So I'm sitting in the car and I hear the opening lines of a song by the Fray go like this..."I found God on the corner of First and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, 'Where you been?' He said, 'Ask anything.'"
Since we had been talking a lot about fate and free will and a lot about God's purpose in life lately and about how the empiricists and rationalists viewed it all, I figured that this would be the premise for a great blog question.
Suspend all disbelief, don't try to weasel out of it by looking for a loophole like you did with the trolley experiment; for the purpose of this experiment, please assume that a higher power exists. You don't have to believe in the higher power in order to ask it a question.Every society and culture tries to answer the burning eternal questions. Every generation tries to find a new interpretation of the same answers and come up with a unique way of asking the same eternal questions in a different way. We see that with The Matrix, Lost, the Golden Compass, Heroes, and now (as I watch) the new Battlestar Galactica. So why would music be any different an expression of this yearning for understanding? It wouldn't, and I'm glad I found a contemporary song that captured one of those questions.
Think long and hard about it, because you only get one question to ask.
So please answer the following:
1. What would it be?
2. Why would you ask that question?
3. And what do you think the answer might be?
Minimum of 250 words total. Due by Thursday 2/12.
Ben Despard 4th hour
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, the most important question to ask would be “do we choose our own fate”. If the answer is no, then civilization and all hope of a better brighter future would collapse, and everyone would just sit back and “let it all happen”. The worth of living is to better yourself, to have hope and confidence that you can control 99.9% of what happens to you, that you do make your own destiny. This premise is what drives people’s inner fire to achieve, , to try a little harder, to be the very best they can be, and to not waste their lives feeling sorry for themselves just because it’s their lot in life. The main concept behind the movie A Knights Tale (starring Heath Ledger, RIP) is the idea that a man can change his stars, or his status, in life. A thatcher’s son is squired to a knight. When the knight dies in a joust, the peasant takes the knights armor and starts a new life as a knight. In the end he is caught, but he is knighted by the prince of Wales because he was a good, honest (despite the false identity) and the people loved him. The theme is that when a person sets his mind to it, he can do anything, he can change his stars. As to why I would ask “do we choose our own fate”, it’s simple, really. Hope. And as everyone knows, if hope dies, the human spirit dies, and then humanity crumbles into inexistence. And from that, would come the answer to one of the most asked questions “why are we here”.
Ask anything? If I have the answer to anything I wanted to know right in front of me, what would I ask?
ReplyDeleteI'd turn around and walk away.
Sounds crazy right? Or is it? If I could ask anything, then really now, what's the point of living? If I knew what already happened at the end of a season or at the end of a movie, what's the point in watching it. I mean one could argue that it would still be worthwhile to read and watch how it unfolds, but admit, it's a lot more boring. The same thing applies to life. If I knew how things were going to turn out, then life would be rather boring. I mean, if I asked why all the bad things in the world happened, then I cant rant and rave when something goes wrong. If I asked when I'm going to die, what I'm going to do in life, or how I turn out in the end, then why would I want to put effort into the rest of my life?
Simply put, the answer to any question takes the mystery out of the question itself. That's the point of living for me, to find my own answers to my own questions and see what I'll do with myself. Why ruin life with an answer? I'd just walk away.
-Abbie Schreier
TJ Hyland
ReplyDeletePhilosophy 3rd Hour
I was friends with these two twins, Pat and James, in eighth grade. They went to my school for nine years, they were the smartest in the grade, they were devout Catholics, and they had some of the best scores on the standard eyes test in Michigan. Their parents were in charge of the schools clergy, they organized all of the fun activities, and were some of the nicest people I had ever met. In the summer of 2006, they all went on vacation. One day, their cottage exploded. James and Pat were thrown by the blast, and their grandparent was still inside the burning house. In desperation, one of the twins ran inside the burning house, and pulled out and saved his grandparent. When they awoke in the hospital, they were told that their parents had died in the explosion. Now, I would ask God why He would take away some of the nicest people ever, and on top of that, why he would leave two thirteen year olds, and their younger sister to fend for themselves. I honestly do not know what His response would be. I am assuming He would say that it was His will. But that just doesn’t seem fair to me. The reason I would ask this question above others would be because I want to know why, of all the people to take, He would take the lives of the nicest, most devout, non-crazy Catholics that I know. I have wondered the answer to that question for three years, and I think that James, Pat, Meagan, and everyone else from St. Regis deserve some closure.
Hi, your question hits on one of the most debated issues in theology, namely the problem of evil. The problem here is an apparent gratuitous evil. Would God have been able to achieve his purposes without allowing this apparent gratuitous evil to happen? The answer theologians generally use is the Condition of Reasonable Epistemic Access. Im so sorry about your loss. Grieving is extremely difficult and my heart goes out to you.
DeleteIf I could ask God one question it would probably be: “what is it like to be God?” Honestly, I don’t want to know the point to life, my purpose, why bad things happen, etc. Either the answers would be dumb, or it would be life changing, but it would take out the mystery and joy in living my life. I really believe that if I knew my purpose I would feel pressured my entire life to make sure I was living up to it, even if it is fated. I might even have a pointless purpose or a miserable existence. Why would I want to know that and then live the next 70 years already knowing what will happen?
