Is American Being Punished for Its Sinfulness?

beliefnet ^ | 9-18-01 | Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

[2ndMostConservativeBrdMember]

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[Pete]

The real question which should be posed to G-d upon witnessing a child with leukemia, or a staggering human tragedy like the destruction of the World Trade Center, is not, 'Please G-d, explain to us why this happens and how it but rather, 'Master of the Universe, how could You allow this to happen?! Was is not you who taught us in Your Bible that life is sacred and must be preserved at all costs? So where is that life now?! Was is not you who also promised that the good deserve goodness, and not pain? Where is your promise now? By everything which is sacred to You, I demand that this cease, and that these people recover, now!'

If you ask me, this guy is completely out to lunch.

[riley1992]

And truth be told, I would rather stay awake being angry that G-d has allowed this devastation to happen, than to sleep easier believing that those who suffered deserved what they got.

This is really starting to grate my nerves on all sides. God did not 'allow' anything to happen. He gave human beings free-will. No one is responsible for this other than the fanatics who planned and executed it. Period.

[dighton]

</marquee up></marquee up></marquee up></marquee up> I can't bring myself to read Boteach's article, or take him seriously. Here's why.

[Pete]

You have confirmed my opinion.

[TrueBeliever9]

"Having ears they hear not, having eyes they see not!" Sin opens the door for evil! This Rabbi obviously doesn't believe that "sin is very revealed in America" and that unless this Nation repent and seek God we have no Divine Protection!

[AD from SpringBay]

I think the early chapters of the book of Romans details God's wrath as allowing giving people up to their sinful desires. In this case, we have been receiving the outpouring of God's wrath for quite some time.

I think the attack is an example of what unbridled sin can accomplish, just a reminder for us all (us all believers) to earnestly contend for the faith, that we need to stand up and resist such things.

[Pete]

Bingo.

[constitoot]

What's with the G-d? Is there something blasphemous about writing G-O-D?

[YaYa123]

Information on BeliefNet, a site new to me.

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[vmatt]

Stop and think about how many babies drew their last breath of water as they went under the flood waters. Numerous biblical examples exist that this tragedy could well have been retribution from God. God used the sinful romans to destroy Israel, fulfilling numerous prophecies. Sodom and Gamorrah resuled in many innocent deaths as a result of a few. IMHO, we Americans should be on our knees praying for a spiritual awakening which I believe is coming.

[Publius6961]

Is American Being Punished for Its Sinfulness?

Not now, please.
Give it a rest.

Now is not the time for opportunism, even the religious variety.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Judaism sees death, illness, and suffering as aberrations in creation which were brought about through the sin of Adam in Eden. Man's mission was never to make peace with suffering and death, but to abolish them from the face of the earth for all eternity by joining G-d as junior partners in Creation. By using physical tools such as studying medicine, giving charity, and being there in times of need, and by using spiritual means such as prayer and protest, we help usher in an era where only goodness will prevail over the earth.

Amen.

[vmatt]

"Not now, please."

When, then? At your leisure? First amendment gone already?

[dighton]

What's with the G-d?

Traditional Jewish practice, motivated by awe of the Deity and fear of blaspheming Him. Your dictionary may explain it under tetragrammaton.

[TrueBeliever9]

blending -- blending together; for some reason that United Nations logo comes to mind

[smorgle]

I think this whole question of whether we're being punished, or deserve to be punished, and why God allows horrors like 9/11 is distracting. It doesn't take a religious scholar to figure out that horrific events are always a good opportunity to re-examine our lives, check whether we're really "walking the walk" and resolve to be better (there's always room to improve or go deeper). Sitting around trying to explain mysteries and answer unanswerable questions is an impressive looking way of putting off the real work.

[MissAmericanPie]

This is rediculous and infuriating. We screw up from the ground up, then try to blame God for our own stupidity, and the stupidity and greed of our politicians.

God stays in place with his protection, it is rather corrupt man that moves away from that protection via, sin, greed, corruption. It is we that have moved from behind our shield not the other way around.

Our corrupt greedy, unpatriotic, globalist, elected officals opened the gates wide to buy votes from strangers, to dilute and pre-empt the will of the majority of legitimate citizens, strangers that could care less about the survival of the USofA or contributing to it. In fact now we are living side by side with hidden enemies waiting to commit more terror. We got our noses bloodied, when these groups finally get their hands on nuclear devices, and they will, we may end up counting 5,500 as small number to look back and envy the days.

Why does God allow us to have such corrupt worthless leaders? Leader's that have stained us with 40,000,000 abortions to answer for to a just God? Because we moved away and hated truth, we asked God to wait in the back room so as not to offend anyone, AND MEEKLY HE DID, all the while still blessing us, we threw down our Christian culture as an embarassment in an enlightened age. Not all of us did, liberals did, and we just sat quietly and said, "we don't want to judge".

Now that we are in it up to our necks, we go from "God is Dead" to "Where is God?", all the while knowing that we will not repent of our murders, (abortions), our drug culture, our fornications, nor our thefts. Something for nothing, and whining all the way, that's us from the ground up.