What about wars? What could WW2 possibly done to "make us better people"? The US vaporized the Japanese. Twice.
I'm not saying that God, if he/she/it exists, should "pamper us," but stepping in when millions of people are being killed would be a good way to show his/her/its existence, rather than spontaneously performing small "miracles" on individual people.
Futurama, go!
Godfellas - Futurama Wiki, the Futurama database
Why is the main counterargument for atheism the fact that God does not show Himself to us and do everything for us. The example has already been raised, a good parent will not pamper his/her child because the child needs to learn and grow to become a better person. If God did everything for us, we would not learn and develop. If God showed Himself to us, we would expect everything of Him. We would not build the wonders we have today or discover the technology we did, because we would just sit by and expect Him to do everything for us.
Why grow food? God will take care of me.
Why research medicine? God will heal me.
Do you think being a lazy, incapable, apathetic person is good? I don't. I wouldn't want me kids to grow up like that, and I'm sure God (if He exists) doesn't want humanity to steer down that path.
You don't even have to be religious to see that logic. Yes, logic. Whether or not you believe in a god or gods, expecting them to pamper us is illogical.
The ending quote from the episode
God-like entity : "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
What about wars? What could WW2 possibly done to "make us better people"? The US vaporized the Japanese. Twice.
I'm not saying that God, if he/she/it exists, should "pamper us," but stepping in when millions of people are being killed would be a good way to show his/her/its existence, rather than spontaneously performing small "miracles" on individual people.
That's the thing though. Just by knowing that God exists, it would screw up our way of life.
Just think, you say it's ridiculous for us to pray to God for assistance in times of need. This is without solid proof that He exists. If we know for certain that He does, just think how much more we would rely on him.
Yes, wars are an extremely terrible thing, but you can't say nothing has come of them. Wars drive science, even if it's for a bad purpose, they push us to develop even greater technology. Through the vaporization of Japan, we came to realize how terrible nuclear weaponry is. Our understanding of these things is constantly growing.
Not saying that the wars are justified or that there's more better than good. Just that we are taking from them.
Wars today are nothing like they were in the past. Today, one soldier dies and its all over the news. The people get in an uproar and blame the government for not properly protecting us. One soldier. In the past, hundred and hundreds of people would die just in one battle, and yet those still raged on for years. Not with small territorial captures here and there, but with real bloodshed. It's clear that we're at least somewhat better than we were before.
That's the thing though. Just by knowing that God exists, it would screw up our way of life.
Just think, you say it's ridiculous for us to pray to God for assistance in times of need. This is without solid proof that He exists. If we know for certain that He does, just think how much more we would rely on him.
Yes, wars are an extremely terrible thing, but you can't say nothing has come of them. Wars drive science, even if it's for a bad purpose, they push us to develop even greater technology. Through the vaporization of Japan, we came to realize how terrible nuclear weaponry is. Our understanding of these things is constantly growing.
Not saying that the wars are justified or that there's more better than good. Just that we are taking from them.
Wars today are nothing like they were in the past. Today, one soldier dies and its all over the news. The people get in an uproar and blame the government for not properly protecting us. One soldier. In the past, hundred and hundreds of people would die just in one battle, and yet those still raged on for years. Not with small territorial captures here and there, but with real bloodshed. It's clear that we're at least somewhat better than we were before.
Historically speaking, there has never been a time in which development of technology occurs more slowly in times of war than in times of peace (see Cold War). Did God plan for us prosper for the sake of the subjugation of our enemies, or is this the human design for progress?
Competition is usually a good thing. In economy, competition forces sellers to keep their prices lower, or make their product better. A monopoly would be able to charge whatever they want for whatever crap they sell.
It's the same for technology. The space race between the US and Russia pushed research in Physics and Astrology to see who can get the first man into outer space and on the moon and whatnot..
I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.
All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will [a grumbling] mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood...
Jesus repeatedly issued warnings that if we turn away from God in this life, we will be alienated from God eternally.
And yet, although "the wages of sin is death," Paul also says that "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). While breath remains, it is never too late to turn to God in repentance, and when we ask for forgiveness, God eagerly grants it.
We may rest assured that no one will suffer in hell who could by any means have been won to Christ in this life. God leaves no stone unturned to rescue all who would respond to the convicting and wooing of the Holy Spirit.
As for the fate of [the damned] being eternal, it could not be otherwise. Death is not the cessation of existence but the continuation of the eternal being with which God lovingly endowed man--but now in painful separation from God and all else in utter darkness and loneliness.
The Bible says that God prepared hell for the devil and his demonic cohorts (Matthew 25:41), that He is "...not wishing for any [person] to perish but for all to come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9), and that He has done everything possible to save us from that terrible, terrible place. Yet in the end God will not violate or overrule the deliberate choice of those who consciously and willfully turn away from Him.
My main beef with God is that he was willing to provide irrefutable proofs of his existence throughout the various time periods covered in the Bible, but he does not do so in the present. You're probably going to say, "you lack faith, that's why you can't see these miracles." Elijah challenged the followers of Baal to prove that Baal existed. Both groups prepared sacrifices and prayed to their own gods to burn those sacrifices, and God sent down a rain of fire to vaporize the sacrifice, which was even covered in water. I don't know if you can cast Firaga or if you can cure cancer instantanously, but I sure would have a stronger belief in God if he did miracles like that today.
The main question is, why then, not now? Why were those people worthy enough to be shown pretty amazing miracles while we aren't treated to the same thing?
I see it as 1 of 4 different possibilities.
1. God doesn't exist.
2. God exists, but doesn't act. (That's in its own way, sort of evil.)
3. God exists, but has no power. (Not all powerful as everyone says.)
4. God exists, and has power and acts, but it is in a "mysterious way" that no one can understand. (Apparently affects believers and non-believers.)
At that time, with the methods of dispersing information and general lack of understanding of how things worked such displays didn't pass as irrefutable proof. It was often very convincing to the people who were right there but interestingly enough it didn't permeate much further.