ReplyDeleteThe question “what is it like to be God,” is not necessarily life changing or even important. I am very curious what it would be like to be omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. I have no idea what God would answer, or what the true answer is; therefore God’s answer is truly a wild guess based on what I presume to be normal human emotions. I suppose God would say something like, “It is amazing, frustrating, thrilling, upsetting, joyous, and rewarding.” So to explain that it would be amazing because God is able to know all, do all and be everywhere. God sees all the amazing places in the world and can hear all the interesting conversations and thoughts. It might be frustrating to see the evil people do and the ignorance that some people live in. I can imagine it is frustrating to watch people teach incorrect religious views, etc. In the same way that it is amazing, it would be thrilling. Thrilling to see everyone interact with each other, watch man make huge discoveries, and so on. I can imagine it would be upsetting to watch man, your creation, live in poverty, despair, pain, loneliness. If I loved someone as much as I imagine God loving man, it would be quite upsetting to see them suffering and to hear every one of their thoughts. I suppose it would be joyous to have people turn to you for help and to devote their lives to you; and to know that your creation loves you as much as you love them. Then in the same way it is rewarding to see your creation living and existing as you intended, assuming this is happening.
So if it was possible to ask God what it is like to be God, the answer could be something like this or something completely different. Like I said before, I haven't the faintest idea what the real answer to this question is.
Megan
3rd Hour
Megan,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your response, I thought of the movie, Bruce Almighty. Here's a clip of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6_KKHnyL4 Thankfully, the clip ends BEFORE the monkey comes out.
What I really wanted to find was the clip where Jim Carrey tries answering peoples' prayers via email. He initially tries to answer them one at a time, then ignores them, and then answers them all. Suddenly, everyone in town is rich!
Is this what being God is like? Who knows? Only God knows.
In a book I red called "The Kite Runner" a boy and his dad seem to be the nicest most loyal people who always did right, and still somehow suffered lives of horrible abuse and misfortune events, which really got me wondering... Why do bad things happen to good people?
ReplyDeleteI would ask this question because the best people I know are the people that really have it the worst. Bad, lazy people who cheat lie and steal might have a comfortable life with very few hardships, while a good caring giving person is living a life of sadness and hardships.
Is it because some people just have a bad fate, like Jack's Dad said in lost? (assuming that people have fate) Is it because that's just what happens? And maybe God just put us here to see if good really prevails over evil, not to control us? Or is it because he tests the good people to see how good they really stay when bad things continuously happen to them?
I would hope that the answer would be somewhere along the lines of God putting us here not to control us, but for us to learn and see if the good prevails on earth. I'm hoping that its just a random draw of luck that somehow the worst things happen to the better of people. A possible reason that this could happen is because there are more good people then bad in the word, and I say this with fingers crossed.
Katie Rothenberg 3rd hour
This question is a lot harder to figure put then I would have thought. There are many things I would like to casually ask but I would not want to waste my question any of those things. Figuring out which question is the most important to ask is very tough. It would be very interesting to know when he started smoking (haha) or what he was doing on a street corner but that is beside the point. I don’t think I would want to ask him about heaven or hell or what they were like because what good would those answers do me now while I am living. Finding out the answers to those would not affect what I do on earth. There are some questions I could ask that would make me want to ask more questions or I would need to ask more questions to fully understand the answer. I would want to ask him something that would be really useful to me while I was living. So what I think I would ask him is if there was anything I could personally do to make sure that my loved ones are okay and stay that way. If there was something I could do hopefully he would tell me and that would count as my one question and answer. If there was something I would do it in a heartbeat. My loved ones are the most important people in my life (people I care about) and if there was something I could do to ensure their well being I would most definitely do it.
ReplyDeleteKaelin Roberts
If I saw God on a street corner and I could ask him one question, my question who be why did he save me? Since I was cured from cancer I have wondered why me, why did he choose to save me and not some other child. I was not expected to live when I was first diagnosed with leukemia, so it makes me wonder why I didn’t die. There were plenty of children I knew who had better chances and fought a lot longer then I did who did not live. I knew a girl who relapsed three times who did not live. Why did this happen to her, I believe she deserved to live. There was two times when they thought maybe I had relapsed as well, but every time it was like someone was watching over me and it always turned out I just had some weird reaction to the medication. That wasn’t the last time I almost died and I felt like God had saved me. Once when I was up north I almost drowned in a water skiing accident. I was drug under water by the skiing rope, it was wrapped around my leg and I couldn’t get it off. I honestly believe that something got the rope off my leg because I know I didn’t pull it off. So why does God keep saving me? I don’t know what the answer might be because I feel I’m pretty normal and average just like everyone else. I just hope one day I will know why God wants me here and keeps saving me over and over.
ReplyDeleteErin Bay 4th hour
Initially, I intended to provide an insightful, unique question to show originality. As I pondered, I considered asking, “Does everything we do, or everything that happens to us, have a significant purpose?” But I realized if the answer was “No” I would become careless and less thoughtful of my actions; and if I spread the word that not everything had meaning, people would lose faith, and feel hopeless or distraught that events could occur without being prompted by a reason. If the answer was “Yes”, then I would overanalyze everything in my life, preoccupy myself by questioning the reason for even the minimal details, and I would never be able to relax or be carefree. If people realized everything in their life had a purpose, people would either become completely obsessed in analyzing every second of their lives, or become fatalists who give up in life. After eliminating my desire to ask that question, I realized that, although it’s somewhat banal and unoriginal, I yearn for the answer to the question of why evil exists. The worst-case scenario is God would answer “No reason” or “To contrast with good, so people appreciate blessings more”. However, both responses are what I currently believe, so that would be no different than normal. Also, if the world learned that there is no purpose for murders or bad things, there would be a greater chance of eliminating atrocities and horrors because people who commit such crimes “because it’s their destiny” would be disillusioned. For example, if we learned this earlier in history, genocides and slavery that occurred “in God’s will” would have possibly been prevented. On the other hand, if God answered that there was a purpose for horrors and murders to take please, many millions of people might be consoled because they know their loved one did not die for no reason. People, of course, would still be upset, but this response would arouse faith, hope for an after life, and consolation to grieving people. So, after hearing either response, whether there is or is not a reason for horrific death or torture, humanity would be improved because we would begin to have insight and closure on the mystery of death and evil.
