Massacre of children leaves many asking, 'Where’s God?'

[cbayer]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/massacre-of-children-leaves-many-asking-wheres-god/


December 14th, 2012
06:17 PM ET
Massacre of children leaves many asking, 'Where’s God?'
By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors

(CNN) – As he waited with parents who feared that their kids were among the 20 children killed at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday, Rabbi Shaul Praver said the main thing he could do for parents was to merely be present.

“It’s a terrible thing, families waiting to find out if their children made it out alive,” said Praver, who leads a synagogue in Newtown, Connecticut, and was among nine clergy gathered with parents at a firehouse near Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shooting occurred.

“They’re going to need a lot of help,” Praver said of those who are close to the dead.

From the first moments after Friday’s massacre, which also left six adults and the shooter dead, religious leaders were among the first people to whom worried and grieving families turned for help.

more at link

[clydefrand]

1. I wonder hou long (if not already) it will be

before the super religious TV evangelists (you the ones I mean) will be blaming all this on
the fact that more and more gays are getting married?

[cbayer]

2. They are already blaming it on god being excluded from classrooms.

They are despicable, imo.

[lapfog_1]

5. Huckabee (Huckster) has been all over Fox already

claiming that this is moral decay and banning God from the classroom.

[skepticscott]

3. I'm sure we'll hear the usual idiotic platitudes

of the incurably religious. "God does everything for a reason" "We can't always understand HIS purpose, but we just have to trust HIM." "Arranging to have all of these children slaughtered was just part of god's plan."

[Autumn]

4. Well you know, prayer is banned in schools so God can't go into schools.

The doors prevent him from going in.

[deucemagnet]

6. ...and here's essentially the same statement without a sarcasm tag.

The most unhinged reactions to the shooting
<snip>
Evangelical radio host Bryan Fischer had a similar, if far loonier, message. “Here’s the bottom line — God is not going to go where He is not wanted,” he said on his radio show today. “We kicked God out of our public school system. I think God would say to us, hey, I would be glad to protect your children, but you gotta invite me back into your world first. I’m not going to go where I’m not wanted. I am a gentleman… Back when we had prayer, the Bible and the Ten Commandments in schools, we did not need guns.”
<snip>

More: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/14/the_most_unhinged_reactions_to_the_shooting/?source=newsletter

[Autumn]

8. Fucking idiot. We still have prayer, the bible and the ten comandments

No one took them away. Do these idiots ever listen to what they say?

[cbayer]

12. What a profoundly stupid self promoting jerk he is.

If there is a god, I hope they heard this.

[skepticscott]

20. More insults and denigration of people

for their sincere and deeply held beliefs? What will your father (who swore to fight that sort of thing anywhere he saw it) say?

[trotsky]

28. IOKIYAB.

It's OK If You're A Bayer.

They have different standards for everyone else than they do for themselves.

[pinto]

29. C'mon trotsky. This borders on some kind of personal vendetta. Geez.

I assume there's a back story of some sort. But what I've seen since participating in this group is some good discussion overall. On all aspects on the spectrum of the Statement of Purpose.

Why this personal shit? I think you and cbayer both make some good points. Generally I like to follow the discussions, weigh in at times.

I hate to see things get personal in this way.

[trotsky]

30. So why are you getting personal with me? Shades of your own personal vendetta. Geez.

You seem to jump in to lecture and shame me whenever I don't fawn over cbayer's latest pearl of hypocritical wisdom.

I have problems with hypocrites. Guilty as charged. Tell cbayer to quit being one, and I'll quit pointing it out.

Deal?

[pinto]

32. I think you and cbayer both make some good points.

Sorry I stepped in here. I should have thought twice. It was a gut reaction.

[skepticscott]

35. And who made better points?

Or was is precisely 50.000000000000 to 50.000000000000?

Really, what it is with people who think that every point of view and every argument have absolutely equal weight and validity, and who are too intellectually cowardly to ever say that some points of view are just wrong?

[trotsky]

37. It's the liberal version of FAUX News "fair and balanced" nonsense.

As long as you feel deeply about it, it's just as valid as any other opinion. Well, unless it's a conservative opinion, in which case it's perfectly OK to call people who hold it "a bunch of dumbasses" or "fucking idiot(s)."

