Another philisophical question to ponder

[Hobbit]

Are you saying it's possible that it's good that God created an atheist?

God created people and gave them freedom of choice. It was your choice to be an atheist, just like it was BTK's choice as a God created human being to kill a bunch of other human beings.

 

[MissileMan]

God created people and gave them freedom of choice. It was your choice to be an atheist, just like it was BTK's choice as a God created human being to kill a bunch of other human beings.

That's not what I asked.

 

[Hobbit]

That's not what I asked.

You asked if God created an atheist. Well, God didn't make you an atheist, he made you and gave you free choice, and you chose to be an atheist. In the strictest sense, I'd have to say that God mades people. It's up to them to create an atheist, Christian, Muslim, etc. of themselves.

 

[Annie]

If God exists, he's omnitient, meaning he knows everything. If he knows everything, then questioning him is pointless. He already knows the question and the answer and has acted on it. It's not a question of being 'smarter,' as some of the smartest people in the world are smart because they realize how much they don't know. However, if God exists, there's nothing he doesn't know, and saying he's wrong is like saying down is up.

I'm not being 'wiseass' or whatever. Did you mean omniscient? One having total knowledge?

 

[Hobbit]

I'm not being 'wiseass' or whatever. Did you mean omniscient? One having total knowledge?

Yep, that's the one. I guess I can't spell.

 

[MissileMan]

You asked if God created an atheist. Well, God didn't make you an atheist, he made you and gave you free choice, and you chose to be an atheist. In the strictest sense, I'd have to say that God mades people. It's up to them to create an atheist, Christian, Muslim, etc. of themselves.

Would you say that an atheist is not welcoming the "good" that God placed on earth? What about Muslims, Bhuddists, Hindus, etc?

 

[Hobbit]

Would you say that an atheist is not welcoming the "good" that God placed on earth? What about Muslims, Bhuddists, Hindus, etc?

Wow, you're just intent as hell on splitting hairs, aren't you? One again, THIS IS NOT A BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE. Just because a person has not chosen to fully accept the gifts God has placed here for us does not make them evil, it just makes them wrong and, unfortunately, doomed to a poor eternity should they not have a change of heart before they die.

Now, the point of my original post had NOTHING to do with how people of other religions are all evil. The point, IN ITS ENTIRETY, is that God did not create evil, because evil is not the presence of something, but a lack of something. End of story. End of point. Stop trying to make it look like I said things that I didn't.

 

[MissileMan]

Wow, you're just intent as hell on splitting hairs, aren't you? One again, THIS IS NOT A BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE. Just because a person has not chosen to fully accept the gifts God has placed here for us does not make them evil, it just makes them wrong and, unfortunately, doomed to a poor eternity should they not have a change of heart before they die.

Now, the point of my original post had NOTHING to do with how people of other religions are all evil. The point, IN ITS ENTIRETY, is that God did not create evil, because evil is not the presence of something, but a lack of something. End of story. End of point. Stop trying to make it look like I said things that I didn't.

I am trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get you to expound on your definition of evil, which I believe you stated is an absence of the good that God put on earth. Either you need to tweak your definition a bit, or you aren't comfortable with your own definition enough to say what you "really" think it means.

I'm giving you a hard time because I think your definition of evil is lacking. If an atheist doesn't meet your "absence of Godly good" criteria, I'm hard pressed to think of what does.

 

[manu1959]

Wow, you're just intent as hell on splitting hairs, aren't you? One again, THIS IS NOT A BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE. Just because a person has not chosen to fully accept the gifts God has placed here for us does not make them evil, it just makes them wrong and, unfortunately, doomed to a poor eternity should they not have a change of heart before they die.

Now, the point of my original post had NOTHING to do with how people of other religions are all evil. The point, IN ITS ENTIRETY, is that God did not create evil, because evil is not the presence of something, but a lack of something. End of story. End of point. Stop trying to make it look like I said things that I didn't.

if there is no god then what?

 

[Hobbit]

I am trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get you to expound on your definition of evil, which I believe you stated is an absence of the good that God put on earth. Either you need to tweak your definition a bit, or you aren't comfortable with your own definition enough to say what you "really" think it means.

I'm giving you a hard time because I think your definition of evil is lacking. If an atheist doesn't meet your "absence of Godly good" criteria, I'm hard pressed to think of what does.

See, this is where you're splitting hairs. You're claiming that I said evil is the absence of the specific, Godly good as I define it. I say that, no matter HOW YOU DEFINE WHAT GOOD IS that evil is the absence of it, not the presence of something else. My original definition was not to try to define what I thought good was, but to define what I thought evil was in relation to good, meaning that how you define good is irrelevant, but that just wasn't good enough for you. You had to turn it into another of your little debates about how Christians think they're so morally superior and think everyone else is as evil as sin, and I'm not buying into it. If you want to debate that, start a thread. I'm trying to say why I don't think evil was created by anybody.

 

[MissileMan]

See, this is where you're splitting hairs. You're claiming that I said evil is the absence of the specific, Godly good as I define it. I say that, no matter HOW YOU DEFINE WHAT GOOD IS that evil is the absence of it, not the presence of something else. My original definition was not to try to define what I thought good was, but to define what I thought evil was in relation to good, meaning that how you define good is irrelevant, but that just wasn't good enough for you. You had to turn it into another of your little debates about how Christians think they're so morally superior and think everyone else is as evil as sin, and I'm not buying into it. If you want to debate that, start a thread. I'm trying to say why I don't think evil was created by anybody.

Fine, you weren't trying to say that the only good things are Christian. I still find your explanation of what evil is lacking of any sound reasoning. Hate isn't the absence of love, it's the opposite of it. Evil isn't the absence of good, it's the opposite of it. While the absence of some things can denote their opposite as in light/darkness, air/vacuum, heat/cold, etc it doesn't mean that it works that way in all things. Your definition leaves no room for neutral.

 

[Hobbit]

Fine, you weren't trying to say that the only good things are Christian. I still find your explanation of what evil is lacking of any sound reasoning. Hate isn't the absence of love, it's the opposite of it. Evil isn't the absence of good, it's the opposite of it. While the absence of some things can denote their opposite as in light/darkness, air/vacuum, heat/cold, etc it doesn't mean that it works that way in all things. Your definition leaves no room for neutral.

There's really no such thing as totally neutral. Standing by and letting things happen when you have to power to stop it aligns you with those you are allowing to continue. In order to truly be neutral, you'd have to live your entire life isolated from the world. If you see a mugger attacking somebody and you fail to do anything about it, you're responsible for that mugging not just morally, but legally (remember, that includes not calling the cops). If you allow somebody to set up a charity activity where you live when you have the power to kick them out, you're doing something good.

I also contend that hate is the absence of love. Hate is caused when you care so little of another person that you'll kill them for your own convenience. Even when it looks like a person goes out of their way to kill somebody for no good reason, they think they've got another reason, such as racial purity, political gain, or a purge of immorality.