Why Does God Not Solve World Hunger?

[razeontherock]

why does he not snap his fingers and create a food source for these innocent starving children?

He did. He also Blessed us with knowledge of agriculture. Why do we not care for our neighbors and brothers? And more to the point, what do you do about this?

 

[GadFly]

No, I am not trying to place "blame" on anybody. I'm asking a simple question: if you could snap you fingers and feed all the hungry, would you? Since I'm assuming you would, what in God's nature makes him act so differently than us when it comes to love? Is there a reason you can explain to me?

Yikes. Actually poor geography, a stunting in cultural evolution, and lack of food is at fault.

The philosophies of liberalism and humanism is suppose to be the answer for every thing. If your are one of these, how come you have to ask Christians to explain your failures?

It seems to me that God gave his only Son to answer your questions and to give you your answers. You have your answers in Christ. Is that not enough of a gift? If humanist were not operating on their own lust, the problem of hunger in the world would have been solved years ago. It is a fact that the godless political philosophies of the world have always had the worst record of all at feeding the poor. Without Christianity the atheist would have starved to death years ago. It is the humanist and atheist who are at fault and not God. You people get busy and save the world like you say you can.

 

[advena]

Not if that idea is of a omni-benevolent, God, no. But scripture shows us that God chooses benevolence when He chooses, and damnation (in all its forms) when He chooses otherwise.

It's not that complicated.

Thank you for your answer. Just to clarify, are you saying that famine is a form of damnation?

The concept that there are times when god chooses damnation over kindness is part of the problem for me, not an answer. It affects my ability to trust and feel close to a higher power. That's just where I am on my journey.

I've read some thought provoking ideas on this thread. I'm glad I came to this forum.

Oh, maybe its not complicated for you, but it is for me

 

[GadFly]

Why do you assume that I'm blaming God for this? Why do you think I'm saying "It's God's fault we have world hunger, we have nothing to do with causing it"?

I could care less who's to blame, if anybody is to blame yeah it's us humans. My question is why doesn't God (in his infinite love) step in to help his creation and feed these poor innocent people?

What makes you think that Christians are the only ones who are suppose to ask God this question? How about you, did you ask God this question and if so, what did he say to you? To question everything can be an endless task but to learn one truth requires that you only listen one time. Since you don't seem to learn from your questions, maybe you lack the skills of questioning or perhaps you have never learned to listen. Just a thought.

 

[GadFly]

Why do you assume that I'm blaming God for this? Why do you think I'm saying "It's God's fault we have world hunger, we have nothing to do with causing it"?

I could care less who's to blame, if anybody is to blame yeah it's us humans. My question is why doesn't God (in his infinite love) step in to help his creation and feed these poor innocent people?

What makes you think that Christians are the only ones who are suppose to ask God this question? How about you, did you ask God this question and if so, what did he say to you? To question everything can be an endless task but to learn one truth requires that you only listen one time. Since you don't seem to learn from your questions, maybe you lack the skills of questioning or perhaps you have never learned to listen. Just a thought.

 

[razeontherock]

I think God can step in and give us the time of a finger-snap to help some of these people out. He doesn't even exist in time so it would take less than a finger-snap for him. All he has to do is want it: God's will be done.

This pertains to people. You overlook essentially anything anyone says to you, and otherwise your words really aren't those of one seeking God.

 

[Myshkin99]

Yet you would agree with the statement "God is love", no?

Something that is the essence of love cannot by nature be anything but nice. That's why the Christian God concept contradicts and therefore isn't reality.

God is love? Maybe. So says John. But he also appears to be a creep at times. It matters not what I think of God. God is what He is. There's no changing that. Accept it. That's about all you can do.

 

[Myshkin99]

Thank you for your answer. Just to clarify, are you saying that famine is a form of damnation?

The concept that there are times when god chooses damnation over kindness is part of the problem for me, not an answer. It affects my ability to trust and feel close to a higher power. That's just where I am on my journey.

I've read some thought provoking ideas on this thread. I'm glad I came to this forum.

Oh, maybe its not complicated for you, but it is for me

I didn't mean "It's not complicated" as a brush-off. Sorry, I can see how it sounded harsh.

I don't think famine is damnation. Famine is simply famine. But in either case, famine or plenty, it is God's will. If we are moved in the spirit, we will work to alleviate famine. If God wills it, it will be so. God knew what he was in for when he made us. We're problem children. We continually need to be reminded to clean our rooms.

