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Well, from a religious point of view (I waffle between wanting to believe, but not really seeing it as a possibility), if you believe in God, then you HAVE to assume he does everything with a purpose, and he knows the reason why.
I don't think you can believe in an All Powerful, but think you know better in some areas. That would be hubris to an insane level.
Seriously, if there is a God, I would never question what happens. I would be like a one celled creature versus the Creator of All.
I would question. I would ask the very question the OP asked among a very long list. One question would be; why flies? (One drowned in my beer - that's what brought it up )
Young girls can have babies once they start menstruating, which is starting earlier and earlier.
I am wondering if teen pregnancy is "wrong," then is "God" also wrong for designing young girls to be able to conceive at young ages?
Please do not quote scripture, but think about this question, and give a thoughtful response as to why a human being would be designed in a way that would then be frowned upon and difficult to interfere with (as in birth control, abortion, etc.).
It seems like a simple design flaw. If women are not "supposed" to give birth until age 20 say (just picked an arbitrary number), then why would "God" design them capable of having babies at age 10 through teens when they are unable to support themselves, act independently, or have the maturity to parent a child?
Lets actually see it from the Atheists point of view.
Say there is no God.
Now, from the Atheists point of view, the answer should be something like this,
"Age is just a number. If a girl can become pregnant at 9 or 10 years of age, then so be it. What's the problem? It's all evolution.
Why would a doctor not prescribe birth control pills to such girls? They are only following the natural laws".
OP, are you more satisfied with such a response?
And by the way, sexual consent age in Philippines is 12 years of age. So you shouldn't be worried about God's design flaw when a 12 year old gets pregnant in Philippines. It's OK by the law of the land.
I think it's 13 and 14 in France and Spain.
In looking at other species, I do not see the same design flaws.
Birds kick their young out of the nest. Some survive, some do not. Mom is not devastated in either case (as far as I know). That is a pure survival model.
No, most birds do not do this. Different species invest more or less energy in social bonds, and that can include how long they spend rearing their young. Parent birds may stop feeding young that are physically independent but that's not the same as kicking them out of a nest. If parent birds were that dismissive of their young the species wouldn't have survived. Obviously not a great design. If a chick has a physical weakness and can't fledge normally when the others do that's different. These are not species that broadcast many young into the world without caring for them as many fish, many reptiles, insects, corals, urchins, invertebrates do. Birds produce relatively few young per year, so in order to be successful they have to invest more in each young hatched. But, as in any group of species there are different survival strategies across the spectrum. Most chicks imprint on their parents as soon as they open their eyes. Obviously a survival mechanism...the chicks immediately learn who's safe to follow, safe to beg food from, safe to imitate, and who's not. It would be pretty difficult for a parent bird to "kick out" imprinted young and abandon them to their fate before they are independent. It would make no sense at all.
Many bird species stay with their young long past fledging and the families migrate together (easy examples would be flocking waterfowl like swans, geese, cranes, some ducks, loons, grebes). Research with satellite or radio tracking of family groups (parents and young) demonstrates this. They are very protective of young long after they leave the nest. Species of birds that tend to flock for part of the year will defend young that could technically survive on their own and also mourn over young that are killed. Sometimes a mourning adult ends up staying behind with a dead chick and puts itself at risk. Obviously not a great survival move, but aberrations happen. I would speculate that this is more likely in longer-lived species that mate for life or stay together for more than one breeding season. They invest more in those bonds than birds that don't stay in a pair past mating. Not all bird pairs raise the young cooperatively; notably dabbling ducks (mallards, teal, pintails, etc). The males don't stick around very long at all. Other birds obviously do share chick rearing.
