How does religion explain birth defects?

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

I agree the universe is rather mechanical in nature, but using the term 'God' if anything else implies intelligence, what reason do you have for thinking any such intelligence is present?

Personally, I've always ascribed to the Einstein view of god - essentially being a one-word representation of all of existance and the universe. Perhpas a one-word catch-all for the mysteries of the universe or the unknown.
Sort of in the same vein as luck or karma - both things I don't believe in, but I'll say I have good or bad luck as much as anyone but a string of bad coincidences is still just coincidences.

This is as opposed to a thinking and sentient superbeing that is religious in nature.

In this sense, god in a where or a what and not a who and isn't technically even a being at all.

[theVOID]

It' pretty much just bad communication to use the word God to represent that concept, use something else, the god term is confused enough already.

And I'm sure Einstein's god was some intention through mathematics, rather than just a blanket term for everything, it was somewhat more than "universe". Do you share the intention part of the idea with him?

[Welsh cake]

God actually has held back, because he loves us. We ALL deserve eternal damnation, because we are all sinful. God could destroy us all because we have turned away from Him, and have sinned. He would be totally justified in doing that.

Except people aren't inherently immoral, we live in the real world where people commit moral and immoral acts all the time. Does the Biblical God always behave accordingly? Most certainty not, he slaughters people, sometimes innocent children, indiscriminately. Punishing someone infinitely for a finite crime is not moral or just, and if he's really this omni benevolent sweet-heart deity you claim then why doesn't he just *forgive everyone*, make amends and get over his failed creation? Hate to break it to you but I'm way more moral than your god concept, I wish I could say the same about you.

We do however, have the absolute truth about Salvation. Everything else will just lead you down the broad path that leads to destruction. It isn't God being unjust when you will go to Hell when you die. He has given everyone the opportunity to choose eternal life with Him. It is your choice, He won't make it for you. One day everyone will bow before Him and acknowledge Him as Lord. If you don't choose to take His free gift, then you are choosing Hell. But you DO have a choice.

When we're dead we're dead, but for your argument's sake, if you claim I have a choice I for one choose not to accept his immoral bribe (punishing Jesus for other people's "crimes" is not justice in case you're still wondering) and I choose not to go to Hell. I'm afraid the ball is back in your God-concept's court.

YOU are the one who chooses eternal damnation. God doesn't make the choice for you. And He gave you a way to become right with Him. You don't think that doing that instead of just destroying you is holding back?

We've already established atheists don't send themselves to anywhere when we're all biologically dead. Do try to keep up with the rest of us.

God didn't create the sin.

I don't think you even know what you're professing. Any theologian will tell you that sin, in the context you're using it, is like an entity, which it is not, in religion it is an act against god. How can atheists act against a fictional being we don't think exists or manifests in reality?

Because none of those supposed "afterlifes" could be as wonderful as eternity with Him. It isn't like He is sending someone to Hell for no reason. Every one of us has the ability to choose, and if you don't choose Him, you choose Hell. And while he is all-loving, he is at the same time just, so He will abide by your wishes to not be with Him, so if you don't want to spend eternity with Him, you will spend it apart from Him

God isn't a Goddess with gigantic breasts therefore your concept of Heaven equals my concept of Hell. Just because you're with or without a higher being like God, IPU, Zeus or whatever doesn’t make your existence thereafter automatically wonderful or horrible, that's asinine to say the least, and what if the god of your choice got bored with your rabid loyalty and created another disobedient race to occupy itself with tormenting?

In any case would you mind explaining the logical contradiction of achieving separation from a being that is omnipresent?

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell.

Okay and what if I was to choose to reject evidence-free God and go to evidence-free Heaven? If your assertion of the concept of self-determination stands up then I've just bunked your idol threat of hell. If not, then you are ranting and raving your one-and-only-life away about a philosophical viewpoint that has no bearing whatsoever on reality and making me waste my one-and-only-life away responding to your ranting and raving.

[Captain Scarlet]

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell. And God's laws are for the same purpose, to protect us. A good amount of our laws today come from the Laws God has given us.

Inane. Can you objectively demonstrate a single law to have come from a god? I can however show you lots from the 613 injuctions in the OT, which were meant to come from a god; that are no longer followed becuase of the brutality of them. Unless you like stoning people to death for working on the sabbath that is.

[Loki_999]

Great episode of Chaser's where they go around asking people if they believe they should follow the bible, and then point out the bit about killing your children if they curse you.

[Anomalocaris]

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell.

Since he does not exist, it is really beyond his power to not abide by our wishes. This maybe why god always seem to echo the personal opinions of theists who presumptuously speak for him.

[Godscreated]

@ Skipper why does evolution allow for birth defects in humans, what possible purpose do these awful birth defects serve in evolution? Is evolution on the hunt for the perfect human or might it be that evolution is nothing more than random acts with no real purpose at all? With humans and apes sharing 98% of there DNA why is it that these types of birth defects do not show up in the apes very often? Did evolution leave us shorted on this or has the human race not been selective enough in its breeding? Since a lot of evolutionist and even some on this site believe that in the grand scheme of things, humans have no more value than any other animal, why don't we just kill the defective babies and rid our species of these terrible traits? Why has evolution left us with such a weakness as to feel a survival connection to such deformed animals which places a burden on the society as a whole? Why should I have to pay out taxes to help keep such defective people up when the rest of the animal kingdom rids themselves of this problem, why are my tax dollars wasted on studies of these defects because evolution left the human race without the sense to rid itself of defective babies? Just wanting to know how you and other nonbelievers felt about this?

[ib.me.ub]

why don't we just kill the defective babies and rid our species of these terrible traits?

They used to in ancient Sparta to make a stronger society.

[Lethe]

@ Skipper why does evolution allow for birth defects in humans, what possible purpose do these awful birth defects serve in evolution? Is evolution on the hunt for the perfect human or might it be that evolution is nothing more than random acts with no real purpose at all? With humans and apes sharing 98% of there DNA why is it that these types of birth defects do not show up in the apes very often?

The video in post #48 explains this fairly well.

Since a lot of evolutionist and even some on this site believe that in the grand scheme of things, humans have no more value than any other animal, why don't we just kill the defective babies and rid our species of these terrible traits?

No more value in the eyes of some unseen creator, yes, many do, but obviously it is natural to attribute more value to members of your own species than non-members. And mothers don't kill their defective babies for numerous reasons. A maternal bond being one of the more powerful deterrents, which has obvious advantages evolutionarily speaking.

Why has evolution left us with such a weakness as to feel a survival connection to such deformed animals which places a burden on the society as a whole?

The advantages of compassion outweigh the disadvantages. Social cohesion has been vital to humans' success, and one of the ways in which this was achieved was through the development of such traits as empathy and the ability to form strong emotional ties.

Why should I have to pay out taxes to help keep such defective people up when the rest of the animal kingdom rids themselves of this problem.

Except not all other animals do. Many animals, mammals in particular, care and provide for their young, old, feeble, and disabled. Elephants would be just one example.

Why are my tax dollars wasted on studies of these defects because evolution left the human race without the sense to rid itself of defective babies? Just wanting to know how you and other nonbelievers felt about this?

Again, because the evolutionary benefits of acquiring compassion ultimately outweigh the disadvantages.

[Loki_999]

^^^ This. Well answered Lethe.

May I add that a riveting read on human social interaction is Human Behaviour by Robert Winston and he also does some quite good (and funny) experiments that illustrate how we behave and gives an insight as to why this is so.