Just wanted to nominate this, not only for its epicness but to record its truth for posterity:
(November 30, 2014 at 9:18 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(November 29, 2014 at 11:39 pm)professor Wrote: Haven't you atheist had any kids?
You tell them- Do NOT go in the street. That street is dangerous.
And still you watch them because you do not trust their judgment.
Actually, I haven't any children of my own, but I get the point you are trying to make, and the point fails utterly.
Yes, I would absolutely tell a child of mine, 'Don't go into the street, dear, it's very dangerous.' And yes, I would keep an eye on my child. But then your analogy falls apart.
God did nothing - absolutely nothing - to prevent Eve from eating the fruit and continued to do nothing when she offered Adam the fruit. If I saw my child about to wander into the street, I would make a mad dash to grab her before she got injured. If she picked up a table knife after I told her not to, I would take it from her. If I saw her climbing into a pen with a littered sow (I grew up on a farm), I would stop her. Christians are fond of make a parent analogy regarding God, and it just doesn't wash. Responsible parents not only warn their children about dangers and watch them, they take steps to protect their children. If your analogy worked, I'd let my child wander into a busy road - while I watched her do it - just for the satisfaction of seeing her killed or crippled so I could crow, 'See what happens when you disobey me?'
Stop using the 'God is a loving parent analogy'. He isn't. If God were a human parent, he'd be brought up on abuse charges.
Boru
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'