I think being able to dispute ANY opinion is a valuable part of discussion and learning from each other. Ideas should stand up to the harshest scrutiny if they are true, and to attack someone simply because they have the temerity to question happy, touchy-feely ideas is authoritarian and intolerant.

[skepticscott]

38. You left out bigoted

[AlbertCat]

39. God is not going to go where He is not wanted,

So..... he's not omnipresent.... right?

[edhopper]

9. So God

is like a vampire?
So much for omnipresence.

[Autumn]

15. I think he got the bible and the book twilight mixed up.

[trotsky]

24. He's been invited to every church in the country...

yet he didn't stop the raping of children there.

[Autumn]

25. True trotsky

so very true.

[avebury]

7. Anybody focusing on where was God is

missing the biggest point. It is really about personal responsibility. People need to be held responsible for their own actions. Society needs to be responsible for how we treat each other. It is the culture that we have allowed to develop. It is about members of the media who are more interested in supporting propaganda even when it results in an increasingly divided country and encourages nuts on the fringe. It is about politicians and the 1% who are only interested in furthering their personal agendas with total disregard for the masses. Playing the blame game (i.e. gay marriage, women's right to choose, illegal aliens, Obamacare, and so on) is just a way for people to avoid coming together to promote positive changes to achieve desired results.

Incidents like this tragedy brings to the forefront just how far this country has deteriorated. I am not a gun person but even I realize that any type of actions relating to guns will not solve the comprehensive problems. A crazy person does not need a gun to do a lot of damage, just look at the guy in China that went into a school and started stabbing children.

Yesterday was a real tragedy and I would not be surprised to see incidents like this continue. This country is far to divided to make the changes needed to prevent incidents like this in the future.

[cbayer]

10. Agree with much of what you have to say.

The problem is much bigger than just guns, but I do think they are part of the problem.

From my POV, the biggest problem is how we treat people with serious psychiatric disorders. The lack of access to treatment and, even worse, the complete marginalization of those who are sick, feeds this.

IMHO, god has nothing to do with it and those that try to implicate a god are doing it to fulfill their own agenda, nothing more.

[avebury]

13. I agree. People who are focus on God are using God

as an excuse for inaction. It is easier to blame God and/or the separation of church/state issue, then to be willing to put personal differences aside to work for the good of the country.

[cbayer]

14. Agree and think it goes both ways.

[cleanhippie]

23. What goes both ways?

[edhopper]

11. I know where you are coming from

but guns are ALSO the problem.
The incident in China left 3 children dead. Now, look at yesterday. The ability to harm so many so fast is because of guns in this country.

[2ndAmForComputers]

17. Where's the link to that news story?

I only ever hear it mentioned by gun nuts.

[edhopper]

19. Just google

china stabbing children

[2ndAmForComputers]

21. No one died.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/14/china-knife-attack-school.html

Of course, that body count of zero would stay that way if that loon had a gun.

[edhopper]

22. exactly /nt

[2ndAmForComputers]

16. "just look at the guy in China that went into a school and started stabbing children."

Oh, you mean that incident in which people were wounded but NO ONE DIED?

[avebury]

18. Yes. The children lucked out.

The man could have easily started to slit their throats versus just stabbing them.

[moobu2]

26. Stories like this makes me say "told you there's no such things as Gods"

[pinto]

27. "Rabbi Shaul Praver said the main thing he could do for parents was to merely be present"

Religious issues aside, Rabbi Praver gets it. Merely being present is the thing.

A good example of setting aside other things to simply show up.

[cbayer]

31. Those who use events like these to argue either for or against gods

are just different sides of the same despicable coin.

[trotsky]

33. You didn't really just do that, did you?

Did you just equate moobu2 with Mike Huckabee or Bryan Fischer?

Seriously?

[dimbear]

36. The Hebrew scriptures illustrate the right way to interpret these events.

Won battles prove the mercy and benevolence of Yahweh. Lost battles prove that there was sin in the camps of the Israelites.

Either way belief come out ahead.

[AlbertCat]

40. Won battles prove the mercy and benevolence of Yahweh.

Not to the other side.

[skepticscott]

34. Would you care to justify that statement?

With, say, facts...arguments...ANYTHING?? Because, frankly, it's just simply horseshit.

[AlbertCat]

41. just different sides of the same despicable coin.

Not the despicable coin of ancient superstitions, false hopes and lies about cause and effect. Only one side plays that one.