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Jorre's mad ramblings
"What you plan to write about"? Yeeeah, I see a problem there. I don't do "plan".
On religion
Now people, I usually do not do this, but I logged onto my old friendster account and found a muslim-girl had posted the following:

Safura wrote:
> >THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST
> >EXPLANATIONS OF
> >WHY ALLAH ALLOWS PAIN AND SUFFERING
> >THAT I HAVE SEEN:
> >A MAN
> >WENT TO A BARBERSHOP TO HAVE HIS HAIR
> >CUT AND HIS BEARD TRIMMED.
> >AS THE BARBER BEGAN TO WORK, THEY
> >BEGAN TO HAVE A GOOD
> >CONVERSATION.
> >THEY TALKED ABOUT SO MANY THINGS AND
> >VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
> >WHEN THEY EVENTUALLY TOUCHED ON THE
> >SUBJECT OF ALLAH,
> >
> >THE BARBER SAID: "I DON'T BELIEVE THAT
> >ALLAH EXISTS."
> >
> >"WHY DO YOU SAY THAT?" ASKED THE
> >CUSTOMER.
> >
> >"WELL, YOU JUST HAVE TO GO OUT IN THE
> >STREET TO REALIZE THAT
> >ALLAH DOESN'T EXIST. TELL ME, IF ALLAH
> >EXISTS, WOULD THERE BE SO
> >MANY SICK PEOPLE? WOULD THERE BE
> >ABANDONED CHILDREN? IF ALLAH
> >EXISTED, THERE WOULD BE NEITHER
> >SUFFERING NOR PAIN. I CAN'T IMAGINE
> >A LOVING ALLAH WHO WOULD ALLOW ALL OF
> >THESE THINGS."
> >
> >THE CUSTOMER THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT,
> >BUT DIDN'T RESPOND BECAUSE
> >HE DIDN'T WANT TO START AN ARGUMENT.
> >THE
> >BARBER FINISHED HIS JOB
> >AND THE CUSTOMER LEFT THE SHOP. JUST
> >AFTER HE LEFT THE BARBERSHOP,
> >HE SAW A MAN IN THE STREET WITH LONG,
> >STRINGY, DIRTY HAIR AND AN
> >UNTRIMMED BEARD.
> >
> >HE LOOKED DIRTY AND UNKEMPT. THE
> >CUSTOMER TURNED BACK AND
> >ENTERED THE BARBER SHOP AGAIN AND HE
> >SAID TO THE BARBER:
> >
> >"YOU KNOW WHAT? BARBERS DO NOT
> >EXIST." "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?"
> >ASKED
> >THE SURPRISED BARBER. "I AM HERE, AND I
> >AM A BARBER. AND I JUST
> >WORKED ON YOU!"
> >
> >"NO!" THE CUSTOMER EXCLAIMED. "BARBERS
> >DON'T EXIST BECAUSE IF
> >THEY DID, THERE WOULD BE NO PEOPLE
> >WITH DIRTY LONG HAIR AND
> >UNTRIMMED BEARDS, LIKE THAT MAN
> >OUTSIDE." "AH, BUT BARBERS DO
> >EXIST!
> >THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE DO
> >NOT COME TO ME."
> >
> >"EXACTLY!"
> >
> >AFFIRMED THE CUSTOMER. "THAT'S THE
> >POINT! ALLAH, TOO, DOES
> >EXIST! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE
> >DO NOT GO TO HIM AND DON'T
> >LOOK TO HIM
> >FOR HELP. THAT'S WHY THERE'S SO MUCH
> >PAIN AND SUFFERING IN
> >THE WORLD."
> >
> >>IF YOU THINK ALLAH EXISTS, SEND THIS TO
> >OTHER
> >PEOPLE--- IF YOU THINK ALLAH DOES NOT
> >EXIST, DELETE

Yes, that annoys me. Yes, all capitals. Anyhow, thanks for suffering through that, my response was:

Jorre
I'll try to keep it short ^_^.
If I offend you or your belief in this retoric, please excuse me, I did not do so on purpose. I am merely pointing out where your parabel (tale of God) is lacking.
Also, next time, turn off the caps lock. It is deemed more polite to use small font.
One cannot prove the existance of a God.


Now I'll elaborate.
In the story you have posted, you mention that the reason for bad things to happen to people is that they do not turn to said religious entity.
I happen to have had a devout muslim aunty who recently passed away after a struggle against breast-cancer. She turned to Allah but wasn't helped.
Now, in spite of these things happening all the time, there are more holes in your story.
This story could be used to tell people that the Easter Bunny is actually a God, simply by changing a few words left and right, it is not representative for a singular religion or even a basis for concluding the existance of a metaphysical entity such as Allah.
One would be able to state that a metaphysical entity such as Allah might be too busy arranging an entire universe in order to be concerned with every single human that suffers, after all, it has been proven that we're not the center of the universe and even if we were, would we be worthy of having the most powerful entity one can imagine (or as some would argue, one cannot imagine, since a God-entity would bypass our imagination) as a servant? I highly doubt so.

In the end, I fear, the story, as given here, is too ambigious.
For a clearer view on how to judge these stories, I recommend you to read through more philosophical works (Immanuel Kant would be a nice person to start your literature with).

Greets,
Jorre


Hope everyone learns a lesson from this; do not annoy me for I WILL go philosophical on your a**.






User Comments: [2] [add]
SpinCity
Community Member
avatar
commentCommented on: Sat Jul 08, 2006 @ 09:37pm
"One cannot prove the existance of God."

There could never be enough proof Jorre. There are some things in this world that cannot be explained and it may be because we are not advanced enough in our technology, but in truth that is because we lack faith. Faith in ourselves, faith in others, faith in our origions, and faith in our purpose.

To love God, to love Allah is a personal choice that is based on much more than physical proof. Your aunt saught comfort, guidance, healing, and peace. I believe that those who are faithful and steadfast will get what they asked for. I also believe that we limit just how great a power God has.

As for suffering, are we not capable of helping each other? Were we not made capable to express ourselves and communicate to one another? Must Allah do everything? Must God carry your load even when there are others there to bare it with you?

One cannot prove existance of God because they are content to believe it to be impossible and do not seek to look beyond what they've found.


commentCommented on: Sat Jul 08, 2006 @ 10:49pm
I have made a new post specially for you, I hope you like it ^^.



Jorre
Community Member
User Comments: [2] [add]
 
 
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