The world is plenty hostile enough! We got tsunamis, volcanos, earthquakes, tornadoes etc etc etc. That and animals that will kill and eat us given the opportunity - all these things speak of hostility toward life, specifically, human life. This makes sense in a world where we are nothing special, it makes a lot less sense in a world where God created us as important creatures and loves us/wants us to be happy.
Lions, tigers, & bears oh my!
There are dangers, for most those dangers of being attacked by the planet are remote.
I'm sorry you're not happy due to the paranoia of all the things you listed. I'm a pretty happy camper even with the knowedge that I could blow up in a horrible pile up on I-75 although highly unlikely.
We also fight tooth and nail over the land that is liveable, and many people live in arid barely hospitable climates that can't support life because they have pretty much no choice. And the majority of the earth - like 85% of it, is not hospitable. I think it's even higher than that. We are doing our best, and we are 'going forth and multiplying' but we're going to run out of room at this rate. Give us more room to multiply in bro
Bible versus aside that countradict this, we are hard wired to have sex and reproduce, like every other animal on this planet (except like, Pandas) - of course we want to fill the earth - we're 'made' that way.
"It's in our genes to have uncontrollable unprotected sex!"
This is funny, because in the abortion threads, there is a distinct disconnect between sex and procreation. Like in those threads, the perceived extreme danger of an overwhelming perfectly natural occurrences (like living on on the planet Earth or having a kid) is kind of funny. People have been girding their loins and/or taking care of their brood for eons and irresponsibility is not a character trait.
We have plenty of liveable space right now and the reason there is a population problem at all is because of the issues we place on ourselves, not a limitation on the planet. When we run out of resources or space then that card can be played.
The planet allows for pretty basic and easy mobility. People migrate to better places all the time and others stay right where they are content with their location. The famine, poverty, poor living conditions, and lack of family planning are all a result of people not getting it right.
I know this argument doesn't count when you want God to do everything for you and he's so easy to blame, but making your own choices was always a part of the package and I have no reason to see it your way other than to simply agree with you- which would be dishonest. The only one time we are assured complete protection by God, but that a discussion for another day and thread.
Well, that immediately brings some of us into a 'level 2' argument, where we discuss the repercussions of a non-omniscient/omnipresent God. He can fuck up now, and maybe he has fucked up a lot in the past. And it introduces the possibility for more flaws, and eventually makes him less out as someone worth worship, and more like a really powerful jerk who insists we bend the knee no matter how much he accidentally (or intentionally) burns us to the ground.
This isn't really a level 2 argument. Our flaws have no reason to reflect poorly on God at all whether he is omnipotent/omniscient or not. It is a weakness to be enslaved by power or knowedge which seems to be the go to complaint about God. Case in point:
If God -can- protect us all with his omnipotence, but decides he doesn't want to - he becomes less of a being worth my worship - the point of arguments like that is to remove the idea that some people paint of him as a loving, caring, thoughtful God. He is more of a jealous, easily angered God with a violent streak. Rarely does he go on about how much he loves people, mostly it's about how much we suck and disappoint him. Fuck you bro, I'm doing all right.
This isn't about choice on God's side but ours. If God said do what you like and then reneged on that and did everything for us just because it makes us feel better (Until it doesn't), then how could God be considered honest, or trustworthy. Some may lie that better since it has a benefit toward the non-worshipper, but it would still be phony.
The argument seems to be that if God can do it, then he should do it. That argument is lame and smacks of being spoiled or more accurately wanting to be spoiled.
If your interest is in being babysat and then resenting the care provided, then it would not be surprising that God would definitely be a disappointment for you.
You seem convinced evolution hasn't been proven, but that only tells me you really haven't learned enough about it. Because once you learn what we know about it, there isn't any doubt left.
I'll try to address the rest but until you can stop accusing me of this, I'm not sure what the point of continuing the conversation would be. At what point did I say this?
Bruiser I get your point but to JGS's point morality and "the meaning of life" aren't immediately found in science.
I'm actually being more basic than that. I personally think life is pretty well defined scientifically and the meaning of it is self-defined unless we accept a larger philosophical view as I do with Christianity or even as defined by the State. I'm saying that for all the awe and wonder of the universe, life on the planet is pretty impressive too analytically. It takes no moral compass to realize that, but we may take it for granted.
If life is discovered on other planets (Since I could easily be wrong on that. Religion doesn't really address it at all), that wouldn't lessen the value of life on that planet or this one.