The Blame Game

"God is in the abundant harvest: he is also in the famine that occurs when the harvest fails." Mansur al-Hallaj

There was a person in a newsgroup I use to be a member of who claimed he was an atheist and then proceeded to blame God for everything wrong in the world. He blamed God for not stepping in and stopping anything that went wrong. He blamed God because he had been born into a poor household and had to work his way through the world. Like the rest of us haven't had to struggle?

I don't think people really understand this God thing. They use God and the devil as crutches to avoid having to take responsibility for their own lives. "God told me to" or "the devil made me do it." No and no again!

God and the devil both exist and the word of both is out there for man to hear and act on. The important words are "act on." We were born with free will and that puts the burden of our behavior right smack dab where it belongs on us. We are responsible for our own actions. God is not responsible for what we do. The devil is not responsible for what we do. We are responsible.

We are free to study the words of both God in the writings of various religions or the words of the devil in the writings of people purporting to write about religion. We need to be the ones to wade through the writings and decide if this is really the word of God or the devil. Sometimes it isn't easy.

For me the bottom line is this, is what I am reading encouraging me towards good or hatred? If what I am reading exhorts me to condemn my fellow man for any reason then I'm not reading the words inspired by God. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said it best: "Hate is not a family value."

The hardest thing in life is to follow Christ's example and turn the other cheek. "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do." Christ taught us to forgive and pray for our enemies. It does not mean that we allow evil to continue to exist. He did drive the money lenders from the temple after all. It means we don't hate our enemies but we need to try and stop them and return the world to what is right and good without succumbing to the evil that drive men to commit atrocities.

We are responsible for our own lives and behavior. God did not cause us to be born into poverty. He did not cause the famines. He did not cause the Twin Towers to fall. The fact that there is evil in the world is not the fault of God rather it is the fault of man who has turned his back on God.

God will be there for us in all times good or bad. He is our comfort and our joy. The only thing we need to do is let him into our hearts.