Does God take humanity seriously?

[sojourner]

And gives us cancer. And Droughts which lead to starvation.



And poisons us. Earthquakes. Volcanoes.



And floods. And tornados. Hurricanes. Meteors and asteroids like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and could wipe us out, or at least most of us. Somehow I doubt God would take the few seconds to redirect a massive meteor on collision course.



Woopty-do.



Sunsets are alright sometimes, I'll give you that one. Other times Id prefer more sunlight.

Autumn foliage doesn't entertain me.

In other words, you're whining because the world doesn't give us preferential treatment, and, therefore, God cannot possibly "take us seriously?"

Really?

How entitled of you!:clap

 

[839311]

In other words, you're whining because the world doesn't give us preferential treatment, and, therefore, God cannot possibly "take us seriously?"

Your reading too much into what I said. I was merely pointing out that many of the positives you mentioned can be just as much a source for destruction as they can for making us feel warm and fuzzy. The natural forces don't discriminate.

 

[sojourner]

Your reading too much into what I said. I was merely pointing out that many of the positives you mentioned can be just as much a source for destruction as they can for making us feel warm and fuzzy. The natural forces don't discriminate.

But the response was to the statement that "all evidence points to the 'fact' that God does not take us seriously." I choose to interpret the sun's energy, the earth's nutrients, and the water's refreshment as signs that God does take us seriously (even though we are not entitled in any special way). If it were not for these things, we would have no life at all. Yet, humanity is still here, even with cancer and poison and earthquakes and volcanos. The good outweighs the bad.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

The atheist point of view is to only believe what is both natural and proven. Unless you know something I don't, there is no proof of life beyond our own planet.

That's not how atheism is define. If you want to define it that way, then an atheist can't believe we are highly evolved because that is neither natural or proven.

 

[waitasec]

Yes, and even babies learn very quickly who they are by learning their boundaries. These stories are, in a very literal way, boundary markers for us. Many times, we come to know something by defining what it is not. Again, to dismiss these stories as simply "stupid" is to dismiss the human capacity for sentience and for imagination, both of which are pretty important aspects of the human being.

who said stupid?
i certainly did not.

what is naive is taking them at face value.

 

[waitasec]

the sun keeps us warm. The earth feeds us. The sky gives us water. Through the seasons, we learn about the passage of time. Sunsets and autumn foliage entertaiin us. What do you mean?

the sun can also cause someone to die of heat stroke...


as the earth also provides poisonous berries


balance will happen no matter the cost

 

[waitasec]

Sunsets are alright sometimes, I'll give you that one.

sunsets were not made to be appreciated...

 

[Quintessence]

The good outweighs the bad.

Or put another way, actually existing to be able to ***** in the first place isn't a gift that should be taken for granted?

 

[sojourner]

who said stupid?
i certainly did not.

what is naive is taking them at face value.

839311 called them "absurd and nonsensical."

I'm not advocating taking them at face value. When have I ever, in this forum, suggested that reading the texts literalistically is a good thing?

 

[sojourner]

the sun can also cause someone to die of heat stroke...


as the earth also provides poisonous berries


balance will happen no matter the cost

Already argued.

 

[sojourner]

sunsets were not made to be appreciated...

Neither was my wife. But I appreciate her nonetheless, and doing so makes my life happier and more meaningful.

 

[sojourner]

Or put another way, actually existing to be able to ***** in the first place isn't a gift that should be taken for granted?

Can you rephrase the "*****?" It provides a verb that's important to your meaning.

 

[Quintessence]

Can you rephrase the "*****?" It provides a verb that's important to your meaning.

Yeah, I forget about the word filters here. I think it's strange that we have them here, because there are forums I use that are populated by a younger age demographic than this site and it doesn't use filtering. You can type whatever the $#@% words you want and they'll sit there for all to see. What I find most amusing is that *** is censored. In some contexts just a donkey. >_<;

Female dog. That was the reference. Also an odd word to censor considering it also has non-vulgar meanings.

