IN THE award winning film Bruce Almighty, one man gets a chance to do whatever he likes while God takes a holiday. We thought we'd ask more than 150 people from around the UK what they would do if they were in God's shoes.
"I would like heaven on earth" said Spencer from Coventry. Lewis, from nearby Nuneaton, wanted "an end to child cruelty." "Make managers kinder!" shouted Ben, a friend.
But where do you stand? What, if you were all-powerful, would you do?
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Photo br LittleMan |
Surprisingly for the British, only three people spoke about the weather. We actually have far bigger concerns like drugs, health, homelessness and equality. And we're not that selfish either: only a handful of people spoke of wanting their football team to win or getting more money.
But a whopping 86 per cent believe that it's God's job to sort out the world's problems. 25 per cent of those questioned saw this in terms of world peace. Another 12 per cent voiced more specific worries about poverty and starvation.
Many think it is God that has the problem. "I would just make people believe in me" said Fridolin from Sheffield. Several agreed, but an equal number thought that we should do away with religion altogether. "He's still doing a better job than the politicians!" defended Mr Singh from Leicester.
"I would stop people from dying and make them young again" said Betty from Nottingham. A nice idea - just begin again. Reboot life when it gets corrupted, wash all the troubles away. "I'd want to change everything about the world. That's how I really feel" commented Tracy from Coventry.
17 per cent of those asked felt that the root of the world's problems lay closer to home. "It's not God's fault, all this trouble, it's our fault" concluded Mrs Johnson. There were other philosophical answers too. One person admitted "I wouldn't change anything. Everything is the way it is so we can learn from it."
Marc was thoughtful too: "Peace is the obvious answer, but it's impossible." In other words, unless humanity has a change of heart, nothing else will change. 17 per cent of those who answered agreed that "the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart". We need a "change of attitude".
The Bible says that it is because of man's rejection of God that we find ourselves in such a mess. God may want us to learn from our mistakes, but He knows we can't repair our wrongs. That's why He sent a Saviour: Jesus. He paid the price for all our wrong and opened the way back to God.
There is one prayer that God might not be able to answer, however. Jamie hoped that if he were God, he could make all the girls fancy him. Some things might just be too difficult, even for the Almighty.
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