Yes, it appears, based on scripture and evidence in the creation, that God sometimes chooses damnation over kindness. It definitely does not make me feel close to Him, but what am I to do about it? Refuse to believe scripture just because I don't like it? What's true is true.

 

[Harry3142]

If God snapped his fingers today and caused fruit trees to sprout up, tomorrow there would be men with heavy-duty chainsaws cutting them down.

The famines that we are witnessing are not only the responsibility of men, but actually brought on by us. The food shortage isn't due to the earth's not being capable of growing enough food for all the inhabitants of this planet. It's due to the supplies of food being used as weapons in order to gain power. Somalia is but one example of this tactic, with the supplies of food being prevented from getting to the people who need it due to Al Qaeda forces refusing to permit it to reach those people.

But the food necessary for the end of suffering is already available. It's not a matter of causing it to exist; it's a matter of tearing down the political blockades that prevent it from getting to those who need it.

 

[GrayAngel]

Thank you for your answer. Just to clarify, are you saying that famine is a form of damnation?

The concept that there are times when god chooses damnation over kindness is part of the problem for me, not an answer. It affects my ability to trust and feel close to a higher power. That's just where I am on my journey.

I've read some thought provoking ideas on this thread. I'm glad I came to this forum.

Oh, maybe its not complicated for you, but it is for me

According to scripture, tragedy falls on everyone, both righteous and unrighteous. Sometimes, God does punish sin, but He is patient in acting out His judgement. Meaning, it may or may not come in this life. As a result, you find "good people" who suffer, and "bad people" who live a pretty good life.

Our condition in this life is not a good measure of God's favor. Job is a classic example to prove this. Also Moses, who wandered 40 years in the desert, then there's the disciples, many of which were martyred.

Sometimes pain comes for our benefit, rather than being a sign of God's wrath or neglect. Good things come from dark days, and it's the end result which God is looking toward.

 

[Question.Everything]

I'm going to cut your response down to what I think is your answer to my questions.

Where do you believe God should draw the line? We have been told we live in a fallen world. These are the fruits of sin.

I think if there were a line to draw, helping to feed starving children or curing cancer certainly would not "cross" this imaginary line. Again I'll ask to search your heart and as yourself "If I had the powers of God right now, would I feed all of the starving people, cure cancer, etc with a snap of my finger?" I think it's a simple yes or no question, my answer is yes.

The "fruits of our sin" shouldn't matter to a loving God. That is saying "Ah well you guys chose to sin and not follow me and now millions of you are dying from pointless causes. Too bad for you, should have listened to me. Unfortunately I'm not going to lend a hand here and help you out, the only way is by accepting my son's sacrifice and hoping for a better shot in your next life." To me, this does not match up with "love".

Not all of us have failed this plan completely. If you want more done then simply do more. God has not put limits on what "we" are able to accomplish. All He needs is someone to step up and be that conduit to funnel out his blessings. If this is on your Heart perhaps He is calling you to do more or to be that conduit. the real question is will you heed the call.

Ok, but this isn't about us following any plan of God's. Sure we can all do more, but the reality is that there are millions of innocent people dying as a result of our failure. It's the simple question "Why does God not help us?" Any answer that you provided does not match up with what I would call love, and directly conflicts with my human nature (that was supposed to be created in the image of God).

 

[Question.Everything]

It depends on the short and long term consequences of this action, and how that will effect my ultimate plans.

Let's see...

Short term consequences of pushing Katrina back out to see - you save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in recovery costs

Long term consequences of pushing Katrina back out to see - you save millions of lives that result from the thousands of people that are now living and you save the government billions of dollars over the rebuilding costs

Any other consequences?

 

[Question.Everything]

God is more concerned with the soul than with personal comfort.

Does a God who has infinite power and love place "more" or "less" concern on things? Doesn't he infinitely have the most concern for everything? It shouldn't take God any more effort to maximally care for our personal comfort as well as maximally care for our soul.

This life is short, and our pain is temporary. So if it takes some suffering to save a person's soul, then guess what our loving Father is going to do.

So wiping out millions of innocent people saves their souls? I'd like to see you explain this one.

Again, Earth is not Heaven. We can enjoy our eternity of bliss after our hearts have been made right.

Again, how does allowing some kid in Kenya die of starvation make their hearts right? Do you think starving children all magically discover God by themselves as a result of starving?