 

[sojourner]

Yeah, I forget about the word filters here. I think it's strange that we have them here, because there are forums I use that are populated by a younger age demographic than this site and it doesn't use filtering. You can type whatever the $#@% words you want and they'll sit there for all to see. What I find most amusing is that *** is censored. In some contexts just a donkey. >_<;

Female dog. That was the reference. Also an odd word to censor considering it also has non-vulgar meanings.

Ah. Thanks. Although, I don't take your meaning as it applies to my statement that the good outweighs the bad. Can you elucidate?

 

[Quintessence]

Ah. Thanks. Although, I don't take your meaning as it applies to my statement that the good outweighs the bad. Can you elucidate?

I just can't help but think when people whine about all the "evils" in the world that they forget that the fact that they even have life (and therefore are able to whine in the first place) is a blessing in itself. It's a good without which the bad wouldn't even be possible, so a that sense, the good outweighs the bad. Choose A) existence with some suffering, or B) complete non-existence. Unless you're suicidal, I think most of us would pick A over B. The good things in life are enough to justify us to continue to live, in spire of the "bad" things. When that ceases to be true, we usually just kill ourselves.

 

[waitasec]

Neither was my wife. But I appreciate her nonetheless, and doing so makes my life happier and more meaningful.

and??

my point being, she wasn't born for you specifically

 

[waitasec]

Already argued.

not with me...

 

[839311]

But the response was to the statement that "all evidence points to the 'fact' that God does not take us seriously."

I didn't make that statement.

I choose to interpret the sun's energy, the earth's nutrients, and the water's refreshment as signs that God does take us seriously

So your claiming then that God created the universe, or somehow maintains it? Wheres your proof for that?

The way I see it, evolution accounts for life. The big bang accounts for the universe, which can be just as easily explained by natural forces. There is zero credible evidence that God is involved in any way in our universe. What reason would you have then for thinking he made it or maintains it? I mean, if your going to make a fantastic claim like that, you should have some kind of evidence for making it. If all you have is wishful thining, then thats fine for you - but for me it isn't worth a penny.

(even though we are not entitled in any special way).

So, let me get this straight. Your saying something like this - God creates the spark of the universe, then sits back and watches the show without ever doing anything again, even when people are gang-raped and murdered, tortured, dying of starvation, being killed by natural disasters - yet, this qualifies as caring about humanity? To me, it seems like he is at best indifferent, and at worst getting a kick out of our species.

 

[839311]

Choose A) existence with some suffering, or B) complete non-existence.

What about option C) existence with no suffering. Is that too much to ******* ask of an omnipotent deity?

Unless you're suicidal, I think most of us would pick A over B.

Not before asking the question, wheres option C? What ever happened to that option, I wonder.

 

[sojourner]

The way I see it, evolution accounts for life. The big bang accounts for the universe, which can be just as easily explained by natural forces. There is zero credible evidence that God is involved in any way in our universe. What reason would you have then for thinking he made it or maintains it? I mean, if your going to make a fantastic claim like that, you should have some kind of evidence for making it. If all you have is wishful thining, then thats fine for you - but for me it isn't worth a penny.

It isn't wishful thinking, nor is it evidential. It's a way of understanding and assigning meaning. Evolution accounts for some of life. The big bang accounts for the appearance of the cosmos. I get all that, and I trust the science. My question for you is this: If you don't see God in the universe, why would you ask the question, "Does God take humanity seriously?"

So, let me get this straight. Your saying something like this - God creates the spark of the universe, then sits back and watches the show without ever doing anything again, even when people are gang-raped and murdered, tortured, dying of starvation, being killed by natural disasters - yet, this qualifies as caring about humanity? To me, it seems like he is at best indifferent, and at worst getting a kick out of our species.

No, I'm saying that God is embodied in the world (universe). and that, as part of that universe, we are taken seriously.