SkepticBoyLee

Shit, God only cares about the apes (homosapiens are apes) who buy his partiuclar favorite story book (which is called "the Bible" according to Christians.

We have to ask ourselves weather the Christian God gives enough of a shit about humans, the Earth or anything in general other than his own self and those who lick his ass.

What is it that God does care about? And what the hell is "God" in the first place. Its a nonsense word to begin with.

Chris Weimer

God doesn't exist, so it's a moot point.

greyline

When discussing the character of BibleGod on this board, one assumes for the sake of argument that he exists. That's SOP around here and this kind of post adds nothing to the discussion. Very odd.

So: why would God create a world in which he could have made animals not suffer, but he made them suffer? Many animals live in fear and pain, or at least great discomfort, their entire lives. Most don't even survive to adulthood.

Chris Weimer

The OP introduced the question whether any scripture says that God cares about animals, not does God care about any animals. If you want to talk about God caring about animals, that's more appropriate for GRD, where you can feel free to ask all the questions about this imaginary entity. But BC&H is a place where people talk about the Bible and early Christian history. It is your post that is irrelevant to the discussion.

greyline

I see where you're coming from but I think it's implicit in my question that I was looking for scriptural references to animals' suffering. For example, are animals being punished for Adam & Eve's sin, and so on.

Chris Weimer

Sorry, I didn't see that. It sounded like a general question of why would god do such a thing, instead of where in the Bible does it talk about it. Try to be a little more explicit.

Gamera

My my don't we have an agenda. Just answering the question posed by the original thread on what the Christian texts say. You need to discuss with a priest your theological issues beyond that.

Gamera

What makes you think God makes them suffer, and what's the alternative to suffering, except nonexistence, which isn't much of an alternative?

greyline

According to scripture, everything that happens is God's will - therefore the suffering of animals is God's will. As to whether he "makes" them suffer: he made animals, he made the ecosystem, he made the interactions between animals and the each other and the environment. He's responsible for how animals live and die. Not in specific instances, I suppose, but certainly in general - for example, he's responsible for the parasites that infest animals and cause them endless misery.

One alternative to suffering from parasites would be: God could have not made parasites, or made fewer parasites. He could've put that effort into making a more beetles instead.

Johnny Skeptic

Who do you suppose created animals and the conditions under which they suffer?

Whether regarding humans or animals, a good alternative to sickness is good health, but obviously God is only sporadically interested in such a minor issue as the suffering of animals and humans. However, he was quite interested in creating (or allowing) Hurricane Katrina and sending it to New Orleans. He already knows who he will injure or kill next, including some of his most faithful servants. Fundies will tell us that God's behavior is justified because Adam and Eve ate some fruit without having any idea whatsoever about what the extent of the consequences would be.