Another thing that affects how much energy a parent bird will spend on young is timing. For many birds, if a nest is disturbed or disrupted by a predator or some sort of accident early in incubation the mother bird is more likely to abandon the entire nest/eggs and save herself. It makes more survival "sense" for her to re-nest and produce new young as long as there is enough time left in the chick-rearing season. The longer she's been invested in caring for the eggs or young the less likely she is to leave them to their fate. At that time she's more likely to be reproductively successful for that year if she sticks around and defends those older young. Research analyzing the level of hormones across the egg laying-incubation-chick rearing period supports this. Everyone knows that hormone levels in birds are closely tied to and affected by seasonal progression. If the hen hasn't successfully raised any young by a certain point in the summer season (sunlight intensity, daylength, etc) hormones drop off again and she would simply be unable to continue. Have to wait until the next breeding cycle next spring.
Human beings are different. It is much harder for a human infant to survive without a "good" mother (meaning a mother who provides food, care, and a secure, safe environment). Given that human beings are much more fragile than other species, it would indicate a great design flaw to have young girls who can procreate.
Guess I don't see humans as "more fragile" than other species per se. What I would say is that human juveniles have less need to be tough because our social structure has a lot more options for protection in it. There are more "layers" that could take over the care of an infant if the parents don't or can't do so. But then, I don't ascribe the human design to a deity either. I ascribe it to evolution of an extreme form of cooperation; one so extreme that it can become warped or distorted by mental and emotional illness. If there was some grand design my sense it that it was lost long ago.
Last edited by Parnassia; 11-22-2018 at 02:44 AM..
I would question. I would ask the very question the OP asked among a very long list. One question would be; why flies? (One drowned in my beer - that's what brought it up )
Lets actually see it from the Atheists point of view.
Say there is no God.
Now, from the Atheists point of view, the answer should be something like this,
"Age is just a number. If a girl can become pregnant at 9 or 10 years of age, then so be it. What's the problem? It's all evolution.
Why would a doctor not prescribe birth control pills to such girls? They are only following the natural laws".
OP, are you more satisfied with such a response?
And by the way, sexual consent age in Philippines is 12 years of age. So you shouldn't be worried about God's design flaw when a 12 year old gets pregnant in Philippines. It's OK by the law of the land.
I think it's 13 and 14 in France and Spain.
Keep in my that the average age of being menstruation has declined substantially over the years. 17 was more the normal, say 100 years ago.Plenty old enough to become mothers.
Most of this topic has more to do with science than religion, however, if I were wanting to defend god and his supposed 'mistakes' (which I'm not) I would say that as the age has decreased, he also "planned" it so that social mores and care and protection of these young girls has advanced along with that decreasing age.
How's that for an excuse ?
Keep in my that the average age of being menstruation has declined substantially over the years. 17 was more the normal, say 100 years ago.Plenty old enough to become mothers.
Most of this topic has more to do with science than religion, however, if I were wanting to defend god and his supposed 'mistakes' (which I'm not) I would say that as the age has decreased, he also "planned" it so that social mores and care and protection of these young girls has advanced along with that decreasing age. How's that for an excuse ?
It sounds a little more wholesome than simply saying it's caused by (toxic) environmental factors.
Lets actually see it from the Atheists point of view.
Say there is no God.
Now, from the Atheists point of view, the answer should be something like this,
"Age is just a number. If a girl can become pregnant at 9 or 10 years of age, then so be it. What's the problem? It's all evolution.
Why would a doctor not prescribe birth control pills to such girls? They are only following the natural laws".
OP, are you more satisfied with such a response?
And by the way, sexual consent age in Philippines is 12 years of age. So you shouldn't be worried about God's design flaw when a 12 year old gets pregnant in Philippines. It's OK by the law of the land.
I think it's 13 and 14 in France and Spain.
Now apply that reasoning to your god.If a girl can become pregnant at 9 or 10 years of age, then so be it. What's the problem? It's all God's fault for leaving a tree in a stupid place, and allowing a naughty serpent to talk, and therefore young girls must ignore sexual desire for a few years because your god is inept.
OP, are you more satisfied with THAT response?
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