A Benevolent God

[jomifl]

Having taken heed of some of the arguments in support of their benevolent god and Kromovacorum's posting on another thread, what are your suggestions for this benevolent god's mightiest works?
Here is mine:-

The boxing day tsunami

[Kathyan]

That was nature. Nothing to do with god.

[Kathyan]

Or is that what you meant?

[jomifl]

Isn't nature god's work?

[Kathyan]

No. God doesn't exist.

[jomifl]

I know that but there are still some who don't.

[jim360]

Do you know or do you "know"?

[jomifl]

jim , that wasn't an answer

[jim360]

No, it was a question. Do you know there is no God?

[Kromovaracun]

What jomifl is getting at is that these are examples of "natural evil" (which is a bit of a clumsy term, but it's useful enough - can't remember where it comes from).

Basically, if one believes that there is a benevolent god that designed the universe, then you are forced to accept some pretty horrible things as part of this design. The conclusion is that the world simply does not look the way it would look if it were designed by something benevolent and omnipotent.

In addition to the example I gave in Naomi's thread, I'd like to add this little fella:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri

Meet N. Fowleri. It's a very rare amoeba that lives in some water sources, and if you get it inside your nose, it will climb up your olfactory nerve and devour your brain. You're symptomless for about a week, then dead within three to five days.

It's killed its fair share of followers of Islam, as cleaning out the sinuses is a common practice in ritual ablution. It also killed a little girl who was swimming in the UK in the 1970s.

Where exactly does this feature in the design of a benevolent creator?

[Kathyan]

Jim, do you know there is?

[jim360]

No, I strongly believe that there isn't. I don't know, though.

[naomi24]

Like Krom, I have to question why he made 'some pretty horrible things as part of this design' - cancer for example.

[sandyRoe]

Without the movement of tectonic plates the great original continent, Pangaea, would never have seperated. Such a place may well have been inimical to the development of life as we know it.
So, we could view the St Stephen's Day Tsunami, and the casualties it inflicted, as a small price to pay for an enviroment that allows mankind to develop and prosper.
All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.

[naomi24]

Since the creator ‘God’ is generally considered to be the God of Abraham - with all his shortcomings - it’s difficult to convey to believers the idea that if a creator God exists, it can’t possibly be him. It has to be something quite unimaginable and certainly something with a far greater intellect than one that condemns people for eating the wrong food, or for having sex outside marriage, or for being homosexual. If something did create the universe, it created nature, and nature, as cruel as it often is, does what it does without outside interference. Having said that, the religious can’t have it both ways. If they believe that their God is the creator, then he is responsible for the ills of the world - or he isn’t the creator.

[Kromovaracun]

"So, we could view the St Stephen's Day Tsunami, and the casualties it inflicted, as a small price to pay for an enviroment that allows mankind to develop and prosper. "

This is all fine, but the point being made here is that it doesn't really square with God as an omnipotent, omnibenevolent creator. If he was so powerful and so good, it's hard to see why he would have devised it with such costs in the first place.

[LazyGun]

@ Sandy - Hmm. Tsunamis and death as the price for Tectonic Plates and a seismically active earth? Not sure of that logic

As for Pangea - I think you will find that life was present and flourishing on the Supercontinent - it did not need fragmentation and continental drift to create conditions suitable for life to flourish.

Don't think you have made a convincing case there, Sandy.. :)

[MrsLulu]

I believe in God. I also believe what the Bible says about Satan. Why do non-believers blame God for anything or everything? You don't believe in God so you obviously don't believe in Satan. Why not try putting the blame on him for a change?

[LazyGun]

Its your mythology, LuLu, not mine. But - who created Satan?

And anyway, I thought christians and the established church did not "believe" in Satan and Hell now?

[sandyRoe]

[i] I fear nothing I could say here in R&S would ever convince anyone [i]

[naomi24]

MrsLulu, //Why do non-believers blame God for anything or everything?//

We don't. We don't believe he exists, but the question we ask is why do believers blame him for nothing at all? After all, you claim he created everything, including Satan - added to which you claim he is omniscient - and therefore, if that’s true it follows that he knew exactly what would happen to his creation before he started work. Why is he, then, in your mind, blame-free? It makes no sense.