It’s not about those who are simply thankful they’ve been spared. It’s about those who make the additional leap to suggest they were specifically protected by God (that’s how it’s usually framed by survivors) when, if God was in any way responsible for the disaster, they were merely not killed by him… same as any other day. If I shoot your entire family you’re not going to thank me for not shooting you.
(Insert “God works in mysterious ways” here.)
It goes to the necessary suspension of reason when faced with praising a deity who willfully causes so much suffering as opposed to simply resigning oneself to its inevitability. I realize the simple answer is “they’re just relieved they’re not dead so they want to thank something or someone.” I just wonder if some believe there’s a specific theological premise involved.
Of course, the next easy question is: If they believe in a blissful, eternal paradise why are they so relieved to still be here? If I was convinced there was an afterlife as wonderfully amazing as it’s portrayed, I’d be kind of pissed that I was spared. “I’m going to spare you that incredible ice cream sundae and instead give you this shit sandwich. You’re welcome.”
God may wish Hitler to survive because it serves some larger plan. Not because he believes Hitler is worth keeping alive.
Or God might allow a small child to survive a tornado that kills her entire town because it might inspire her to do some great shit or something years later.
Or it could all just be “random”. That some little girl grew up inspired to do great things because she just happened to be the one not killed by a tornado.
Well, if you really believe that God is intimately involved in your life and that whatever happens to you is the result of His divine plan, presumably you’d also thank him if you were killed. Alas, it’s hard for CNN to interview the people who didn’t survive.
Why do I have to be thankful to anyone or anything that I’m alive? We survived the Tuscaloosa, AL tornado on April 27th last year. If the huge tree next to our house hadn’t fell toward the street it could have went through the middle of the house. We were in the hall under a mattress with our dog and cats and it probably would have killed us. I’m glad we got lucky and the tree fell the other way but I have no one to thank for this bit of luck.
I get that and agree with the logic, inasmuch as logic can apply here. But some would are argue that God only spares the righteous, which will have included countless monsters throughout history.
You sure showed those tornado survivors! The basic issue here is that these people think God created them and can do whatever he wants with or to them. At least theoretically that includes killing them at any time. I think that’s the really noteworthy thing- not the fact that they’re glad they didn’t get killed or that there must’ve been a reason they were spared, since they say there is a reason for everything.
I’ve been agnostic since my late teens. Although I doubt that God is a “person”, my core belief is “Nobody Knows.”
My wife and I “miraculously” survived a terrible high speed auto accident (drunk driver T-boned us, both vehicles doing 70mph at the time). During the long moments of the event post-impact, I had a clear, calm realization of my impending death.
Instead, we both walked away from the wreckage with minor injuries.
That was 30 years ago. I’ve never lost the perspective of having cheated death and gotten a second life. A freebie. The feeling has always been one of gratitude, but no benefactor is required or implied by that feeling. Any contradiction in being “grateful to nobody” is one of semantics only.
Let me guess: good things make you thank God, but bad things don’t make you blame God, and anyways, bad things might just be good things in disguise but good things are just good.
The amazing thing about God is that he manages to act in a manner that is indistinguishable from randomness. In my mind that makes him all the more awesome.
I’m on board with the above. Why would a true believer who’s up to date on repenting and forgiveness not be angry on being passed over for, [loud echo chamber effect]eternal life[/loud echo chamber]?
I know, “it’s God’s plan”, “It wasn’t my time”, blah blah.
Seems the believers want to hang on to this miserable life of religious persecution, evil doers, and devil-in-disguise false leaders.
They realize they’re all just rotting in the ground until the second coming (and have been for 2000+ years for some of the early adopters) but that will just be an instant compared with eternal life.
I thought “thank God” was just an expression. I mean, if I say, “Thank God it’s Friday,” that doesn’t mean I think God intervened in the progress of the week.
It all seems pretty obvious to me. Are you saying what I posted was news to you? I’m not sure these are technically strawman arguments, but this is not much of a debate.
I realize that this has turned into a chance for the lofty anti-religous brigade to chime in with snark, but sometimes a comment is just a comment.
When my son called me to tell me he had been in a wreck, but was OK - I said “Thank God you are OK.” Now, I was not telling him drop to his knees in thanks while on the shoulder of the 405. I was expressing happiness that he was not dead. Perhaps, for accuracy sake, I could have spouted off “Thank Ford for the side impact air bags, and thank Michelin for the tires, and thank Coca Cola for your reflexes, and thank California DOT for decent pavement - oh, and curse to hell the dipshit land-splitting motorcyclist who slammed into you.”
That is a lot of words to come up with when you are just happy to be alive / happy someone else is still alive.
The version of “Thank God I’m alive” that the OP is talking about isn’t just a comment. It’s a declaration of belief which brings up a lot of questions, like, “Why would you praise your God for sparing you when he indiscriminately killed the family next door?” Sometimes a cigar is an exploding cigar.
In this case it seems to be a declaration of whatever stupid, illogical thing people want to ascribe to religious believers for the purpose of ridicule.
I’m making a distinction between the generic statement and the one that obviously reflects belief, usually followed by a comment about praying or something. Ridicule or not, the questions raised by the latter are legitimate, don’t you think?
Just because we haven’t landed on a novel response doesn’t mean it’s not a debate worth having. Sure, we’ve had the standard replies of “they’re just grateful to be alive”, “God works in mysterious ways”, “only the righteous are spared” and of course “it’s all b.s. anyway” from the heathens, but I was wondering if there’s a theological angle that goes beyond this. I’m always curious about how much actual thought the faithful put into their words and rituals, how much of it comes from reflective thought and how much is just rote sentiment. The notion of thanking God for not killing you is, I believe, right up that alley.
You’re exactly right. It’s in reference to those who make the specific point of praising God for his protection. It wasn’t intended as a form of ridicule, even if some have taken the opportunity to do just that.
It’s funny you mention that because I work in television new and my question was prompted by the countless times I’ve come across these soundbites. It ranks right up there with “it sounded like a freight train!” It may seem like lazy producing (and it might be), but you’d be hard pressed to find soundbites from survivors who DON’T thank God, particularly in conservative areas.
The basic issue here is that these people think God created them and can do whatever he wants with or to them. At least theoretically that includes killing them at any time. I think that’s the really noteworthy thing- not the fact that they’re glad they didn’t get killed or that there must’ve been a reason they were spared, since they say there is a reason for everything.