ReplyDeleteLaura Dietrich
4th
If I had the chance to ask God any question I wanted, I honestly wouldn't know what to ask. There are so many questions in life that I want to know the answers to, and I wouldn’t be able to pick one that I’ve been itching to ask. So if I ever met God on a street corner, I don't think I would ask anything. I would just say hi and talk to him about stuff like heaven and if my grandparents are having fun. I think if I asked God a question that I really want to know the answer to, I would find out the answer, but then all of the mystery in life would be gone. It would be like asking what my purpose in life is, and God tells me, and I would know, but I wouldn’t have to wonder about it anymore. I have the rest of my life to figure out what my purpose in life is, and if I never find out, then at least I tried my best. It's not that I'd rather be stupid and happy instead of smart and bored or anything, I just want to find the answers myself.
ReplyDeleteLoren B. 4th hour
Blog #15
ReplyDeleteDaniel Zamler
Q: What would it be? Why would you ask that question? And what do you think the answer might be?
A: If I found God on a street corner I would ask him what the purpose to life was. As cliché as that sounds that is what I would ask him. I found this to be somewhat interesting after hearing Mr. Wickershams’ examples in class. My father died of a brain tumor when I was 15 yet the thought of asking god why that had happened never even crossed my mind. Then I got to thinking why it never crossed my mind. Was it because I was raised not to question god? No that couldn’t be it, I do not come from a devoutly religious home, could it be because I am more self absorbed in my own quandaries than I am concerned about my own fathers death? I hope not. The answer that seems to be the best to me is that I choose to believe that life has a purpose. I believe that my dad must have died for some purpose because life would be utterly too depressing for me to think any other way. If my dad died for no reason at all then what am I doing here? And why did I go through all that pain and trauma? And when I look at that basic belief I realize where my question came from. If I did not believe that there was a purpose to life then I would not have to ask that question. I honestly have no idea what the answer might be, I hope it is something good. It would really upset me if life all one big trivial game.
If I had one question to ask God it would be, “Does everything always happen for a reason?” Throughout my whole life I have grown up being told this every time something doesn’t go the way I want it to or the way I had planned on it going. I try to believe that this is true but sometimes it’s really hard to understand why certain things happen. I know that there are a lot of people who live by this quote, but sometimes things just don’t make sense. For example, how can it be that all the people who died in the Holocaust died for a reason? It’s questions like these that I have a hard time with. I would ask this because it is something that I find myself questioning quite often and it would be really nice to know for future events that may take place. I really don’t know why he would say. The part of me that does believe that everything happens for a reason thinks that he would say yes, but at the same time the part of me that doesn’t believe everything happens for a reason thinks that he would say know. I guess before this question could be answered I would need to know whether we have fate or free will because they all connect to each other. I would still probably ask my original question first though because I don’t think I could handle knowing the truth about whether or not we have a predetermined future.
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth O'Donnell 4th hour
If I ever had an opportunity to ask a higher power one question it would be the following: “Is there life after death?” That question is the one question that has bothered me my whole entire life. The question is weird to think about and is weird to think that there could potentially be life after death. If I knew that the answer to this question was yes then I would be very happy. This is because I love my life and I want it to go on forever. If the answer to this question were no then I would embrace it even more than I do right now. I would also tell others to enjoy their lives now while they could. This answer to this question would change the world forever. I don’t believe that this question will ever be answered because it would be bad for our world. But if there were to be an answer from this higher power I believe that it would be that there is life after death. I truly think that there is life after death so therefore I believe that this higher power would agree with me. I believe that there aren’t two separate places where people go. There is no place where good people go (heaven), and no place where bad people go (hell). Everyone is in one place. I think that the higher powers, if there are any, want life to go on for a long period of time. Life was created to live forever, not for just a short period of time.
ReplyDeleteJake B 4th hr
Sean Turner
ReplyDeleteWith one free question for god, I would ask god if fate is determined when we are born or by our various actions throughout life, and also if said actions are predetermined. I would think that god would have set the world up with fate determined by non-predetermined actions. How’s someone whose been living for thousands of years supposed to pass the time? This question is very interesting to me.
If fate is predetermined, then are my actions predetermined? If my actions are predetermined, than do I even have choices just illusions of choice? If I have an illusion of choice than I already know (subconsciously) a decision I will make twenty-five years after I am born, or if I have choice, then does the outcome of any one choice potentially change my fate? If fate is predetermined, then it seems to be either a straight pole with pre-determined choices (an illusion of choice), or a really long branch with variations of fate at the tip of each twig. If god could provide an answer to this question I would like to know, preferably soon… No spoilers though.
