Dear God - by XTC 1987

[CanuckInUSA 0]

All I've got to say is "I like this song"

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Dear God

Lyric by: Andy Partridge

Dear God,
hope you got the letter, and...
I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
but all the people that you made in your image, see
them starving on their feet 'cause they don't get
enough to eat from God, I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but... I feel that I should be heard
loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
and all the people that you made in your image, see them fighting
in the street 'cause they can't make opinions meet about God,
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue? Did you make
mankind after we made you? And the devil too!

Dear God, don't know if you noticed, but... your name is on
a lot of quotes in this book, and us crazy humans wrote it, you
should take a look, and all the people that you made in your
image still believing that junk is true. Well I know it ain't, and
so do you, dear God, I can't believe in I don't believe in

I won't believe in heaven and hell. No saints, no sinners, no
devil as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You're always
letting us humans down. The wars you bring, the babes you
drown. Those lost at sea and never found, and it's the same the
whole world 'round. The hurt I see helps to compound that
Father, Son and Holy Ghost is just somebody's unholy hoax,
and if you're up there you'd perceive that my heart's here upon
my sleeve. If there's one thing I don't believe in

it's you... Dear God

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[vortexring 0]

All I've got to say is what a load of nonsense.

If anyone is responsible for all the horrors we commit upon ourselves it is us!

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[sweetmoose 0]

I have to agree with the song myself, that's one of the main reasons I can't believe in a higher power. If there is one, he has the power to do whatever he wants, and yet he does nothing, good guy that he is.

We die only once, but for such a very long time.

I'll believe in ghosts when I catch one in my teeth.

[Royd 0]

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I have to agree with the song myself, that's one of the main reasons I can't believe in a higher power. If there is one, he has the power to do whatever he wants, and yet he does nothing, good guy that he is.

It obviously doesn't speak well for those who put humanism on a pedestal either. No?

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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All I've got to say is what a load of nonsense.

Obviously the religious people will not like this song (they'll probably judge it without even hearing it). Do you even know it? Have you even heard it? It's got a nice melody and all. It just has some controversial lyrics.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[akarunway 1]

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All I've got to say is "I like this song"

Quote

Dear God

Lyric by: Andy Partridge

Dear God,
hope you got the letter, and...
I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
but all the people that you made in your image, see
them starving on their feet 'cause they don't get
enough to eat from God, I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but... I feel that I should be heard
loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
and all the people that you made in your image, see them fighting
in the street 'cause they can't make opinions meet about God,
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue? Did you make
mankind after we made you? And the devil too!

Dear God, don't know if you noticed, but... your name is on
a lot of quotes in this book, and us crazy humans wrote it, you
should take a look, and all the people that you made in your
image still believing that junk is true. Well I know it ain't, and
so do you, dear God, I can't believe in I don't believe in

I won't believe in heaven and hell. No saints, no sinners, no
devil as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You're always
letting us humans down. The wars you bring, the babes you
drown. Those lost at sea and never found, and it's the same the
whole world 'round. The hurt I see helps to compound that
Father, Son and Holy Ghost is just somebody's unholy hoax,
and if you're up there you'd perceive that my heart's here upon
my sleeve. If there's one thing I don't believe in

it's you... Dear God

Me thinks the song hits the nail on the head. But I'm agnostic so what do I know

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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But I'm agnostic so what do I know

So am I. There are a few phrases in this song which are more along the lines of what an atheist would say. But I still like the song nonetheless. Even though I heard this song many many moons ago, I only brought it into my collection last night as I've been downloading "legally" a lot of music lately. I'm definitely going to listen to it later.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[pajarito 0]

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Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put it on because it will improve his flight. He's a little skeptical at first; he can't see how wearing a parachute on board a place could possibly improve his flight.

After some time, he decides to experiment and see if the claims are true. As he straps the apparatus to his back, he notices the weight of it on his shoulders and he finds he now has difficulty sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the flight attendant’s promise that the parachute will improve his flight, and he decides to give it a little time. As the flight progresses, he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him because he's wearing a parachute inside the plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they continue to laugh and point at him, he can stand it no longer. He sinks back in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart because as far as he's concerned, he was told an outright lie.

The second man is also given a parachute, but listen to what he is told. He's told to put it on because at any moment he'll have to jump out of the plane at 25,000 feet. He gratefully puts the parachute on. He doesn't notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor is he concerned that he can't sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without a parachute.

