Let's say there is a omnipotent creator being who likes to be called God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-capable. This dude is the single most powerful being in existence and created this whole universe because he got bored one day and decided to brighten up his surroundings. Why the hell would such a powerful infalliable being care about a puny, measly race such as the human race? What makes us so special that we get promises and covenants with this superpower? Why does he give flying **** whether we know he's there or not? Why does he care what I eat on Fridays, or whether I beat my meat, or whether I lied to my mother? It makes absolutely no sense in my mind, this basic principle of a creator being who cares so damn much about the impotent human race in our microscopic section of the universe.
Someone enlighten me? Please?
I don't believe in any gods, but for the sake of thought experiments, there are generally two ways I approach this, and they provide somewhat contradictory conclusions.
First Way: Observation of Nature/Universe
Nature is rather harsh and indifferent. The universe is a chaotic place, with stars being created and being destroyed, planets and moons being destroyed, and so forth. Most of it is empty, really cold, or really hot, and travel is extremely difficult based on scale and technical difficulty. Life on earth is harsh, with predators and prey all trying to get by and survive. There exists much suffering due to the fundamentals of biology and matter, and on how creatures have evolved to behave. Disease, defects, and natural disasters cause suffering and death, and mass-extinction events occur regularly on long time scales.
Based on the harsh indifference in how nature/universe operates, if there exists a god that is responsible for or representative of this work, it likely has similar qualities. So it would neither be malevolent or benevolent, just harsh and indifferent. The other option would be that god does not have these qualities, but does not have full control over its universe, and is therefore limited.
I'd expect that if a god bothered to create something like the universe, it would at least bother to observe it and take interest in it to a certain extent, and various conscious lifeforms spread throughout it would be top contenders for it to take interest in (if not at the personal level then perhaps a the planetary level). Plus, Dharmic descriptions of god generally don't assume any separateness. So, everything is within god rather than being separate creations of god.
Second Way: Extrapolating Self-Actualized Behavior
Humans have basic needs, and vary in terms of intelligence and education. Violence and restriction are present in many areas of the world where there does not exist good infrastructure, resources, and education. Even in developed countries, there exist a lot of individuals that are educated, but don't mind taking advantage of others in their own countries and abroad, for the sake of money or whatever.
But there also exist rather well-developed people, who are compassionate, intelligent, well-educated, and reasonable. They have many of their needs met, and are able to self-actualize. They tend to be looked up to and respected.
One could argue that, if the highest levels of humanity are capable of being so virtuous, why would a god be less-so? This type of human would not likely create such a work that results in so much suffering. This argument generally rules out the existence of rather immature and wrathful deities, and to a lesser extent, argues against indifferent entities as well.
Of course, the contradiction is eliminated when one discontinues the assumption that a creator god exists.