If fate is the pole, then our life is plotted out for us from birth to death, with no means of altering fate; the one-hundred year plan. If fate is a branch, it seems that the outcome major decisions reflect the options of you fate currently available to you, forever removing some of the options. Personally, I like the branch model more, someone could get really screwed over by the pole model. The answer to this question is very interesting, someone could be destined (no matter what the circumstances) to become rich, to save the world, to gain great fame, the converse for each above being true as well. Someone also could become famous, or rich, or evil, or poor, based on their decisions. It’s really difficult to imagine a world where you are condemned to your one fate, and seems cruel to those who are destined a life of unfavorable circumstances, when everything is beyond their control.
If I was driving down maple and I see god on the side of the street and there was only time for one question before he went away I would ask him why he didn’t leave any hard evidence of his existence. If he had done such great miracles why couldn’t he just have done something that gives me evidence of his existence. I know in the bible Jesus does some amazing things, but are we just suppose to believe that he is the son of god. They way I think is by figuring out how things work and using logic to understand them. Then the bible comes along and say believe in this higher being and science tells me that it does not exist. The way I think makes me wan to side with science. This is why I would ask that question there are so many unknowns.
ReplyDeleteI think that god would respond to my question by saying people need to have faith. I think god would explain that people need something that is above them to believe in like god. That is why 95% of people believe in a higher power. If he gave them hard evidence that god existed then less people would believe in god. The unknown is what makes people have faith in things. That is why if he gave people hard evidence then many people would lose faith. This how I think god would respond. I do not like this answer though it just tell me to believe in the unknown and that is hard for me to do.
Michael Blake
Extra Credit
3rd Hour
If a higher power or God does exist I would have endless questions to ask. The main, all-inclusive question however, would be why “he” allowed so much evil and unfairness to occur in the world. Why do innocent people get their lives taken away while drug dealers are living in mansions? Why do selfish, inconsiderate people live the life of luxury while there are children in Africa and all over the world starving and unable to help themselves? I struggle with this issue almost every day of my life. I don’t understand how there could be a God and all of the evil in the world. Where was God during the Holocaust, during September 11th? I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that in the Bible and Old Testament it seems like God was intervening all the time, sending messengers and communicating directly with the people. If he led the slaves out of Egypt why doesn’t he do anything now? On a smaller scale, the illnesses that plague wonderful, caring families seem completely unfair. How can this “God” sit there and watch people who never even stole a mint from a restaurant be diagnosed and killed by cancer? The main reason why I would ask this question is because I feel that I’m one of millions who may ponder this thought every single day. Whenever I hear bad news I wonder if there is a God and if he/she knew what just happened and why they let it happen. I understand that people can’t go through life with no problems and getting everything that they want, but I just want to understand the reasoning behind the choice or obligation to be a non-interfering higher power. I’m not really sure what the response to my question would be, but if God is anything like the biblical literature describes him, I would expect a very well thought-out and logical answer. I would hope there is a reason for letting all the evil in the world continue and I’m guessing the answer would be along the lines of “letting man rule itself,” or “I gave you all the tools and supplies, it is the man’s job to write the directions.” I would love the opportunity to ask this question, but until then, I’ll have to assume my own answers.
ReplyDeleteJordan H
4th Hour
Yes science is taking away all of life’s mysteries. A mystery is something unknown and science is discovering new things and making advancements. As time goes on science gets better and better and more and more things are figured out, some things that used to be mysteries were figured out by science and most then become fact. They are no longer mysteries now will they ever be again as long as people know what they really are. Sometimes it is fun to think things are one way but it is not always true. An example is Greek mythology. The Greeks made up stories to have explanations of why things are the way they are. Most of these stories were fun to believe and think were true but later science proved most of them wrong. Science will never reveal if there is a God or not. Most people who believe don’t ask for scientific proof, the rest are not sure. Many believe that God defies the laws of science and that is why miracles are said to be preformed by him. People believe that he is bigger than them and can do more then they can. I think people like knowing that there is something out there that can not be made sense of by science, that’s the kind of being religions are surrounded by. I don’t think checking if he exists should even be an option ( even though some people suggest that he has been disproven by science) because I don’t even believe they belong in the same category because he is above that, he invented the people that prove things scientifically.
ReplyDeleteKaelin Roberts
If I encountered God, or a higher power, I would ask him if a "soul" was iternal and where it goes when the human body dies. It is really interesting being in this class during the same time that I am taking anatomy class because I get a scientific prosepctive of life and also a philosophical prosepective of life. In the Matrix they said that when the mind dies, the body also dies. But a question that I am always wondering is if the mind and body dies, is there anything left? I mean, wouldn't the "soul" make a person who he/she is? A person's personality can't just be embodied in the mind...or can it? I really started to think harder about this question after a family friend of ours passed away.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to ask the higher power what my purpose on earth was, because that I think is the whole mystery of life and the journey you go on to find that out. That is another reason I have never gone to a physcic, because I don't want my life to be pre-determined and told to me. I want to live my life and see where it takes me. The only thing I would want to know, like I said before is if a soul is iternal and where it goes when we pass away.
In all honesty, I don't know what the answer to this question might be. I have some ideas that have been told to me before. There is always the idea of reincarnation. There is also the idea that the soul either goes to heaven or hell. I honestly have no idea what the answer might be, though... thats why I would ask it.
