Opposition is a necessary part of learning and growth

[anatess2]

8 minutes ago, brotherofJared said:

What reasons would those be?

I wouldn't know.  I don't know the person.

I grew up in the Philippines.  I haven't personally seen somebody set up for failure even as many many people I encounter are poor, unfortunate people.  The internet shows babies born alive with their head in their stomachs or so deformed you wonder how they could survive.  Yet, they are babies and we are assured babies who do not have the opportunity to exercise free will at an age of discernment in mortality will have the opportunity to do so in the after life.  So even those tragic babies are not set up for failure.

Edited January 6, 2020 by anatess2

[brotherofJared]

11 hours ago, anatess2 said:

I wouldn't know.  I don't know the person.

I grew up in the Philippines.  I haven't personally seen somebody set up for failure even as many many people I encounter are poor, unfortunate people.  The internet shows babies born alive with their head in their stomachs or so deformed you wonder how they could survive.  Yet, they are babies and we are assured babies who do not have the opportunity to exercise free will at an age of discernment in mortality will have the opportunity to do so in the after life.  So even those tragic babies are not set up for failure.

I understand that God has a plan for the unfortunate. These are not the ones that I'm suggesting are set up for failure. I'm talking about the person (Russ??) discussed in the OP could very well be just such a person. Though he had the opportunity to grow and improve his life, he chose a path that was set for failure. Why? We don't know. But God didn't prevent him from his choices. He certainly didn't know what the outcome of those choices would be in advance.

Take for example, I have a brother whose name isn't Jared, who was born with a speech impediment. It wouldn't seem to be an issue, but everyone treated him as a retard because they couldn't understand him and he found comfort in the attention he received by playing the part. In the end, he found himself in jail for many petty crimes he committed because his "friends" knew they could convince him to do really stupid things and he'd do them. To me, it was all centered around the speech issue. I believe that if he could articulate himself better, his life would be different today. Who gave him the impediment? It was God. God set him up for failure on a temporal scale (I'm not talking eternal or religious). There are a lot of people who are born into circumstances that cause them to be a burden on society. They don't have opportunities for education or meaningful employment and it's not their fault. Some of them can't articulate themselves very well, but some can and yet, from both classes, we find people who are stuck with their circumstances.

So, yes. There are people who are set up for failure. You may disagree and that is your prerogative. I suppose you could shoot down every case present and find a way to explain how each case is actually the result of the person's choices, but; I simply cannot accept that. People are born into circumstances where they are not equal with their peers and are set up for failure.

[anatess2]

4 hours ago, brotherofJared said:

I understand that God has a plan for the unfortunate. These are not the ones that I'm suggesting are set up for failure. I'm talking about the person (Russ??) discussed in the OP could very well be just such a person. Though he had the opportunity to grow and improve his life, he chose a path that was set for failure. Why? We don't know. But God didn't prevent him from his choices. He certainly didn't know what the outcome of those choices would be in advance.

Take for example, I have a brother whose name isn't Jared, who was born with a speech impediment. It wouldn't seem to be an issue, but everyone treated him as a retard because they couldn't understand him and he found comfort in the attention he received by playing the part. In the end, he found himself in jail for many petty crimes he committed because his "friends" knew they could convince him to do really stupid things and he'd do them. To me, it was all centered around the speech issue. I believe that if he could articulate himself better, his life would be different today. Who gave him the impediment? It was God. God set him up for failure on a temporal scale (I'm not talking eternal or religious). There are a lot of people who are born into circumstances that cause them to be a burden on society. They don't have opportunities for education or meaningful employment and it's not their fault. Some of them can't articulate themselves very well, but some can and yet, from both classes, we find people who are stuck with their circumstances.

"Russ" was not set up for failure.  He chose failure.  A challenge is not a set up for failure - born without working legs, born with low IQ, born to drug-addicted parents, born in the slums of the Philippines, born blind/deaf/mute, born with mental health issues, born to a mother who threw you in a dumpster.... These are not "set up for failure".  These are challenges to act upon - an exercise of free will.

The opposite is the same - born to privilege... born in the USA to 2 loving, upper-middle-class parents, born smart, born healthy, born with the proverbial silver spoon in one's mouth - these are not "set up for success".  These are also situations to act upon - still an exercise of free will.

Everybody have their own sets of challenges and privileges.  Even "Russ" had his set of privileges to go with his challenges.  What you do with them determines your lot in life.