Let’s now analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience. The first man’s motive for putting on the parachute was solely to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the other passenger’s disillusioned, and somewhat embittered against those who gave him the parachute. AS far as he’s concerned, it will be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again.

The second man put on the parachute solely to survive the jump to come. And because of his knowledge of what would happen to him if he jumped without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart, knowing that he’s been saved from certain death. This knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude toward those who gave him the parachute is one of heartfelt gratitude.

As we’ve seen, many modern evangelistic appeals say, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.” In other words, Jesus will improve your flight. The sinner responds, and in an experimental fashion puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? Temptation, tribulation, and persecution. He finds it difficult to live an upright life. Not only that, but other people mock him for his faith. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ; he’s offended for the Word’s sake; he’s disillusioned and somewhat embittered – and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, and fulfillment, and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed toward those who gave him the so called Good News. His latter end becomes worse than the first – he’s another inoculated and bitter backslider.

Instead of preaching that Jesus will “improve the flight,” we should be warning sinners that one day they will have to jump out of the plane. “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). When a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking the Law of God, he will flee to the Savior solely to escape the wrath that is to come. If we are true and faithful witnesses, that’s what we’ll be preaching – that there is wrath to come, and that God “commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:30 – 31). The issue isn’t one of happiness, but one of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is or how much he is enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season; without the righteousness of Christ, he will perish on the day of wrath. The Bible says, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death (Proverbs 11:4). Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use these fruit as a drawing card for salvation. If we do, the sinner will respond with an impure motive, lacking repentance.

Can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart? It was because he knew that the parachute was going to save him from certain death. In the same way, as believers we have joy and peace because we know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver us from the wrath to come.

With that thought in mind, let’s take a look at another incident aboard the place. We have a brand new flight attendant. It’s her first day, and she’s carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. As she’s walking down the aisle, she trips over someone’s foot and slops the hot coffee all over the lap of our second passenger. What’s his reaction as that boiling liquid hits his tender flesh? Does he say, “Man, that hut!”? Yes, he does. But does he then rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor, and say, “That stupid parachute!”? No. Why should he? He didn’t put the parachute on to protect himself from spilled coffee or to have a better flight. He put it on to save himself when the time comes to jump. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.

If we have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive – to flee from the wrath to come – when tribulation strikes, when the flight gets bumpy, when we get burned by circumstances, we won’t get angry at God, and we won’t lose our joy and peace. Why should we? We didn’t come to Christ for a better lifestyle but to flee from the wrath to come.

Tribulation drives the true believer closer to the Savior. Sadly, multitudes of professing Christians lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? Because they are products of a man-centered gospel. They came lacking repentance, without which they cannot be saved.
--Ray Comfort (The Way of the Master, 2006)

[rehmwa 2]

Crap, I thought that was going to be a skydiving story.

But it's not. It's all symbolic about something or the other.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[pajarito 0]

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Crap, I thought that was going to be a skydiving story.

But it's not. It's all symbolic about something or the other.

Sorry.

[SpeedRacer 1]

the song argues:

Bad things happen. Therefore, God doesn't exist. Okey doke.

Speed Racer
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[SpeedRacer 1]

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Crap, I thought that was going to be a skydiving story.

But it's not. It's all symbolic about something or the other.

OK then:
A third man farts on that plane, having eaten at Taco Bell before getting on the plane.
The second man yells "DOOR!" and bails out.
The first man is Left Behind to suffer in the overwhelming stench.
(this represents the Tribulation period, which the second man was able to avoid.)

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[pajarito 0]

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A third man farts on that plane, having eaten at Taco Bell before getting on the plane.
The second man yells "DOOR!" and bails out.
The first man is Left Behind to suffer in the overwhelming stench.
(this represents the Tribulation period, which the second man was able to avoid.)

I've been there!!!!!!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Bad things happen. Therefore, God doesn't exist. Okey doke

Well the God that we humans have invented sure doesn't like humanity very much. One only needs to look at the wars, disease, famine, natural disasters, birth defects, etc, etc, etc to see this. But go ahead and continue believing that you're special and that you'll have eternal bliss while all the other creatures in nature are excluded. Plus go ahead and ignore the universe. After all there couldn't possible be any other life forms out there now could there. The God you created was created in your image, not the other way around.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[pfloyd 0]

Nice, I like that !

