There is definitely no loving God. Fact.

I have and I do Jings.

Did God shoot the child ?

He (if he's there) allowed him to suffer. Why should a tiny 6 year old be in fear for his life-to suffer the most abject terror? My heart was breaking for this small scrap of humanity.

Did God shield him from the gunman?

So God must step in and stop the killing in Syria?

God must step in and stop fathers abusing their children

God must step in and feed children crying whilst they die from hunger

But man can keep on shooting and bombing, buying bigger houses whilst the homeless sleep on pavements . Sipping their wine with dinner whilst children starve. Turn up their central heating whilst people sleep in tents in camps

Nasty God

What a heartbreaking thing to hear and I can understand your reaction, Jingl, but without getting into the God/no God argument it is MAN who is evil, corrupt and vile.

I thought we were made in his image,

Some think we are made in his image if they believe he is uncaring, self centred, worship money and are all named Jack

God is supposed to be omnipotent and if this is so then he could stop wars, feed the starving and save children. If he is allowing vile things to happen to teach man a lesson then that sounds more like the work of the devil than God.

My thoughts too Harrigran.

I don't normally get drawn into religious arguments but I have to say that I am completely with the OP on this one.

The concept of a deity doesn't work unless that deity is literally omnipotent - all-powerful in every sense. So to me that can only mean that if there is a God then he (she?) could intervene in the suffering of the weakest members of society if necessary. And I don't accept the argument that God needs us to take control of our own actions. If any of us saw someone hurting a child we would step in, not say "well I could do something about it but I'm not going to because I'm waiting for him to realise for himself that his actions are hurtful".

I grew up in a religeous household (in fact I have one ordained minister and several lay-preachers in my immediate family), but age and experience has turned me away from religion and that's the way it will stay, I think.

So he should stop wars? How? Should he have blown up the UK when we went into Iraq? Same to America for their brutality in Vietnam?

He is jolly useful to those who don't believe in him, every evil deed by man could be stopped by a God we don't believe in !

Should God take homes away from us and give them to the homeless ?

I feel for that 6 yr old of course I do. I also feel for the many children his age through out the world who will die an accidental death or die of cancer etc.
That cannot be blamed on the evilness of man. Whether I believe it is the evilness of God. I don't know.

Man made God in his own image, to explain what was unexplainable in his environment, to have a conscience that could work out what he should do, be separate from himself and ignore if he didn't want to do it, and so that he had a Big Brother to fight his corner and sort out all the things he had no control over.

Assuming there is a God, how should he stop wars, prevent all illnesses and accidents and acts of cruelty? These are all outcomes of one thing leading to another so how would he stop it? How did you protect your children from the fights and accidents and illnesses they had? Did you wrap them up in protective clothing and put them into individual cells until they grew up?

And about wars... whose side should God be on?

Should he have blown up the UK when we went into Iraq? Same to America for their brutality in Vietnam?
What happened to God is love ? he should not be contemplating obliterating whole nations.

Then harrigran, perhaps you can explain how he can stop one country bombing hell out of another country?

He can't Anniebach because he does not exist. War is an example of man's inhumanity to man. We will never stop war because from the very beginning humans have coveted their neighbour's land and will stop at nothing to acquire it.

Then harrigran , this thread is pointless isn't it?

I'm staying out of this but Anniebach why only "stop fathers abusing their children"? What about mothers? I'm not being stroppy, just fed up with the assumption that it is always men.

Surely he could have some way of entering the minds of these people. If he really is there.

I guess I started the thread because I wanted to mourn for that poor little lad. And for the others drowning at sea in the rubber boats.

When I hear such terrible things I simply can't get it out of my mind, so I know how you feel.

I know. I had my headphones on and I woke up at just the wrong time. But we have to know about these things.