapee.
So it would be OK to put huge Buddha or Muhammed statue next to a welcome sign without anyone be against it or vandalizing it?
Maryland renamed two cities and turned them to Christian ones'... saw road signs on I-95. " ** De Grace" and "Church – " something.
how eles can you explain the creation of this world think for life to have stared on earth was a 1billionth of a chance amazing right how did humans get intelligent while every other animal cant talk or make computers drive cars read write no way it was just chance don't you think just an inkling of a thought that maybe just maybe someone created us I know its a long shot and it seems impossible but then again so is a big explosion starting the earth so please just look into it the bible the whole thing and if you don't like it fine be done with you look into what i have to say and i will look into what you have to say deal?
radiation or energy leak out from another universal and with this law of physical, convert the energy to matter. When matter get dense enough to become black hole, it explode. Scatter matter all over the universal, crating planet, sun etc. Energy and matter at the right condition create the first DNA, and later evolue to life.
That's right... Rather than a spontaneous explosion, it's MUCH more plausible that a huge giant that is both invisible AND looks exactly like us, went 'poof' and made everything out of nothing. Of course.
at the end of the day, your answer is "it was magic!" a magic sky god used magic to magic up a world and the population. it's a very unsatisfying answer. and it does the truth an injustice.
look to geology, paleontology, archeology, oceanography, physics, astrophysics, math, philosophy, psychology to explain the world, not religion.
I think both are very rare in happening and nobody really knows what happened unless you where there that is why I have faith in what i believe who knows how it was done maybe God sent all that into action with the radiation leak and the matter in motion you never know
you can link the bible with science you know there have been study's the chance of the big bang theory is very slim maybe God set chain reaction to create the earth
1.GOD is NOT REAL ! 2. If God was real how come the bible was written by MAN ? 3.. If Jesus Christ was Gods Son how come the JEWS themselfs Help kill Gods SON ? 4: If God was there would he of wispered in the Crazy guns mans ear " Hey you have a jamed gun clear the round and rechamber a new one ? " 5: Did god say to all the people who died.. " now your going to hevan or hell ? 6: God is the king of kings an he will bring every one back to life... 7: will GOD be there for us when our planet turns into a dry planet ? Mark my words on that last comment
read the bible answers are right there all of those (accept the dry planet thing) God bless and peace be on you
Learn to spell troll.
Hey, all you priests out there... How's this years crop o' 12-year-olds?
Atheists committed the most crime throughout the history. Killing hundreds of millions of people because of their nonbelief in God is worse than few priests/rabbi's molesting kids.
Rick James: "I hope God judges me on my actual performance, if he exists, and not whether I worshiped him or not. Who knows? Maybe God loves atheists. "
– That tells us your not sure if God exists or not; therefore you're an agnostic.
Next level is to convert to Christianity.
Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. Most atheists are somewhat agnostic as well. There is some small chance that God does exist (hopefully not in the way Christianity describes him). And I'm not going back to Christianity. That was a brain drain.
"Go to court and sue schools for Christian prayers"
LOL do you think something will ever happen? Majority of the court judges and lawyers are Christians anyway.
Yes, they removed FORCED prayers from schools – that was because they were foced to pray.
Most lawyer will forget everything about being christian just to make some buck.
wow..lots o angry people...so much for rationality [everyone].....has anyone read the "parable of the inquisitor" from "the brother's karamazov" by Dostoevsky? look it up if you haven't....[small input time ]personally, i think there is an issue that people put too much emphasis on results rather than cause and ideas. please pardon the brevity of the comment, but i usually write papers on this, but, the the existence of evil cannot prove nor disprove the existence of god, nor demonstrate his benevolence..."evil" is a negative force which destroys a pre-existing good in order to create a situation of nothing...in nature, it must exist after a good is created, but not caused from the creation of nothing...just as much as zero makes no sense without a prior concept of 1
here is my take!!
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_annotate?feature=vm&v=BvSo2kdb4_0
"Were all the men and women who died in the theater protecting their loved ones Christian?"
We don't know if they were, or not. A person can do good even though they are not Christians. It's when they "ascribe their goodness" to themselves, and don't recognize that it is God who gave them the grace to do it, and that apart from Him they have no righteousness in them of their own. That's what the Word of God says and the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Truth testifies to.
And the only way to find out what someone is made out of is by exposing them to the truth of the Word of God. Their reaction to His Word and the testimony of His Spirit reveals true intents of human heart!
If there's one thing Christians on this thread have done extraordinarily well, it's prove that Poe's Law is pure genius...
Absolutely !
Peace...
I don't understand why atheists even bother living on this Earth.... you have no faith and no purpose in life!
Our purpose in life is to better ourselves and better humanity... Embracing religion hinders both of those goals.
I don't understand why christian even bother living on this Earth.... you have no reason and no purpose in life!
We come to live our live for the betterment of humanity. I think that's a great purpose.
