An Evil Index

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

Mine's the bible.

A real message from God would be recognized by everyone.

[mrnoodle]

Would it? I don't see it that way at all - I think it would spawn another 100 religions based on all the different ways people interpreted the message, which of course would be diluted through retelling. People would get mad over other people's interpretations and start fights and wars and such.

I suppose an omnipotent god could just zap the info into our brains at birth so that we would have no doubts, but that's not very progressive, is it? Who would be the first one to say, "Hey, no fair, where's my CHOICE?" Maybe me.

Originally Posted by tw

The real god does not make a distinction between good and evil. If he did, then he would distort the laws of physics at the expense of evil. A real god does not care as demonstrated by the lessons of history.

That's just another version of, "If there's a god, why do bad things happen?" Of course your explanation is entirely plausible, but I don't think it's any more supportable than mine. I say bad things happen because of a combination of bad choices, premeditated evil, and a small percentage of crummy luck.

sermon alert

God and science aren't mutually exclusive. You're supposed to be critical, questioning, doubting, and so on. That's the thing that separates us from the cattle (who don't like being killed, but don't experience nearly the level of profound emotional trauma you attribute to them. It's not an atrocity to them, it's just getting killed and eaten. That's what they're for, ask any meat eating species).

Here's a news flash: Ward Churchill was right, in a way. He's a nut job, but he had a point buried in all his hateful anti-American spew - actions have consequences. While someone at ground zero might be cursing God because he let a family member die (how could God be so cruel?), look at the chain of events that led to that moment. A town that got wiped out by a tsunami - was it cursed? Were its inhabitants being punished? No, the town was in the path of a tsunami. That kind of shitty luck happens sometimes.

We want God to stay out of our lives until we need him to prevent something bad from happening. Everyone who says God has turned his back should maybe consider which direction they themselves are facing.

[/sermon]

Originally Posted by tw

Is God so biased as to give one biological creature righteousness and blessings at the expense of all others?

Yes. Why is this concept so foreign? We assign value to people and things all the time. Does a rat living in the walls of your house envy your fancy lifestyle? If you think he does, why don't you feed him out of the same dish as your dog? For that matter, why does your dog have to eat from a dish? Your decision to make the rat stay out of your house and the dog to eat from a dish on the floor is a pretty sorry abuse of your (relative to the dog) God-like powers, if we use your model.

Bah. I don't know. I gotta get to work.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

Would it? I don't see it that way at all - I think it would spawn another 100 religions based on all the different ways people interpreted the message, which of course would be diluted through retelling. People would get mad over other people's interpretations and start fights and wars and such.

Then He wouldn't have communicated effectively.

I suppose an omnipotent god could just zap the info into our brains at birth so that we would have no doubts, but that's not very progressive, is it? Who would be the first one to say, "Hey, no fair, where's my CHOICE?" Maybe me.

Choice about what? Seeing reality? We don't have a choice about seeing trees or rocks, etc. If God made Himself as apparent as the physical world, that wouldn't remove anyone's choices.

[lookout123]

if God was standing in front of you so that you couldn't deny who he was, then that would no longer be faith, but fact. There would then be no choice but to believe in the existence of God. Choice removed.