My drinking team has a skydiving problem

[pajarito 0]

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Nice, I like that !

Ray Comfort is a non-compromising, Biblically solid author. I like him a lot. The book I referenced is one of my favorites. I've read it several times, underlined a lot, and dog eared the heck out of it. It impacted me so much that I bought a box of 10 at a discount and gave one to my Church Minister, Youth Director, Sunday School Class Leader, an Uncle, a couple of Brother-in-laws, and several friends at work. I recommend it highly along with his "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion" messages.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Does your God include the universe? Or are we the only living creates here on this planet?

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[pajarito 0]

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Does your God exclude the universe?

Of course not. Why would he?

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Or are we the only living creates here on this planet?

This planet is full of living creatures and plants.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

No I want to know if your God has created life on other planets in other solar systems in other galaxies and if yes have they too been invited to your party (assuming Hey-Zuess also lived there of course and saved their souls). Your Burble tells us we are the only ones in the universe. Your burble tells us that the universe was created only some 6000 years ago and that the world is flat. But we know science tells us otherwise. So what's going on here? Why is your God such a hypocrite? Or is it just we humans who are the hypocrites.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[SpeedRacer 1]

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Bad things happen. Therefore, God doesn't exist. Okey doke

Well the God that we humans have invented sure doesn't like humanity very much. One only needs to look at the wars, disease, famine, natural disasters, birth defects, etc, etc, etc to see this. The universe is set up with physical laws. Life forms, including disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites, struggle to survive, often at each others' expense. Wars, injustice etc. are caused by guess who?But go ahead and continue believing that you're special and that you'll have eternal bliss while all the other creatures in nature are excluded.

Plus go ahead and ignore the universe. After all there couldn't possible be any other life forms out there now could there. The God you created was created in your image, not the other way around.

The fact that Humans were created in God's image has nothing to do with the way we look. God is not some big giant that has arms & legs etc. or is this just another of the usual straw man argument??

Speed Racer
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[CanuckInUSA 0]

How do you know what God looks like? Have you seen him? Does he talk to you like he talks to GWB?

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[SpeedRacer 1]

Your Burble tells us we are the only ones in the universe. Your burble tells us that the universe was created only some 6000 years ago and that the world is flat. But we know science tells us otherwise. So what's going on here?

Science is used for exploring physical mechanisms. Religion is used for spiritual matters. The 6000 or 8000 year thing was the invention of a bishop by the name of Usher. I don't recall the Bible saying anywhere that the world is flat. The Bible also does not discuss life on other planets. Personally, I think it's most likely that there is life on another planet out there.

The science of the Bible writers was very primitive; if you have a question about physical mechanisms, use a science textbook, not the Bible. The Bible was not meant to be a science text book.

Speed Racer
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[pajarito 0]

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No I want to know if your God has created life on other planets in other solar systems in other galaxies and if yes have they too been invited to your party (assuming Hey-Zuess also lived there of course and saved their souls).

Firstly, whether or not God created life on other planets is of no consequence with regard to your soul.
Secondly, people do not go to hell because they’ve not heard of Jesus or the Gospel. People go to hell for breaking God’s moral law. People go to hell because they’ve lied, stolen, committed adultery, blasphemed, coveted, etc.

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Your Burble tells us we are the only ones in the universe. Your burble tells us that the universe was created only some 6000 years ago and that the world is flat.

If you’ve referring to the Bible, where in it does it say such things? By the way, here’s what the Bible says with reference to the shape of the Earth. "It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22). The word translated "circle" here is the Hebrew word chuwg, which is also translated "circuit" or "compass" (depending on the context). That is, it indicates something spherical, rounded, or arched, not something that is flat or square.

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But we know science tells us otherwise. So what's going on here? Why is your God such a hypocrite? Or is it just we humans who are the hypocrites.

Nah...It’s just us humans.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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How do you know what God looks like? Have you seen him? Does he talk to you like he talks to GWB?

God doesn't look like anything!

So what's with this approach: 1) Distort & mis-represent what Christians believe and then 2) Make fun of how ridiculous that mis-represented belief is.

It seems to me that you have that cartoon-ish idea about those who believe in God: That they believe in some big old guy with a beard sitting on a throne in the clouds.

Speed Racer
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[pajarito 0]

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So what's with this approach: 1) Distort & mis-represent what Christians believe and then 2) Make fun of how ridiculous that mis-represented belief is.

Very common.