Does God control who wins the lottery?
The answer is, OF COURSE, providing that He/She/It actually exists in form and function as described and defined by any of the current religions that are based on the belief that a God with the supernatural powers, human behavioral orientation, and intense interest in the conduct and outcome of individual and collective human affairs actually exists. After all, god is reputed to know and care about every sparrow that falls to the ground. So if that is the belief, and even under the understanding and mantra of the hymn written by William Cowper in 1773.
“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm."
But when it comes to winning the lottery, the results are nothing but capricious and random, favoring the just and the unjust alike. If God were large and in charge, a Christian would wonder how a Muslim could win the lottery and a Muslim would wonder how a Christian could win the lottery, and both would wonder how an areligious person that did not believe that God actually exists could win the lottery. And a Catholic might wonder how a Protestant could win the lottery and a Shiite would wonder how a Sunni could win the lottery. Well maybe, if God prohibits gambling, no religiously devout individual should ever buy a lottery ticket, maybe games of chance should never be allowed in any community where religious people live. But how about the religiously devout sainted couple in middle age with great financial need who take in young children with terminal disease to give them love, care, and comfort during the incredible difficulties of their last days. A couple that for many years buys a single lottery ticket each week with the sincere hope of being able to provide more and better care for children that are in extreme need; and yet God has not rewarded or enabled their efforts despite the prayers and supplications of them and their religious community. Maybe God is testing the faith of that couple and their community, He evidently does that once in awhile… or maybe they are being punished for the sin of gambling.
I guess that the sincerely religious people cut God a lot of slack in such situations that seem so unfair and that a caring all powerful God with supernatural powers could easily remedy. If so then God really rubs it in their face when he awards winning the lottery of some who are obviously degenerate and unworthy of such a windfall, and some who use the proceeds with intentions of only personal enrichment. You know, it’s almost like there is no God and only raw chance coupled with personal characteristics determines not only who wins the lottery, but also most of happens to people, most of the time.
Martin Moe
The lottery is a voluntary tax.
The problem you’re having is that you’re thinking about it rationally. Religion and belief in a super god isn’t rational. It’s emotional and psychological. A simple example is how people will pray to god to cure a loved one’s cancer, yet not get mad at her for allowing the person to get cancer in the first place. It’s strictly a psychological/emotional defense mechanism, regardless of how dressed up things are.
Religion and belief in a super god isn't rational. It's emotional and psychological.Well it's not rational on some levels. But there's lot's of things that aren't rational on some or many levels. Yet are accepted as rational. A powerful rationale is the concept of the majority. If an overwhelming majority of people believe something in faith, then despite the faith being irrational, the fact that millions believe it is a form of rationality. After all a church on a street corner isn't irrational. The idea behind the church being a place where a god can be convened with is irrational. But the view from an objective observer finds no irrationality in the church being on the street corner. It's rational the church is there.
Does God control who wins the lottery? The answer is, OF COURSE, providing that He/She/It actually exists in form and function as described and defined by any of the current religions that are based on the belief that a God with the supernatural powers, human behavioral orientation, and intense interest in the conduct and outcome of individual and collective human affairs actually exists. After all, god is reputed to know and care about every sparrow that falls to the ground. So if that is the belief, and even under the understanding and mantra of the hymn written by William Cowper in 1773. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm." But when it comes to winning the lottery, the results are nothing but capricious and random, favoring the just and the unjust alike. If God were large and in charge, a Christian would wonder how a Muslim could win the lottery and a Muslim would wonder how a Christian could win the lottery, and both would wonder how an areligious person that did not believe that God actually exists could win the lottery. And a Catholic might wonder how a Protestant could win the lottery and a Shiite would wonder how a Sunni could win the lottery. Well maybe, if God prohibits gambling, no religiously devout individual should ever buy a lottery ticket, maybe games of chance should never be allowed in any community where religious people live. But how about the religiously devout sainted couple in middle age with great financial need who take in young children with terminal disease to give them love, care, and comfort during the incredible difficulties of their last days. A couple that for many years buys a single lottery ticket each week with the sincere hope of being able to provide more and better care for children that are in extreme need; and yet God has not rewarded or enabled their efforts despite the prayers and supplications of them and their religious community. Maybe God is testing the faith of that couple and their community, He evidently does that once in awhile... or maybe they are being punished for the sin of gambling. I guess that the sincerely religious people cut God a lot of slack in such situations that seem so unfair and that a caring all powerful God with supernatural powers could easily remedy. If so then God really rubs it in their face when he awards winning the lottery of some who are obviously degenerate and unworthy of such a windfall, and some who use the proceeds with intentions of only personal enrichment. You know, it’s almost like there is no God and only raw chance coupled with personal characteristics determines not only who wins the lottery, but also most of happens to people, most of the time. Martin MoeIf there is a god and it's omniscient and omnipotent, of course it can determine who wins the lottery as it could determine anything. But from the looks of it, there is no god. If there is it is either not omniscient or omnipotent or it's lying down on the job.