‘In God We Trust.”
I hate that license plate. Hate. Hate. Hate.
The reason? Every time I see it, it causes me to have a little debate with an imaginary believer.
Me: No you don’t.
Believer: Yes I do.
Me: Do you wear your seatbelt?
Believer: Yes.
Me: Then, no you don’t. If you trusted in your god, you would trust that you only need your god to protect you from harm; not some strip of fabric invented by humans.
Believer: “God helps them who help themselves.”
Me: [quoting George Carlin] “If you did it yourself, you didn’t need help.” No believers were injured or died in car accidents BEFORE the invention of the seat-belt? Or safety glass? Or anti-lock brakes? Or air-bags? God protected all of those who trusted in Him before the human invented safety devices? No believer is struck by lightning? Something from which they can only trust God to protect them? Killed in earthquakes? Or hurricanes? Or tornados? Or any other natural disaster the god in which they trust so strongly should be able to provide protection?
I eagerly await a reasonable and logical response.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
I believe in God and that He loves me and looks after me. However, just as I want my children to be independent of me so Father wants us to do what we can for our selves. Book of Mormon says ” saved by grace after all we can do”. Your example of seat belts is a great example. It is law for us to buckle up. It is proven to save lives. We are commanded to obey the laws of the land. Can we really expect protection when we ignore those things that are at our own power. In the book of James he writes, show your faith without your works and I will show my faith by my works ( paraphrased). He then states, faith without works is dead, being alone. Unlike most of Christianity, we understand that we need works to fully enjoy His grace. As an example, I was driving in Idaho, intent on using a certain road. Before I got to that road, I received an impression not to travel that way. For some reason, I chose to ignore that impression only to have two bucks jump out in front of me, grazing one of them miles down that road. I learned an important lesson that day; never discount an impression. That lesson has served me well.
I don’t expect this to change your mind. My experience is that God speaks to us if we will listen to Him. It is a choice we have to make.
What about those things over which we have no power or influence? Hurricanes? Tsunamis? Earthquakes? Are the faithful who place their trust in God always protected against these? Or cancer? Or harmful parasites? Seems to me that these things affect the faithful and the faithless equally. Just as the faithful or the faithless wearing their seatbelt may spared alike. Just as the faithful or the faithless not wearing their seatbelt may be killed or injured alike.
As I wrote in ‘Bowing to an Empty Throne’:
“When I look out upon the cosmos, the universe seemingly behaves as I have described its godless version; chaotic and indifferent. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Good things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people. We sometimes get what our hearts most desire, and more often we don’t. The physical laws of the universe act as indifferently as one might expect them to do. Hurricanes flood Christian homes. Earthquakes bury Buddhists. Tsunamis drown Hindus. Disease kills the young, the old, the innocent, and the evil alike. In short, the universe works almost precisely as if God isn’t there. Maybe He isn’t. Maybe He never was.”
https://www.secular-reality.com/2015/08/05/bowing-to-an-empty-throne/
Thanks for reading. Cheers.
Justin