Also, believe it or not, all disasters have a positive and negative side to it. Problem is, when we look at a disaster, we focus only on the negative. Then we shake our fists at the sky, as if God doesn't know what He's doing. But every once and a while, something big happens, which shocks us awake, and we turn to God instead of blaming Him.

Please explain the positive sides of world hunger and hurricanes.

Ten years ago, terrorists crashed planes into America's World Trade Center. The negative, of course, is that many people died. The positives were much greater to count. For a little while, the tragedy brought us together, even in prayer, and many people started asking questions about God.

That's insane. Absolutely insane.

"9/11 had much better positives than negatives", what an insulting statement.

Aside from thousands of INNOCENT lives here and overseas, 9/11 cost us TRILLIONS of dollars and fueled our militarism in the Middle East, which costs us TRILLIONS more and is putting the US in debt it may never recover from.

 

[Question.Everything]

He did. He also Blessed us with knowledge of agriculture. Why do we not care for our neighbors and brothers? And more to the point, what do you do about this?

It's kind of a moot point to argue, but I would say we discovered knowledge of agriculture by questioning how things work (this is how we discover anything).

More to the point - it matters not what we have succeeded or failed on based upon what God "blessed" us with. We have clearly failed at solving world hunger. Even if we slowly start to recognize how to carry out "God's plan" to solve world hunger (which it's NOT as simple as "love your neighbor as yourself", so I'd like to see a more detailed schematic of this "plan"), millions more are still going to die while we "figure it out".

Why does God not step in (as he supposedly did in the Bible) and give us a helping hand?

 

[Question.Everything]

The philosophies of liberalism and humanism is suppose to be the answer for every thing. If your are one of these, how come you have to ask Christians to explain your failures?

You make no sense when you speak. What are you talking about "answers for everything"? Are you saying that a person who may have 1 liberal view about something is automatically a hardcore, full-bore liberal? Why can't I pull principles from Christianity, Buddhism, liberalism, libertarianism and come up with my own working philosophy for living? And again this isn't all about me.

Without Christianity the atheist would have starved to death years ago. It is the humanist and atheist who are at fault and not God.

Well, people got by without starving for hundreds of thousands of years before Christ. But I'm not placing the "blame" on anybody. I'm not saying God is responsible for world hunger. Humans are responsible for world hunger. The question is why does God not help us out when we have failed?

You people get busy and save the world like you say you can.

You're awfully quick and labeling me as something I'm not, and doing it in a very condescending way. You do not sound like a Christian at all.

 

[Question.Everything]

This pertains to people. You overlook essentially anything anyone says to you, and otherwise your words really aren't those of one seeking God.

I don't think I'm overlooking anybody (and I'm not trying to). I asked a question "Why in God's infinite power and love would he not lend a helping hand to us in the direct form of providing food for the millions that need it?" The answers have either been :

a) Look at yourself before you question God or

b) It's a result of sin

Neither of those "answers" directly faces my question. Everybody here is assuming I'm "blaming God" for world hunger. I'm not. World hunger exists, and it might be because of us, it might be because we fail to carry out God's plan, and it might be geography and a lack of cultural evolution. That doesn't matter, it is what it is. Now given what it is, why does God not do everything he can (solving the problem in an instant) to help us?

 

[Question.Everything]

If God snapped his fingers today and caused fruit trees to sprout up, tomorrow there would be men with heavy-duty chainsaws cutting them down.

That's a bit of an assumption. But if we're playing the "theoretical game" as loosely as you are; God could very easily make trees that grow back in a week.

But the food necessary for the end of suffering is already available. It's not a matter of causing it to exist; it's a matter of tearing down the political blockades that prevent it from getting to those who need it.

Agreed, one step for us to solve world hunger ourselves (without God) would be to tear down these political blockades. That's tough though, and as we're trying to figure this out millions (billions over time) of innocent people are dying. If God loves us and has the power to fix it himself, I think it would make sense that he should.

Same goes for cancer, why can't God snap his fingers and kill off the cancer mutation?

 

[drich0150]

I think if there were a line to draw, helping to feed starving children or curing cancer certainly would not "cross" this imaginary line. Again I'll ask to search your heart and as yourself "If I had the powers of God right now, would I feed all of the starving people, cure cancer, etc with a snap of my finger?" I think it's a simple yes or no question, my answer is yes.

My answer would be No. Why because In most cases God chose this answer as well.