Your not understanding is not an argument for belief. However, it is a good argument for the thesis that your worldview is rather limited. But then a wider worldview might lead you to deeply doubt your current beliefs.
you are soppously christian why would you say something like that that just proves there point and what you said is not true every one has a purpose of living Jesus teaches us to love not to hate
why cant we all just get along you believe what you believe and i believe in what i believe it even says that in the bible let those who do good continue to do good and let those who sin continue to sin all we can do is give them message then they can do what they want with it I myself have atheist friends and Muslims ect. do we have our differences yes but we still co-exist without putting down what the other believes and to tell the truth no ones mind is going to be changed by bickering back and fourth you can either accept what is given to you or you can leave it no one is forcing beliefs on anyone
Do you know about punctuation and capitalization? They're all the rage.
as long as you get my point and understand I don't care but if you don't I will make revisions God bless and let peace be on you
Saying that the US is not a Christian nation is same as saying that G. W. was not the first president.
The United States is a nation of many religions. The predominant one is Christian. That does not make us a Christian nation.
The majority of Americans are women. Does that make us a feminine nation?
Not really. The U.S. is secular and we can prove that G.W was the first prez.
Many of the founding fathers were deists and not Christian. Yes, America was predominately settled by many who were christian, but America is a secular nation with a separation of church and state.
Whether it is or isnt, isnt NEARLY as important as the fact ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE.... now whether or not Christians tipped the balance in their direction is another argument altogether
Only slightly above 50% are females in America – this is not the majority.
Majority means more than 60-70%.
Over 50% is the definition of a majority. A super majority would be something like 60%-70%.
@Kamisha,
actually, anything >50 is a majority.
George was not our first President. Look it up.
Kamisha,
Wow.
Majority:
Noun: 1.The greater number:
The United States is categorically not a "Christian" country. Why do you Christian revisionists want to pretend the first amendment does not exist?
Many of the colonies were founded on religious lines:
Virginia: Anglican
Massachusetts: Puritan
Maryland: Catholic
Connecticut, New York and New Jersey: Dutch Reformed
Rhode Island: religious tolerance
Pennsylvania: Quaker, but with religious tolerance
In the 18th century, people made much greater distinctions regarding different Christian sects than many do today. During the process of defining the Const.tution there could be no agreement on which sect would represent the 'official' religion of the US.
They chose a really radical approach for the time – the new country would *NOT* have a religion and the government would be tolerant of all religions. This is quite clear in George Washington's letter to a Jewish congregation in Connecticut.
It was brilliant. This is a fundamental founding principle of the United States. We are therefore *NOT* a Christian country, irrespective of the majority religion.
@OneTwo,
George Washington was the first President of the United States.
I presume you are talking about the Continental Congresses.
Well, gosh, it's good to have found out that we are a theocracy! I guess we have more in common with Iran and Saudi Arabia than I imagined. Thanks for the heads up!
I'm with #3 – exactly what I believe. Very well written by 'Believer'. And as for #5 I don't believe that God is with someone and not with someone else. Until we are cast out of His presence (ie. hell), He is with us all. I don't mean He was cheering for the shooter, but He was 'there' to comfort the victims or anyone who asked for His help at the time. If you don't ask, He don't come.
When you non-Christian see a Cross anywhere, don't you feel ashamed and bad?
I cannot imagine not being Christian. Must feel sickening.
Not very logical. Try again.
Being able to think for yourself and make your own decisions is actually quite a fulfilling way to go through life... I can't imagine having to suspend this ability in order to embrace fairy tales as if they were reality... How do you do it??
W – T – F ??? 😯
Peace...
Ancient torture devices don't really conjure up any feeling inside of me.
And it's great being non-religious. Once it's 2050 and the world is coming to a new age of reason, no one would want to go back.
When you Christians see a science book anywhere, completely dismissing your biblical claims, don't you feel ashamed and bad? I cannot imagine being Christian. You must feel credulous?
Why would I? The cross has nothing to do with Christianity. Like everything else in Christianity, it is symbolism stolen from other religions. You probably think Christmas is Jesus' birth too right? Go learn REAL history
yeah i can image Jesus coming backing from the dead and see his follower worshiping the device that torture and kill him in his last hour before death. "why are you guy wearing cross around your neck, do you guy really hate me..."
-Jesus, die on a cross and forever trolling human kind.
No.
When you see books, do you feel embarassed and uneducated?
Timmuh, it depends on what the scientific topic is? Is it made up? Is it some theory that will never be proven? True proven science and Jesus' wisdom are in harmony. Always have, always will be. It's just the atheists that don't get this reality.
I wonder why God was able to meet people from thousands of years ago in the middle east, yet he can't meet us for some reason. Could it be the technology? I don't know.
Keep wondering and ask God when you meet him on your Judgement day.
Jesus said "Blessed are those who have not yet seen me"
I hope God judges me on my actual performance, if he exists, and not whether I worshiped him or not. Who knows? Maybe God loves atheists.
