Added: Oct 15, 2008
From: theinquisitor
Duration: 1:46
Why would an all powerful benevolent god allow so much suffering? This unanswerable question is summarised in the following clip from the series Deadwood, where a doctor prays for a minister who is suffering from the tortuous effects of a stroke. I find the argument that "god works in mysterious ways" to be hollow, since an omnipotent god could necessarily achieve his ends by any means, and therefore must be choosing these horrific means out of infinite alternatives. Transcript: "If was a more adaptable primate or one of your regular petitioners, I suspect I wouldn't feel this pain. I guess I — I'd have a wad of cartilage covering the patella, protecting me from this—this discomfort. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, Just please, God. Take that Minister. What conceivable Godly use is his protracted suffering to you? What conceivable Godly use? What conceivable Godly use was the screaming of all those men? Did you, did you need to hear their death agonies to know your—your omnipotence? Mama! Mother find my arm! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy they — they shot my leg off it hurts so bad. It hurts so bad. Admitting my understanding's imperfection, trusting that you have a purpose, praying that you consider it served, I beg you to relent. Thy Will Be Done, Amen."
Channel: Education
Tags: benevolence christ christianity evil god omnipotence prayer suffering
Rating: 4.75 (16 ratings) Views: 389' favoriteCount='3 Comments: 18
TheJacolyte Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - zomg teh drama!
bamboo4tameshigiri Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - To hell with the god of Abraham, where it belongs.
mconn2112 Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - If he was there, yes, because he would be a twisted prick.
theinquisitor Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - daveheet, what about when the suffering is not a result of one's own actions? Like when a child is born with AIDS and addicted to heroin? What actions did that child take to deserve that? The fault is the mother's, but the child is completely innocent. Surely you can see that not all suffering is a result of our own mistakes. How do you explain the suffering of children born into poverty and disease and starvation and abuse, as being a result of the actions of those children?
ShadowSandy Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - You dont get it. The character is a believer. The character is a believer who saw pointless amounts of pain. What lessons can be learned from agony before death? What lessons are there in the misery, the shit and piss of war when you die moments later? The cries of those men taught nothing to anyone. It did not glorify the god you speak of. When your god will send them to hell for eternity, why make them suffer on the earth moments before that eternity? You just dont get it.
doktorfuture Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - Perhaps if he just smiled more, or camped at an intersection of the ley lines he'd have a better time of it. I think what would help most of all tho, is a round of regular massages. He must be carrying tension in those muscles.
baggieboy83 Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - Only a perfect, almighty, wonderous god that is full of love for his children could rejoice in the suffering of millions. When jewish babies burnt in ovens, what did your god do then? What sin had the babies committed to deserve that? Your god is a dead idea, shaming you and all your fellow 'justifiers of suffering'. The only things working in mysterious ways are the believers who can twist their fragile minds to fit ANYTHING into their delusion where robotic answers become a reflex.
GOAQ Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - I find it truly amazing that in this day and age there are so many that believe in a fairytale. I yearn for that "comfort", but not at any price. The world is a cruel place. Learn to live with that fact because i'm fairly sure thats all you get.
philhellenes Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - daveheet - your lack of empathy, your religiously negated compassion, the utter failure of your imagination, your deliberate attempt to grant glory to that which has no mercy, all means your words are FAR from "hollow". Your words are FULL, overflowing, with the most foul selfishness of which the human mind is capable. Your religion has brought you to a place so cold it is normally only inhabited by psychopaths. You aren't human anymore.
ivarbt Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - What is the name of this film? Is that the guy from Lord of the rings, btw?
theinquisitor Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - Yeah he's in Lord of the Rings, the actor's name is Brad Dourif. The clip is from the TV series Deadwood.
iloveg25 Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - WTF, man you are nuts.
daveheet Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - wow Im getting a lot of harsh replies to my comment. I really do understand what is being expressed in this video, I thnok about stuff like that a lot. Maybe I am wrong in what I said. I only said it because it seems to me that if the Lord is real, then having faith in him for eventual deliverance and salvation of mankind is the ultimate answer for us as humans. Otherwise, if there is no God and you dont believe, why would you cry out to him and be mad? It is smply part of the cosmic evolution.
daveheet Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - I do understand what u r saying. No one asked to be born into this messed up world. In that way we are all innocent. But we r obviously all still affected by the actions of others. Im not saying anything is justified here, but all happenings, good or bad, come from previous happenings. Simple cause and effect in a complex System of systems. A lot of people live with no hope for anything more than this. I know its hard to see any possible goodness of God, I do, but I believe we will all see 1 day
daveheet Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - Trust me I DO GET IT. I get the pain and suffering and I have been through things like that before -- not quite as bad but I can empathize. I know it sucks and is pointless and wretched things shouldn't happen. But I know from my own experiences that God can fix situations and heal broken people. It takes a willing and open heart. I didnt see this episode so I dont know what was happening but I dont really think God just sends everyone to hell..
Clausfarre Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - Great... another religious nut doing serial commenting. Leave the fairytale world behind in kindergarten where it belongs.
enyawix Says:
Nov 2, 2008 - lol
daveheet Says:
Oct 16, 2008 - Im sure these words will be hollow to you also, but the truth is that God allows these things because we have to deal with the consequences of our own actions and others actions from the past as well. We glorify God when we give him praise even through tough times, and not lose faith in Him and who he truly is. And not to say that our times here are pointless, but the pain we experience here on Earth is nothing compared to the greatness of living in the one true God's presence forevermore.