The "fruits of our sin" shouldn't matter to a loving God. That is saying "Ah well you guys chose to sin and not follow me and now millions of you are dying from pointless causes. Too bad for you, should have listened to me. Unfortunately I'm not going to lend a hand here and help you out, the only way is by accepting my son's sacrifice and hoping for a better shot in your next life." To me, this does not match up with "love".

Perhaps not As you understand it. If you can take a step back with me and look at what sin and the consequences of sin really and truly are, then perhaps you will have a broader understanding. (If you are looking for one.)
First some biblically based definitions.

Sin, is anything not in the expressed will of God.

Evil, is a malicious intent to be out side of the Expressed will of God.

Not all sin is Evil, but all evil is sin.

Free Will is the ability to be in a will not expressed or approved by God.

In other words "Free will" is the ability to Sin.

In order for us to have true choice, or rather to have choices that are ours and count, is to live uninterrupted with the consequences of our sins/choices. This means all of them, otherwise if God bailed us out when the consequences got too serious, then the choices we make would mean nothing. Living with our sins and our consequences is what "free Will" this life is all about. Without choice this life becomes meaningless. Because This life is about choosing where we want to spend eternity. Forcing someone who does not want to spend eternity with God to do so, is far a greater unloving act than dying in a harsh way.

OK, but this isn't about us following any plan of God's. Sure we can all do more, but the reality is that there are millions of innocent people dying as a result of our failure.

"death" is only a bad thing if you aren't prepared to die.

It's the simple question "Why does God not help us?"

He does. Your question should be "Why does God not help us the way I want Him to, or the way I think he should? The answer is that because He does not subscribe to your brand of righteousness. There are many aspects to the world and reality we live in you and your righteousness have not accounted for.

Any answer that you provided does not match up with what I would call love, and directly conflicts with my human nature (that was supposed to be created in the image of God).

Perhaps you should read the answer given, and look at what you are actually doing.

 

[drich0150]

Let's see...

Short term consequences of pushing Katrina back out to see - you save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in recovery costs

And what if those deaths and cost were apart of a greater plan?

Long term consequences of pushing Katrina back out to see - you save millions of lives that result from the thousands of people that are now living and you save the government billions of dollars over the rebuilding costs

Any other consequences?[/

Indeed. What of those who are now saved or found God as a result of Katrina. Or what of those who know God truly exists now because of Katrina? What of those who found out their faiths were shams based on their own personal prosperity? Is one soul worth the trivial billions of we associate with loss? You are aware that those dollars were only lost to the insurance and government agencies? That money was put into a depressed and destroyed community (Before the hurricane) Local business and local contractors local jobs.

 

[Question.Everything]

My answer would be No. Why because In most cases God chose this answer as well.

I think that shows a lot about your moral character, although I doubt you care about morals since the only thing you seem to care about is God and afterlife. This is exactly how Islamic terrorists think. It's dangerous to be so fervent in a belief (ESPECIALLY a God belief) that you'll say "No, I wouldn't save millions of starving children if I could do it with the snap of a finger."

This means all of them, otherwise if God bailed us out when the consequences got too serious, then the choices we make would mean nothing.

I disagree. Imagine you are a parent, and your child walks over to a strip of hot coals on the ground. You may say "Don't walk on those coals, you'll burn yourself." The child may still be defiant and go for it. So the child walks on the hot coals and pays the consequences of his action - his feet start to burn. Then another consequence (that he didn't think about) happens, and the child falls onto the coals, burning his entire body. As he/she lays there screaming in agony, as a watching parent do you bail your child out and lift them off the coals? Or do you let them suffer the consequences of their choice and lay there burning until they die?

Now let's take it a step further and relate this more to what we're talking about. Imagine a random guy in the park takes your child and throws them on the hot coals. Do you run and help your child off the coals, or do you allow them to suffer the consequences of the choice that a random man made?

"death" is only a bad thing if you aren't prepared to die.

And if it takes weeks/months of excruciating pain. And I doubt a 2 month old Somalian baby is prepared to die.

He does. Your question should be "Why does God not help us the way I want Him to, or the way I think he should? The answer is that because He does not subscribe to your brand of righteousness. There are many aspects to the world and reality we live in you and your righteousness have not accounted for.

Um God doesn't help. Having a book written that says "love other people" is not helping solve the problem of world hunger, cancer, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. Having a book that says "love other people" isn't unique either, there are hundreds of books that preach that very thing.

That is a pathetic attempt at "help" to someone with infinite power. I'm talking about physically intervening like he was said to have done thousands of years ago. He was even gracious enough to wipe out our entire species to "help" us out.