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Do you have an opinion on the OP, or do you just blast other's opinions?
lol I've given my opinion, you've given yours. I find your opinion lacking substance and not answering the question posed at you. You probably disagree, that's fine. If you can't take criticism, then don't post.
My point is when people point out the glorious sunsets and beautiful landscapes as evidence of God's handiwork and love, they often forget the natural dangers and evils this planet holds for humankind. What does this tell us about the Creator?
I don't believe in an intelligent creator, or anything supernatural, but I'll take a stab at your question. If a creator exists the problems you outlined suggest several possible ideas about its nature:
- The creator is not omnipotent and the forces of the natural world, both ugly and beautiful, are necessary for life to exist. This means that the creator could not alter its 'experiment'.
- The creator is uncaring. Perhaps, it started the process and left.
- The creator is not moral or has morals that are alien to humans. This idea tramples on the concept that humans were created in the image of god.
- The creator enjoys our suffering.
Many theists attribute contradictory ideas to an intelligent creator, such as omnipotence, goodness, caring, and mercy. When you look at the natural world, it is hard to reconcile all of these features in one creator. Their attempt at reconciliation usually involves the idea that we brought suffering upon ourselves and/or that our suffering is a 'test' preparing us for an afterlife. But, these explanations don't work. An omnipotent and merciful creator would be able to 'change' the rules that it established to alleviate the suffering we 'brought' upon ourselves. Otherwise, I conclude that it is not moral and perhaps it enjoys our suffering. Theists attempt to explain away this problem by saying that it has a 'higher' moral code. My question then becomes, "How can you hold humans to a 'higher' moral standard that we don't understand. That would be like holding a cat to human morality". The final theist trick is to add 'mystery' to the equation but we still have the problem of a creator holding us to standards that we don't understand.
I answered with my opinion in post #6. You have yet to give your opinion. Methinks you don't have one.
If I was bothered by criticism, I wouldn't post on this board. I find it curious that your MO is criticise without giving your own opinion.
I've given my opinion twice in relation to posts on this thread. Let me take a page from your book....if you think my opinion wasn't stated directly in this thread, then it was "implied".
Sounds like you were a little bothered with your other post though. Like I said, it's fine if you don't agree. The world keeps turning.
I don't believe in an intelligent creator, or anything supernatural, but I'll take a stab at your question. If a creator exists the problems you outlined suggest several possible ideas about its nature:
- The creator is not omnipotent and the forces of the natural world, both ugly and beautiful, are necessary for life to exist. This means that the creator could not alter its 'experiment'.
- The creator is uncaring. Perhaps, it started the process and left.
- The creator is not moral or has morals that are alien to humans. This idea tramples on the concept that humans were created in the image of god.
- The creator enjoys our suffering.
Many theists attribute contradictory ideas to an intelligent creator, such as omnipotence, goodness, caring, and mercy. When you look at the natural world, it is hard to reconcile all of these features in one creator. Their attempt at reconciliation usually involves the idea that we brought suffering upon ourselves and/or that our suffering is a 'test' preparing us for an afterlife. But, these explanations don't work. An omnipotent and merciful creator would be able to 'change' the rules that it established to alleviate the suffering we 'brought' upon ourselves. Otherwise, I conclude that it is not moral and perhaps it enjoys our suffering. Theists attempt to explain away this problem by saying that it has a 'higher' moral code. My question then becomes, "How can you hold humans to a 'higher' moral standard that we don't understand. That would be like holding a cat to human morality". The final theist trick is to add 'mystery' to the equation but we still have the problem of a creator holding us to standards that we don't understand.
Exactly. Excellent post. It just doesn't fly. I can agree in some sense that we do learn from hard times in life; but if eternal life is at stake like they say, deliberately putting people in horrible situations (or allowing these things to happen that would definitely have a lot of people question it's existence )doesn't make sense.
Yet, you've not offered an opinion on the OP. Do you have one?
I've given it three times now lol. Oh I'm sorry...is there a written rule that states that I cannot respond to the replies in the thread? Maybe someone already said what I wanted to say.
So God made the earth perfect... no volcanic eruptions or earthquakes and then because the first 2 humans sinned he changed the way the planet evolves by creating shifting plates and mountains which let out magma and volcanic ash?
Or did he put a hold on these natural features of the earth until the first humans sinned and then because they disobeyed him once, he unleashed all that AS WELL as disease and death? Still, wouldnt YOU make billions of humans suffer and die for something someone did 6000 years ago...Biggest lie in the Bible: God is love.
By the way, the verse in Genesis refers to cultivation of plant life for food, as the next verse shows:
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
With the irrational fear of the christian god, comes the paranoia and persecution complex. But believing in a god of death, a self absorbed, vengeful, cruel narcissistic imaginary friend(?), I guess it should be expected.
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