Why give "God" the credit...

[ElizabethPeart]

Most of the Christians I know think atheists are arrogant for not giving God credit for anything. I think it's disrespectful of them to give God credit for everything. Like when the last Chile miner was rescued today someone said "Praise God!" What about the people who worked their ass off to save them? At the dinner table: "Thank you for this meal, Lord." What about the person who cooked and prepared it? And if you ever have an impressive skill they say, "you have a God given gift." No actually, I worked really hard for years and years to be able to do what I do. But thanks for the "compliment".

  This reminds me of something Pope John Paul was said to have said after he was shot, operated upon and survived....he claimed that the bullet was directed by Our Lady (Mary) to only injure him, not kill him. No mention of the team of highly skilled surgeons who operated for 6 hours to save his life. Richard Dawkins replies pretty straightly as to why, if it really was divine intervention, why it wasn't guided to miss him altogether.

[Croaker]

If people are going to thank God for rescuing the Chilean miners, why hasn't anyone asked the two obvious questions:

1. Why let them get trapped in the first place
2. Why take so damned long to rescue them

The Sago Mine disaster had people attributing the news of rescued miners to God's grace - but, oh wait, they had the news wrong, and most of the miners, tragically, did not survive. A quick google search turns up (in just the last month) fatal mine collapses in Rwanda, Ecuador, Poland and China.

Guess they didn't believe in God, huh.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I always express my gratitude towards the hostess and I thank God for providing not only the food, but the people who have prepared it. For me I find it very important to show how appreciative you are, but more importantly that also means being sincere about it.

I prefer to thank my benefactors directly.  I think it means more to them, that way.

[Achronos]

If God takes all of the credit for our accomplishment then shouldn't he take all the blame for our failures; Paradise has never looked so fallen.

[Croaker]

Do people give credit to god as a way to, in effect, provide evidence to themselves of his existence? Such evidence is useless for anyone else, but is it a way to convince yourself that yes, there is God and he got me this job at Burger King and yes, there is Satan and he's the one that popped my tire? Lacking any objective evidence, giving god credit seems to be the inevitable path most theists would take.

I know many people with this attitude - and the problem is the age old 'correlation /= causation' argument. If they're gonna start attributing things to unseen entities, I'm going to start thanking the FSM or the celestial teapot for any good in my life.

[Cite134]

If people are going to thank God for rescuing the Chilean miners, why hasn't anyone asked the two obvious questions:

1. Why let them get trapped in the first place
2. Why take so damned long to rescue them

The Sago Mine disaster had people attributing the news of rescued miners to God's grace - but, oh wait, they had the news wrong, and most of the miners, tragically, did not survive. A quick google search turns up (in just the last month) fatal mine collapses in Rwanda, Ecuador, Poland and China.

Guess they didn't believe in God, huh.

That's how god works.  

[LegendarySandwich]

If people are going to thank God for rescuing the Chilean miners, why hasn't anyone asked the two obvious questions:

1. Why let them get trapped in the first place
2. Why take so damned long to rescue them

The Sago Mine disaster had people attributing the news of rescued miners to God's grace - but, oh wait, they had the news wrong, and most of the miners, tragically, did not survive. A quick google search turns up (in just the last month) fatal mine collapses in Rwanda, Ecuador, Poland and China.

Guess they didn't believe in God, huh.

God works in mysterious ways.

Don't question them.

[Croaker]

Oh, crap, you're right, my bad.
 

[Sophus]

Pat Tillman, but he was killed in Afghanistan.  Dumb atheist, he turned down a lucrative contract in order to serve his country.

True I forgot about him. Here's another.
 

[Chandler M Bing]

Giving god credit has never caused me any problems.

[Croaker]

Giving god credit has never caused me any problems.

Of course it won't, because you're likely to give him credit only for the good things that happen in your life. That requires you to ignore the bad things, though, since God, if he was omnipotent, could have prevented those things. You can't make the statement that God has a hand in your life, but only when things go nicely. If he did have a  hand in your life, nothing bad would happen. Since it's more than likely that you are not the recipient of excessively good luck (like everyone else in this world) the perception that God has anything to do in your life which would merit 'credit' is no more than that - a perception.

[Chandler M Bing]

Giving god credit has never caused me any problems.

Of course it won't, because you're likely to give him credit only for the good things that happen in your life. That requires you to ignore the bad things, though, since God, if he was omnipotent, could have prevented those things. You can't make the statement that God has a hand in your life, but only when things go nicely. If he did have a  hand in your life, nothing bad would happen. Since it's more than likely that you are not the recipient of excessively good luck (like everyone else in this world) the perception that God has anything to do in your life which would merit 'credit' is no more than that - a perception.

Am I really likely to think that? What do you base that on?

[Croaker]

Giving god credit has never caused me any problems.

Of course it won't, because you're likely to give him credit only for the good things that happen in your life. That requires you to ignore the bad things, though, since God, if he was omnipotent, could have prevented those things. You can't make the statement that God has a hand in your life, but only when things go nicely. If he did have a  hand in your life, nothing bad would happen. Since it's more than likely that you are not the recipient of excessively good luck (like everyone else in this world) the perception that God has anything to do in your life which would merit 'credit' is no more than that - a perception.

Am I really likely to think that? What do you base that on?

Well, I guess I typecast you!  

Let's find out what you think, then. Please give me examples of things you would give God the credit for. Then, necessarily, what the inverse of those things would be, things you wouldn't give God the credit for. Thanking God for everything, however, is an acceptable answer.

[Chandler M Bing]

But you might typecast me again. The evidence suggests that that's what you do. Is there any evidence that will convince me that you won't do it again?

[Croaker]

But you might typecast me again. The evidence suggests that that's what you do. Is there any evidence that will convince me that you won't do it again?

Hey, I was just trying to figure out what you believe, since I apparently had it way wrong. If you don't want to share, that's fine.

If you're present on this board, then you obviously want a challenge to your beliefs. No one can challenge you if you don't share, and if you do share, but avoid thinking about the challenges, then your presence is moot.