Posted on 09/03/2023 10:10:00 AM PDT by daniel1212
Nope; for what I 'know' has no bearing on what you know.
What works for me, obviously doesn't for you - thus the question.
That's like someone saying that "It's exceedingly rare that home invaders have captured me and my family, r*ped my wife and daughters, etc.! I can count the number of times that that has happened on ONE hand!"
Good luck to them!
Or: "It is exceedingly rare that Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been nuked! It happened like, you know, only ONCE!"
So we might as well say that it actually happened ZERO times! / sarcasm
There have been numerous times in history that civilizations have been wiped out by natural catastrophes. Besides being ignorant of History, you are also suffering under Detection Bias (to be honest, large swathes of our society have fallen victim to it). Like asking, "Everyone who hasn't come to class today: Please raise your hand! Well, no one raised his hand, so I guess that everyone is here!"
Or: "I have never suffered a memory loss! I'm sure of it! I would remember it if I had!"
Next point:
cannot be a judgment due to sin (the Flood, Pompeii) by an omniscient being who knows every action of man, and his motives, and every single effect of man's actions, as well as His own
If God punished entire societies by wiping them out, then why stop there? Why not always stop, e.g., serial killers just as they are starting a killing spree? Some killers are never caught - some not even discovered (i.e., that serial murders have even taken place, and that people have disappeared, may not even be determined by the authorities). Why destroy, e.g., Pompeii - incl. innocent children - but not serial killers long before their crimes enter into the double-digits?
Would that somehow limit Man's highly touted "Free Will?" But somehow destroying entire cities like Pompeii and Herculaneum is permissible / doesn't abrogate our Free Will?!
Regards,
Well, I ANSWERED your question.
And your response?
< crickets >
Regards,
Quite correct.
I am, however, at a loss to find something to believe in that is not disputed or considered disreputable by someone.
Experience shows us that Nature does, truly, abhor a vacuum, so Man finds something to believe in - even if it's merely his own assumptions about how the world (should?) works.
I wonder what our descendants; 4,000 years from now; will describe us?
YES! And your retort, please? WHY this inequality? Why immediate "slapping-down" when violating the "laws of electricity" - wouldn't that negate our much-touted "Free Will?" - but no immediate slapping-down of, e.g., serial murderers?
Why "slapping-down" of sinful cities like Pompeii and Herculaneum (incl. the innocent children) - doesn't that negate our precious "Free Will?" - but no immediate "slapping-down" of mass murderers - some of whom get off scot-free and/or whose crimes are even ever detected by law enforcement?
Just answer that!
A typical problem with arguments of atheists is that they want to morally argue against the God of the Bible while rejecting attributes of God and what is says as regards the scope of His operation, as if He was ignorant like them, and they were omniscient as God, and thus assert that God "needlessly permits" rare mass extinctions.
Please stop DESCRIBING what I'm asking, and instead just answer it!
HINT: An honest answer might very well be, "I have no friggin' idea why!"
Regards,
If HE doesn't; then we evolved from goo.
I'd expect goo to be a bit more selective in eliminating the bad things that happen in the world.
Doesn't seem like a good game plan to me.
Maybe survival of the fittest is the best we can hope for after all.
I can only hope that they will have as much disdain for our lowly technology as I have for that of the primitive tribesmen!
Regards,
What choice have we?
We either play the hand we are dealt; or pick up our money and go home.
So true.
And either gets used the way he/she designed it, or it gets lumped back together to start over.
If God were to heal all sickness and provide enough for everyone to eat and otherwise cure all ills on earth, would you bow down to Him and worship and follow His commandments? History says you would not! Read the Old Testament accounts of God’s people rescued from their sin and given all earthly blessings. They promised to be faithful but it never lasts. Other gods grab their attention and the consequences of their sin follow.
I'm still waiting for adequate evidence and compelling arguments.
I see...
So; why are you wasting your time here?
Not a 'demand' - just curious.
Look I provided you with several examples of "extraordinary evidence" and "extraordinary claims" - as well as with several examples of banal / trivial claims.
Was I not convincing? Were my examples not convincing? Is it not obvious?! Is not my tag-line BROADLY true? THEN SAY SO! Agree now with my tag-line. You haughtily dismissed it in your earlier post, essentially quibbling about the meaning of "is" - although it is pretty obvious. Please, not cat-and-mouse. When you've raised an objection, and I've dealt with it, then please be so polite as to acknowledge that before beginning with a new attack!
Experience shows us that Nature does, truly, abhor a vacuum, so Man finds something to believe in - even if it's merely his own assumptions about how the world (should?) works.
Now your are "diluting" the discussion. You are veering "into the weeds" by making overgeneralized, feel-good, pseudo-profound statements - that sound conciliatory - that slyly introduce additional points serving to further cloud the issue at hand.
Let's stick to the basic thesis statement, shall we? "God should be perfect and all-powerful. But God doesn't want to restrict our Free Will. Except when God restricts our Free Will by destroying cities. But God doesn't want to stop mass murderers because of... something."
Regards,
Not much I can do about that, but you could help a poor child suffering in a refugee camp Right NOW!
Will YOU continue to let him suffer, when it is in YOUR power to alleviate it?
All God wants is for you to love him. How do you do this? Choose good over evil. But we don’t. What do you expect God to do? Let it slide?
Thailand
It doesn’t quite look the same as when I was there - last of 61-62-first of 63.
What choice have we? We either play the hand we are dealt; or pick up our money and go home.
How does your remark serve to further the discussion? I never claimed we had a "choice!"
Your remark is a distraction and/or diversion. It does not directly address my point. I don't even really know what you mean by "pick up our money, etc." Please, stop with the unhelpful, unproductive Chinese fortune cookie responses!
Namely: How can we reconcile the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God with the existence of needless suffering? If you say that it's because God doesn't want to limit our Free Will, then I ask: Then how can He in good conscience DESTROY ENTIRE CITIES? If THAT doesn't limit our Free Will, then why not also stop mass murderers before they continue their crime sprees?
Please, no platitudes like "Well, I guess that we just have to accept it!"
Please, a substantive (falsifiable) answer!
Is my logic faulty? If so: How?
Are my facts faulty? If so: How?
A "I have no friggin' idea!" will also do quite nicely!
Regards,
I don't hang on your every word.
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