Keep dreaming up a magical fairy judge who's on your so you can feel superior to other people.
Rick, the reason you don't know God is your arrogance. Writing what you posted is also arrogant. Who are you that God should drop everything and come prove Himself just to you so you can be satisfied?
HeavenSent, there is just no reason why a God who supposedly likes to be worshiped to come down for all to see. It boggles the mind.
Rick, first, Jesus is humble, not arrogant. God created ALL for His pleasure. All that pleases Him, when Jesus comes back to earth will dwell with Him for eternity. All that displeases Him gets destroyed and some offenses suffer for eternity. Other than that you need to understand that life is a test from God. Are you going to pass or fail? The answer is in the Bible scribed by Holy men inspired by the Holy Ghost as a blueprint to man (meaning women too) how to live this life to be the best that He wants us to be and what He wants from us. Jesus is the author.
I'm an Atheist and my son told me today on his 'secular' school camp that they held Christian prayers at school. What should I do? Or just ignore it since the majority are Christians?
Well, if HE was forced to pray, then don't take it lying down. But, there was like a prayer club or something, let it go.
Public school, it against the law to have religion in public school. So go to court.
Well they were all told to stand up and pray, but I don't think they said "You are forced". However my son was scared to not do it because he is a shy 12 year old boy.
Then I'd go to the school and ask what happened. If none of their answers are good, then go to court.
What will the court do? No sh.it.
Most people at the court and lawyers are Christians anyway 🙂
Sam, that's like saying what's the point of fighting for Civil Rights most of the court is white any way. Or what's the point of fighting for gay rights, most of the court is straight anyway.
Wrong is wrong and how you deal with it tells your kid something about you and the world. What do you want to teach him? Only fight a battle you can win? Go with the majority? Your feelings aren't that important? The result of the meeting isn't as important as standing up for your child who was obviously upset enough to tell you.
If he was forced and didn't want to do it go ahead and sue the school but if he didn't have to let it go they teach evolution in high school I don't complain
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuc2aWJnmQ8&w=640&h=360]
The Fiction of the Christ is just a movie... What's next? Star Wars is proof of life in other galaxies??
Commandment #11 - And LO I say unto you my children, ignore all copyright laws! For they are the work of the evil one! Post freely and multiply thy media.
The mythological figure popularly known as "god" was where he's always been for the last 1,500 years...in believer's imagination. Prior to approx. 1,500 years ago, "god" was understood to be the universe among people all around the globe and "jesus" (the mythological figure with countless names....krishna, buddha, zeus, horus, and hundreds
more) was understood to be the sun.
There's a massive amount of scholarly
research, whole libraries full, that supports this beyond doubt, but believers rarely
venture beyond a literal reading of the bible (also written in the archaeoastronomical
technical language) and whatever reified drivel their religious "leaders" feed them in
order to keep the money and votes flowing.
Christianity is the most enduring business
model and political party in history. It's amazing and sad that so many people haven't
seen through this trope by now, and a testament to the failure of modern education to put
an end this irrationality that's used to exploit those who cling to it.
The U.S. is no longer a Christian nation when...
*God is removed from the motto and currency
*Christmas Day is not a federal holiday
*Easter is not recognized as a flag day
*Good Friday is no longer a state holiday
*Politics stop talking about God and faith
*We get a non-Christian president
*10 commandments are removed from federal buildings
*Presidents stop swear holding a bible
What's up with that?
The US never was a Christian Nation... Look up the Treaty of Tripoli for proof....
Sorry to break it to you, but the U.S. wasn't a Christian nation to begin with. Half of the founding fathers were deist. It'll be nice to have a greater separation of church and state again.
Christmas or Yule = winter solstice, is a pagan holiday that use Christmas tree, carol song, nearly everything Christmas is pagan
Elizabeth,
The president does not have to swear on a Bible and not all did.
God was not on our currency and motto when the U.S. was established.
Try doing some research next time.
But but but mah paster sayd thu libruls alredy dun kicked God outta the countrie
@Elizabeth,
Good Friday is not a state holiday where I live. It is a holiday in only 12 states.
The President is *NOT* required to swear the oath of office on a bible. Many Presidents have not done this. Article VI. of the Const.tution is particularly clear on this point:
"...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
Only CNN could come up with such inane subject matter. Any surprise they're going down the tubes. Quit insulting America's intelligence and you might get somewhere. can you say Anderson Cooper being SHOVED down everyone's throat?-–"You WILL LIKE HIM, whether you like it or not!!
I'm deeply concerned mikey. CNN has been holding you forcing you to do unspeakable things with Anderson Cooper? I don't know if you realize this, but that's illegal! You can file a criminal complaint first off for kidnapping and what sounds like torture. Then file a civil suit and take CNN for all they're worth! Poor thing, I'm sorry the tv show you could turn off anytime hurt you so bad.
Or do you just have a victim fetish? I'm betting on the latter. There's safe ways to act those out you know.