-Ashley Connelly, 4th hour
If I could ask God one question, it would probably be why he allows bad things to happen to the world and the people in it. I would ask this question because every day there are many great things that happen in the world, like births and weddings, but there are also many horrible things that happen, like tragic deaths to innocent people. I would like to know if God has some sort of system to choose when good things happen and when bad things happen, if it evens out eventually, and even if he has that much control over it. You would think that there must be a logical reason that terrible things happen in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI believe that God’s answer to this question would be that tragic things happen because the world is not perfect, humans are not perfect, and people need to learn from their mistakes in order to survive. Without learning from our mistakes, we would not be able to essentially toughen up and take on the reality that is life. We can not always live in a happy and perfect place because people would become spoiled and they would not respect anyone else and they would only want more of everything for themselves.
This answer would make some sense to me. Maybe God has a different rationale for this question, but we will never really know. Sometimes it is easier to just accept what happens and keep fighting through life’s problems. I am not just saying this because I feel I am luckier than most people. I truly believe God is giving a test to everyone in the world to see how they handle difficult situations. Even I have my own troubles that I deal with, even though thankfully they have not been tragic. It is my job and our job to pass life’s tests and keep progressing and growing as life goes on.
Carter Freeman
4th Hour
I would ask god what day I would die and at what hour. I think it would be great to know how long I am going to live. If the answer were to be tomorrow I would quit school and go do something fun. They say that youth is wasted on the young. I think that part of the reason for this saying is because when you are young you think you have all the time in the old. When you are old you know how limited you time is. While this may seem like a selfish question I think that personal questions are the only ones that you can ask god. If you were to ask god about the meaning of life or some other over arching thought then you would know the answer to the “master plan.” There would no longer be a reason to think about why or how things happen. Great mind would not be able to explore. It is better to struggle for answers then have them told to you. So with this question I will only have a small personal answer that won’t end anyone else’s quest for knowledge. I hope that the answer that God would give me is that I would die when I am 63. That way I would still be young so I wouldn’t have to be at a point in my life where I am dependent on others but I would still be reasonably old so I could pass some of my knowledge on.
ReplyDeleteI could ask God any question, I would ask, “If you truly are God, why would you allow there to be “Holy Wars” in your name, if all they do is cause harm?”
ReplyDeleteI would ask this question because over the years, even today in the Middle East, there are “Holy Wars” being waged against countries in the name of “God’s Word” but in reality, by waging one such war, they have stained “God’s Word” because they are using force to push upon others “God’s Word.” I need to know why we fight for or ideological differences although those that fight essentially worship the same God, be it God, El, or Allah. If God really had said something, we would all be like “DUH!!! THAT MAKES SENSE!!” Not, “Wait; stick that pike in my head again so you can drill that message into me, cause you know, nothing helps to show me that your God is kind than your PIKE IN MY HEAD!”
I believe God would say, “I haven’t said anything. Who told you that I said something? I’ve been watchin’ you guys for a while now. All I did was create the universe and watch what happens. I was kinda bored and wanted to see what would happen, like that one show you guys have……Big Brother…or something. But I can’t believe I couldn’t come up with the idea of t.v. though. That would have spared you guys a lot of trouble. You could think of me as a watch maker, I make the watch and sit back and watch how it functions…thought every now and again I need to shake it to ‘whine’ it. You could call these ‘shakes,’ changes in philosophical thinking. Kind of like those ‘Shaky watches.’”
Two years ago, my family’s friends moved to Cleveland, Ohio, because their dad received a job promotion to the Vice President of Eaton in the Automotive Division. He received the ultimate reward for all of his hard work until suddenly six months into his new life he is diagnosed with spinal cancer. Meanwhile his family picked up their lives in Michigan and moved to Cleveland to support their father. One of his daughters, a senior in high school spent her weekdays in Michigan living with her grandparents to finishing up high school, and commuting to Cleveland on the weekends to spend time with her dad and the rest of her family, while maintaining all A’s and acting as student body president of her school. Their father died six months later. Why did this have to happen? Why would a family who is very close to God and close to one another have to loose their dad? If I had the chance to ask God any one question, I would ask him “why is there so much suffering with good people?”. There are so many good people in this world who have horrible things happen to them, like loosing a mom with young kids to cancer or a young father dropping dead of a sudden heart attack. What is God trying to teach us? Is he teaching us “pain and suffering” or is there another lesson behind this. I believe God’s answer would be that he has a special plan for everyone here on earth and its just part of his plan for that person. I notice after a family member loses their life, the family as a team becomes strong, and is able to go through the pain and the suffering together, and build as a family. As sighted in Romans 9:14-18, “What shall we say to that? Is God to be charged with injustice? By no means! For God says to Moses ‘Where I show mercy, I will show mercy; and where I pity, I will pity.’ Thus, it does not depend on a man’s will or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
ReplyDeleteTyler Howe 3rd hour
If there was only one question I had to ask God it would be why my mom left me and my three brothers. T his would be the question I would want answered because it is one I have been trying to answer for the last 11 years. I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason but I have found no good reasons for this one. My mom claims that she loves us and I do believe that now but I don’t understand how you just get up and leave the people you love. This has not only affected me but has extremely affected my brothers. I just believe there has to be some explanation.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking long and hard about this how I think God would answer this question for a few days and I think I have come to some kind of conclusion. It might start like this: just because your mother left does not mean she doesn’t love you, which is what you must understand first. Your mom felt trapped after the series of bad events that happened before she left. Her father dying was one of the hardest ones because you know they didn’t get along, she felt like she never had the chance to make up with him and that hit her hard. Then when she miscarried the baby right after her father’s death that was the little push that sent her into a depression. Now your father worked a lot and having four kids at home was not easy, I think the reason she left was because she didn’t know what else to do. It was the only way she could save herself and not hit rock bottom for the rest of her life. Now what I said may not make sense right now but if you really think hard I am sure you will understand your mother’s point of view.
