Our God

[Pico and ME]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

The question is who defines evil? A toddler thinks it's evil when his mother doesn't let him eat ice cream for breakfast, but from our perspective we can see he is wrong. From God's perspective maybe human suffering and death aren't really as bad as we think they are, because there is more going on than we can understand with our immature little brains.

It was and is those immature brains that conceive of a God Almighty, in the first place.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

The question is who defines evil? A toddler thinks it's evil when his mother doesn't let him eat ice cream for breakfast, but from our perspective we can see he is wrong. From God's perspective maybe human suffering and death aren't really as bad as we think they are, because there is more going on than we can understand with our immature little brains.

The argument doesn't pend on the definition of evil, just the existence, which religions generally assume.

[Clodfobble]

I don't equate religion with God, myself.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I am evil, hear me roar. Meow.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I don't equate religion with God, myself.

Do you not think there is evil in the world?

[Clodfobble]

It's a loaded word. I think there are things in the world which are less than good. But those things are also necessary to existence. Tragedy can make us stronger. Struggle gives us purpose. Loss makes us grateful for what we still have. Any advancement has to presuppose a less-than-ideal situation to begin with. There is evil, but in the long run it's good for us.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I don't equate religion with God, myself.

That is a new perspective. Please expand on it.

[Clodfobble]

God is God. Religion is rules people try to make about God.

Striving to understand God is laudable; believing one has even come close to doing so is laughable. But the toddler analogy holds--most of it is as harmless as it is petty, like watching children on a playground figure out for themselves how to deal with each other and the world. It's good for the toddlers to learn how to pretend, and feel, and search for answers, and militant atheists are like the six-year-old rolling his eyes at the dumb babies. The six-year-old doesn't know shit either, but the adults don't hold that against him.

[lumberjim]

The 90 year old's are nearly as ignant, relative to God scale. I agree. We have no idea what we don't know.

[henry quirk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRqijH1dDdI

'nuff said.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Cellar member, tuba player, and blogger Kirk Israel, is the son of two ministers. Both Mom and Dad being long time soldiers in the Salvation Army. He's written an interesting piece about his journey with the faith.

I mean there I was, a literal son of a preacher man (sweet-talkin' optional), trying my darndest to be a good Christian, but if I had been born the son of an Imam, wouldn't I be striving just as hard to be a good Moslem?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

It's a loaded word. I think there are things in the world which are less than good. But those things are also necessary to existence. Tragedy can make us stronger. Struggle gives us purpose. Loss makes us grateful for what we still have. Any advancement has to presuppose a less-than-ideal situation to begin with. There is evil, but in the long run it's good for us.

That's how it works in movies; add people to the story whose purpose is to die, sometimes horribly, so the hero gains motivation.

In scriptwriting, it's a bit lazy and cliched. Doing it with actual people would be malevolent.

[Clodfobble]

Unless a worse malevolence would actually be to have everyone sitting on a beach, relaxing, never doing or feeling anything at all for eternity. I'll take the pain and triumph package over the numbness any day.

The movie is only cliche because it is necessarily short on time and nuance. But if you bring the view up to a grander perspective on humanity as a whole, a person's complete life becomes lazy and cliche. Over the course of our lives almost everyone gets to be a dozen different types of both hero and sacrifice at different times--or at least we are offered the opportunity to be--and anything less would effectively be like being dead anyway.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Over the course of our lives almost everyone gets to be a dozen different types of both hero and sacrifice at different times--or at least we are offered the opportunity to be--and anything less would effectively be like being dead anyway.

Except for those who die young, presumably to keep everyone else's lives eventful.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

It was and is those immature brains that conceive of a God Almighty, in the first place.

You just said that you believe that you are superior to the vast majority of people on Earth.

Wow.