Ok So Leten Here Whoevers Listening I Promise I Wont Search Up Anythng Bad Ever Again
If y'all or someone you know is considering suicide, know that resources are available. Text: 741741, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
A couple of months ago, the New York Times ran a fascinating article called "Googling for God." In this slice, author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz explores recent trends in Google search data specifically related to questions people pose about God. Stephens-Davidowitz notes that the number ane God-related question people inquire on Google is, "Who created God?" Non surprisingly, number two is "Why does God allow suffering?" Notwithstanding, I was shocked and dismayed to meet the question that came in at number three: "Why does God hate me?"
Stephens-Davidowitz and so provides an fifty-fifty more troubling piece of information: "What is the most common give-and-take to complete the following question: Why did God make me ___? Number 1, by far, is 'ugly.' The other sad answers in the peak 3 are 'gay' and 'blackness.'" Although the author of this article does not explicitly link "Why does God hate me?" and "Why did God make me ___?" I couldn't assistance but wonder if at that place might be some connection between the 2 questions. After all, if y'all believe God made you lot "ugly," information technology'south not a stretch to believe God hates y'all, too, since in our culture "ugly" is a very negative term that is used to denigrate people based, primarily, on their appearance. In the same way, given that those who identify as blackness or gay are often marginalized in our lodge—or even targeted for violence on the footing of those identities—information technology's non hard to imagine that members of those groups might experience that God is, at best, indifferent to their plight, or, at worst, that God has hand-picked them to be oppressed and mistreated.
Reading this article made me deeply deplorable, because it made me realize just how many incorrect ideas about God are still out at that place, and how deeply those ideas are hurting people. Although the church certainly teaches that nosotros are all sinners and have fallen short of God'southward glory, it also fundamentally affirms that each one of us is created in the image of God and that through God's grace we are loved unconditionally. Somehow information technology seems that this crucial message has gotten lost in the wider culture, because equally the Google data show, people searching on the Net for answers to their faith questions seem to assume that God is primarily a judgmental, capricious tyrant who selectively applies oppression and suffering to certain groups, or who makes some people "ugly" and others non.
The problem here is that it'south not God who is doing this labeling and excluding—it's homo beings. We are the ones who have created societies in which individuals are judged based on their physical advent or on their membership in particular demographic groups, rather than on the content of their character or according to their unique gifts and skills. Nosotros—not God—are the ones who have decided that some are "in" and some are "out," which is in directly contrast to the message we hear over and once again in Scripture: that God has come up into the world to reconcile all people, through grace that is freely given to everyone. As the church, we are called to find new means to spread the message of God's grace and love far and wide, so that we might challenge and dismantle the erroneous theology that is causing people so much harm. My prayer is that one day, in the not-so-distant hereafter, Google might report their top God-related searches equally "Why does God care for me so much?" and "Why did God make me so beautiful and dearest?" May it exist then.
The Rev. Dr. Leanna K. Fuller is assistant professor of pastoral care at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and teaches in the MDiv Programme. Her ministry building feel includes serving as associate pastor of Oakland Christian Church building in Suffolk, Va., where she coordinated youth ministry building and Christian education programming. She writes regularly on pastoral care and counseling, pastoral theology, and congregational conflict.
In the near four years since this blog mail service went alive, we have received tape numbers of comments and e-mails. We thank you for your interest and engagement with this topic. We are thankful that we have been able to proclaim a bulletin of hope and love to so many who have longed to hear it. We have kept the commenting for this blog active equally long every bit possible, even though nosotros sometimes must disable comments on our older blog posts. Unfortunately, every bit we approach our quaternary year, the commenting feature will no longer exist available.
Although we tin no longer actively moderate and answer to comments on this article, we realize that the topic is important to many of our readers. If you would like to discuss issues similar this in greater depth, we encourage you to connect with a congregation or pastor in your surface area. If you are uncomfortable discussing this topic with a pastor, consider speaking with a counselor.
If you have struggled with this question or others like it, or if you or someone you know is considering suicide, know that resources are available. Text: 741741, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Thank you for your conversation over these concluding years! Once again, remember the words of the article in a higher place: you are created in the prototype of God and through God's grace you are loved unconditionally.
Source: https://www.pts.edu/blog/why-does-god-hate-me/
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