Anna Beaufore
3rd hour
Coming from a Christian background myself, I have had a lot of times where I would find myself wondering why God would do some of the things that he has done. From the time I was little, I began really thinking things through and coming up with some interesting questions. In particular, there has always been one question that haunts me. So, if I had the chance to ask just one question, I would ask God why some people have to endure extreme suffering while others do not. I have had many conversations with people regarding this question and no one has been able to give me an answer. I just do not understand why things like the Holocaust, wars, slavery, genocides, natural disasters, etc. happen to good people who do not deserve it. If God loves us so much, why would He let children younger than me be killed without living a complete life? Regarding what the answer would be, I really have no clue what God would say, and I am almost afraid to know. Some people say that everything is all a part of God’s plan, but if He is all knowing and created us, why would He even allow some of the horrors of this world to happen in the first place? I guess that it is equally important to note that even if I did get an answer, I probably would not be able to understand it in the first place. I am just hoping that in the end, there is a good reason for all of this.
ReplyDeleteBrittany C.
3rd Hour
One question I would like to ask is whether we are wasting our time? The last few hundred years (especially since the Enlightenment) have had a major focus on progress. We not only expect that our knowledge will continue to expand and technology will improve, but we have come to rely on this. The information age promises to remove barriers to worldwide communication and teamwork in the development of this science. I wonder and hope that we are not just approaching a repeat of the Tower of Babel.
ReplyDeleteIn our striving for more knowledge and to better our condition, are we rising too much out of our place? Perhaps the circumstances are different now. God might answer that the nature of our discoveries are acceptable enough not to be struck down. As long as we can still identify with the approach of investigating and better appreciating the wonder of Creation, it is not necessary to stop us on our path. But if we were to stray from this goal, to forget it, or to use the progress as a means to challenge God, we might soon find our knowledge crashing down.
On the other hand, God may have found that our knowledge is ultimately limited. We might never reach a point where we understand enough to be threatening. In this way, the damage of the Tower was permanent and need not be repeated. In this way, we could continue our search until we exhausted our capabilities.
Ultimately, I think the story of the Tower is just a parable to teach us not to rise up to God, whereas the modern growth of technology represents a betterment of our abilities and a better understanding of the Universe. In this way, such technology need not be punished, but is a good thing.
if god existed and if god was ALL-KNOWING as many people claim him to be then god would already be answering my question before I even ask it.
ReplyDeletethought that I might ask God how He saw me. Or maybe something like, who am I? Or, what will make me truly happy?
Nah. There is so much more in the world than just me. I thought about my friend. Will I meet her again some day in heaven? Then I thought of my grandma. She had died back in ‘93 from ALS. Maybe I would ask God if my grandma was in heaven with Him.
Boy, that’s a tempting question to ask. But with such a question, there is usually an answer, and I might not like it. If the answer was affirmative, what joy! If the answer was negative, well…I can’t imagine how despairing that would be to hear.
Maybe I would ask God something cavalier, like who really killed JFK? Or, is there intelligent life on planets orbiting other stars? Or, what expletive did Jesus yell out when he smashed his thumb with a hammer? (He was a carpenter after all.)
Or, what about one of the “big” ones? Maybe, what’s the meaning of life? Or, why are we here? Or, what happens after we die?
What about something more along theological lines? Like, how do I learn to know Your will? Or, how does the Trinity exactly work? Or, did Jesus really have to die to bridge the gap between man and God? Or why is there pain and suffering in the world?
Maybe, something more personal, like what does God see as the best and worst traits in humanity? Or, does God get tried of hearing all our whining and complaining and asking for this and that?
Maybe I could ask God to explain precisely why He loves us? Or. What did He pray for that night in the garden?
It seems that there are many questions I could ask God. The original question seems to beg for certainty in some small area in our lives. Something that we will never have one hundred percent. If we did, then it wouldn’t be faith, would it?
As a whole-hearted, committed Christian, one who yearns to be a good and faithful disciple, my faith has already asked all those questions above and many more. (Except for the JFK, intelligent life, and smashed thumb questions.) And at the risk of appearing prideful, the answers have already been given. I just have to open up my heart, be still, and listen humbly to God’s whispered replies. I also have to be willing to accept God’s answers and not expect to hear what I want to hear.
In a way, I can ask God any question I want right now, through prayer.I think I know the question I want to ask God. I think I have been asking this question every day since I fell in love with Christ. The question is: How can I genuinely love You more fully?
Rocky Shattuck
3rd hour
If I could ask God one question, it would probably be something around "Why do bad things happen to good people?" There are so many things we hear and see happen to perfectly nice, caring, good people and then they and their family feel the pain and agony that comes with it. I went to a Catholic school for 10 years before Groves and I never got an answer to why this happens. My friends mom was a perfectly nice and caring woman who found out that she has ovarian cancer. Her family is so scared now and worries every minute for her and her health, wondering what will happen. Our family friends have a two year old son with diabetes and a daughter who is a freshman here who has shunts in her head. They are such a nice family and then they have all this extra to worry about. I honestly dont know what his answer would be. I think that it maybe along the lines of some way to make families stronger or show other families dont have it as bad as they think. It is all part of the world, we all must face sometype of challenge that will push us to our worst but then also show us our best. This maybe the small part of the devil that comes out in the world and everyone. This maybe his way of challenging everyone and seeing how everything comes out and how tough we really can be.
