Are all atheists this ill-informed about religion?

[Mudhammam]

Yes, God saw that it was good in Genesis 1. The current state does not need to reflect the original. I am open to evil having being, if you wish to make that argument. However, I think you will find that many here believe that neither good nor evil have any absolute reality in regards to being. They say that good and evil are subjective, and can change based on the subject. If that is the case, then we may not be even speaking of the same things.

Are you beginning with the premise that Genesis is a literal account of history or an allegory? If the latter, in what way does it reflect everything we know about the conditions of primitive earth and the evolution of life? Let's pretend that each human being is ultimately responsible for their individual willingness to inflict harm on others. First, that doesn't negate the suffering caused by weather catastrophes, diseases, illnesses, carnivorous or parasitic organisms, etc. Is all of that the fault of immoral behavior? Of course not. Secondly, how does this negate the moral obligation of any cognizant being, to say nothing of a half decent one, who is aware of such suffering - caused by persons or otherwise - and who also has it within his or her power, to prevent it?

By free will I mean a conscience and responsible choice. Again, I think you loose any strength in your argument, if you take away accountability and choice. Are you saying that free will is contrary to goodness?

Not at all. I view responsibility and choice as relative terms that only have practical value but are inapplicable when examining causes of human behavior. Free will means nothing but the power to act or not to act in accordance with the determinations of the will - the key word being "determinations". I contend that the will both determines and is determined. As God is said to be perfectly good he can only act towards those ends which are the best. That means he is not free to do otherwise than what is necessitated by his perfectly good will. As he is also said to be omniscient, this implies that he knows what actions both he and his subjects will perform, which is no different than saying that all actions are determined or necessitated by his perfect knowledge of future events which in time have not yet been actuated by either himself or his subjects. All of this, I might add, stands in contradiction to his supposed immutability, but I suppose we can limit ourselves to these paradoxes for now.

By the way, I'm not a moral relativist or subjectivist. I believe that there are certain human goods that are discoverable by experience and reason.

I'm simply saying that I cannot explain everything, but I don't think that you have made a positive case that it is unnecessary or without reason either. From reading the scripture, and personal experience of God, I do believe God that He is Good. From history and evidence in nature, I do believe the God of the Bible exists. And I concede that sin and evil are present in the world. I don't accept your premise, that evil or suffering cannot be present if God is good, so it is up to you to support it. How do you explain evil from an atheistic worldview? Is there real good and evil; or is it something you entertain when you want to make an argument against God?

Are there any arguments in there? "I believe in the Bible" is not very persuasive, any more than you should be persuaded in the Islamic conception of the Resurrection of the Dead on Judgment Day because the Qur'an says it will occur. "Ipse dixit" is no more convincing when it's on the lips of a Christian insisting on God's mysterious yet perfectly good judgments than it is when a Pythagorean proclaims the transmigration of souls. You haven't said anything to rebut my arguments, which rely on deductive and inductive reasoning, not subjective feeling - the onus is on you to demonstrate that my reasons are either invalid or unsound.

Evil is easy to explain on my worldview. Bad shit happens as a result of accidents i.e. being in the wrong place at the wrong time, ignorance, and the natural tendency towards egoism. There's no ultimate purpose for it - just what purpose you or I give it.