ReplyDeleteNicole M.
3rd Hour
I have thought about this question quite a lot, and among all the questions I have thought of, the one I am most interested in is, is there a heaven and a hell? Is there one or the other? This is something that I have always wanted to know. The reason that this is the question I would choose, is because I have lost friends and family over the years, and people have always told me that they are “up there, looking over me.” I would like to know if this is actually true, although, if it’s false I would rather stay in the dark about it. Honestly, I think the answer would be yes, to both. I think there are a heaven and a hell. I never have done any scientific research, nor have I looked for and religious help on this matter. I never have wanted to ask anyone, because nobody can give me a definite answer and have it be absolutely true. I just believe that there is one, and this is how I like it. I like to be blissfully unaware of the actuality of this answer. I like the belief that this is real, and I don’t want to have it proven that it’s not real. The reason that I would like to ask a higher power is because, I can get a definite answer. It will be true, and there will be no question about it. I never however, want to be told that there is no heaven or hell, I think this would just ruin something about my belifs.
ReplyDeleteIf I could ask God one question it would be “what happens after people die?” It is something that has really puzzled me. Life is very short. Our lives are only a tiny dot on the timeline of history. Are we limited to that dot? Or do we get more time, infinite time? We would know if life is worth living and how hard to try. The way I see it, there are an infinite amount of possible answers to this question. This is part of the reason I would ask it. However, there are three answers that seem most likely to me. One, we go to heaven (or someplace like it). Two, we rot in the ground. And three, we are born again as a different person (same soul, different appearance). The third answer is my personal belief, so I would expect it to be God’s answer. I don’t believe it with conviction or certainty because there is no way of actually knowing these things. It’s just something that seems logical to me. Everything in nature seems to work in cycles: carbon cycle, water cycle, phases of the moon, seasons, tides, etc. Very few things have a definite beginning middle and end. Though I believe that is the answer I would receive, it is not the answer I hope for. I would rather have God’s answer be there is not life after death, even if there is. I would go on to live a much fuller life. If I learned life is like a roller coaster, that I could just get in line again, I wouldn’t have the same motivation to do well as I would otherwise.
ReplyDeleteStefan Rush
4th Hour
Kate Goforth
ReplyDeleteLate
Well the idea of asking God a question really troubled me. Should I ask a question which to other people would look deep and profound? That’s what would look the best. Then I thought about it. If I was truly in that situation I wouldn’t be thinking about the big things. It may seem selfish, but I would be thinking about how God has affected my own life. So I think I would have to ask about the most life shaking moment which occurred to me, the murder of my grandfather.
I would ask “Why?” Why did someone as kind and gentle as my 70 year old grandfather have to be brutally murdered? This was a moment in my life when I felt that there could be no god who would allow something like that to happen. If God was this kind and forgiving God then this kindness was some sort of kindness I have never heard of. I would want to know if maybe he was too busy or just looking the other way because it clearly wasn’t a case of someone getting what they deserved. That argument would be shot down immediately if the one arguing it met my grandfather.
I guess the only answer I could come close to accepting would be that he was to be a source of strength for all young people who knew him. This is because that was the message I took from it. He was killed by a man who was raiding his house for things to sell for drug money. This man was so addicted to drugs that he saw his addiction as more important than another man’s life. So this is my strength. I will never do drugs because of what happened to my grandfather, and that answer from God would be the only one I could think would make me feel even remotely okay with what happened.
If I saw god and got to ask him one question I would most definitely ask him why he let my aunt die when I was in fourth grade. My aunt was so young and had suck a beautiful heart, the way in which she died, I just don’t get how we had come so close to making her better and once we got hope everything just crashed and burned. I am a very religious person but when my aunt died I really questioned my faith and questioned god, I don’t know how he could let such a horrible thing happen to suck an amazing person. God wants every one to believe in him more than anything and believe that he sent Jesus here to die for our sins, but if he wants us to believe so badly I don’t get why he would have such horrible things happened when those things make people question their faith as well as make people turn there backs from god every day. But I think god would tell me that he has a purpose for every one and that’s why he took my aunt when he did because he new that would relieve all of her suffering and he did it because he needed her somewhere else.
ReplyDelete-Erin Dickieson
I believe I would ask what happens when we die and what happens and is any religion right in its requirements in getting there. I would ask him this for a number of reasons one because I’m a deist and I want to know if I’m right in my beliefs that if we do good work here we move on in some way. I also want to know t see if the fear that the church rains down upon people is justified or not. I can not fathom the answer it could range from the extraordinary to the benign. I’m thinking its either going to be reincarnation, plane shift, or heaven. I’m hoping for something positive like I we get to see our relatives. There are infinite possibilities to what could happen i'm keeping my fingers crossed for anything that doesn’t constantly hurt.
ReplyDeletenick e
ps: just realized i didnt type in the verfication code last time
TJ Hyland
ReplyDeletePhilosophy 3rd Hour
I was friends with these two twins, Pat and James, in eighth grade. They went to my school for nine years, they were the smartest in the grade, they were devout Catholics, and they had some of the best scores on the standard eyes test in Michigan. Their parents were in charge of the schools clergy, they organized all of the fun activities, and were some of the nicest people I had ever met. In the summer of 2006, they all went on vacation. One day, their cottage exploded. James and Pat were thrown by the blast, and their grandparent was still inside the burning house. In desperation, one of the twins ran inside the burning house, and pulled out and saved his grandparent. When they awoke in the hospital, they were told that their parents had died in the explosion. Now, I would ask God why He would take away some of the nicest people ever, and on top of that, why he would leave two thirteen year olds, and their younger sister to fend for themselves. I honestly do not know what His response would be. I am assuming He would say that it was His will. But that just doesn’t seem fair to me. The reason I would ask this question above others would be because I want to know why, of all the people to take, He would take the lives of the nicest, most devout, non-crazy Catholics that I know. I have wondered the answer to that question for three years, and I think that James, Pat, Meagan, and everyone else from St. Regis deserve some closure.
Kristin T
ReplyDelete4th hour
absent
When first posed with the question my mind went in to a movie montage of all the horrible things I have seen in my life. I live a great life and am so thankful for everyday I get to live it, but I’ve had my share of bad times and many people close to me have seen more than their fair share of unfairness. When these situations came up I always remember asking myself, or an unknown someone else one question, why? So my initial reaction was to ask just that, but the more I thought about it I couldn’t categorize my questions into just one question, there are so many things I would have to ask why about, and the more I thought about these things I decided I didn’t need to have answer to everything, people die, hearts get broken, dreams get lost and ultimately (pardon my French) shit happens. And through a lot of thinking and sitting and sometime in philosophy class part of my own personal philosophy that I have developed works around the idea that I couldn’t possibly fathom how lucky and amazing life really is, if I didn’t experience what it feels like to have your heart in a blender. So now I’m right back where I started, with one question. This time I tried to put myself in God’s shoes, whether Ugg boots, Birkenstock flip flops, Dockers, Prada sling backs, or perhaps Mary Janes, and from my knowledge most of people conversations with him or her deals with asking for things, to heal someone, watch over someone or in desperation guide them on their Spanish test next hour. Whatever it may be God is asked about other people and their lives twenty four seven, so my questions for the big guy would be: what do you want? In relation to earth and its inhabitants. Did he create it because he was bored, did he lose a bet and have to baby-sit us for a couple centuries, was it passed down to him, does he care, does he laugh at us, to he cry for us, does he send the hurricanes or did he just oversleep that morning? Ultimately what does he want out of us as a human race? To just get out of here in one piece, to leave the place a little better than when we found it, to get by as under the radar as possible, to be noticed, to see how long it takes to blow ourselves up, see how many pointless things we can invent, or is God just a big reality t.v. producer with the best idea ever?
If I were to see God on the corner, I would take a very long look then turn and go home. The existence of God himself is an incredible, profound fact.
ReplyDeleteAll my life, every question that's ever been raised regards the existence of God. The only way I would be able to recognize and be sure it is God is if he fit my exact image of him. The God I believe in is a compassionate one, one who cares about each and every individual as if we were his children. My image is extremely Christianized but it keeps my hope and faith in tact.
Right now my faith dwindles. The question of God's existence affects everything I do and everything I think and believe. Can there possibly be a way to recognize a God you've never believed in?
If God were some man on the street with extraordinary powers yet an ordinary appearance, I don't believe I'd ever believe it was God himself unless I witnessed an incredible miracle performed by him. Even then, I would doubt.
Being raised a Christian, this is almost blasphemy. I'm supposed to believe without seeing, know without questioning. So his existence alone would satisfy any question I could ever ask.
Chelsea R
3rd hour
If I saw an all-knowing god on a street corner, I would have a whole array of questions to ask him, but if I had to pick only one, I would ask him, “Why should I worship you?”
ReplyDeleteAll my life, I have wondered why good families have been afflicted with a dying child or why children are starving in some parts of the world and completely spoiled rotten on the other. Ever since I was a little kid, I have wondered about the storied where god strikes a whole town down for breaking his decree and thought to myself, “I really just don’t like this guy.” I have never understood why I should devote my whole life to a god whose ideas and values aren’t the same as mine. I just don’t know what he did that was so great.
I know that supposedly he made the world and brought us all into existence, but he has the ability to do it. I don’t. I would have made the world if I could, but it’s simply not possible. I just don’t understand why I should worship someone who was just doing something that they were capable of. My sister is a really great artist, and when she draws a really good picture, I’m happy for her. But I don’t worship her.
I would just want god to explain why he wants all of his people to devote their lives to him. The kind of god that I would want to worship wouldn’t really care if he got credit for his creation or not, just as long as people on earth were relatively good and happy.
Jackie Valdez
Fourth Hour
After thinking about this,it was really hard for me to come up with a question. Both of my parents are christian but I have been raised in a household without religion. They never took me to church or taught me about religion but they always said that if I wanted to go I could. I really had to come up with my own ideas of where life came from and if there is a higher power. For a while it really bothered me that I had no one to look to or teach me but now I am very happy that I could come up with my own ideas instead of someone telling me what to believe. It's very hard for me to understand how so many people believe in God when so much of life is based on science. I guess if there actually was a higher power I would ask him how he determines how long a person's life should be? Last year my cousin was driving and hit a tree and died. He was 18 and it was the week before his graduation. I was never close to him but it was really hard for me to go to the funeral. I just didnt understand why someone so young, who had so much going for him had to die. Seeing the pain in my aunts eyes and in all of his friends eyes was very hard to endure. I have no idea what the answer would be and I dont think that there is an answer. I really just believe that things just happen in life. Death is just a part of life that we have to accept. It may be easier to think that there was a reason for his death, but I just think that things happen and there is no answer.
ReplyDeleteHilary Burns
3rd hr