ahhh.. the morality of rape and anything that's more regulated than forbidden/decried in the holy books...
Such a touchy subject!
From the atheist POV, things happen because they can happen. Shit happens.
Some people want to rape and some people get raped.
Some people want to own others and some get owned.
If we think that the brain is nothing more than deterministic bio-chemistry, things happen as they have to.
If we think at a higher abstraction level, power of one over the other will be one of the major players... and the perception of little to no accountability.
This we understand and I think we can all agree on this, right, CL?
Now, let us suppose that the god proposed by the catholic church does exist. All those things I said above still happen... shit still happens, accountability is still perceived as close to nil. Our perceived reality is still there.
The problem of evil (for that is what we're talking about), described long ago by the likes of Epicurus, is a very real one. The church has hidden it under the rug with the mysterious divine reasoning for it. The supposition that this god has an ultimately overall best plan for everyone seems to include some very nasty details for a sizable portion of the population. Due to these nasty details, something is definitely wrong with the picture of the all-good, all-powerful god...
Well, that picture works, as long as you don't think too much about those nasty details... best keep them far away from the minds of the good people. CL, you don't want to think too much about all these evil actions, do you? Your life is peaceful, mostly care-free and so are the lives of most of your closer acquaintances and family members. The community is friendly, helpful, good to each other... mostly... and the belief in a god is a great thing to bring all the disparate personalities together and to keep that communal peacefulness.
This belief is then seen as a positive community building mentality.
Thinking about the evils of the world can shatter this mentality, so the mechanism to sweep them under the rug has been brought forth. It's nothing new. But do notice how many unverifiable suppositions you have to make for this sweeping to work:
- A creator God exists.
- God can create whatever he wants to, how he wants to.
- God is good and wants the best for his creation.
- God imbued his creation with free will, the freedom to choose their actions from the infinite pool of possible actions available. Completely unrestricted, except by some physical details (that we've managed to cut short with some extra gear - flight, space travel, X-ray vision, microscopic vision, long distance communication).
- God's ultimately good plan must do with some evil among its creation. It wouldn't work otherwise.
Occam'z razor immediately informs you on which view (atheist, or theist) is likely to be the more correct one.... the one with the fewer assumptions.
However, an ingrained belief is difficult to shake off... your mind will try its utmost to retain that belief, to keep your view of the world in harmony with the belief.
It is normal, it is natural. We understand. But we are also saddened by knowing of this inability of yours.
We like people to be intellectually honest with themselves... and by holding on to this mountain of assumptions, you (and many like you) are clinging to the less honest option available... and you do that for the sake of... what? community? family?
Such a touchy subject!
From the atheist POV, things happen because they can happen. Shit happens.
Some people want to rape and some people get raped.
Some people want to own others and some get owned.
If we think that the brain is nothing more than deterministic bio-chemistry, things happen as they have to.
If we think at a higher abstraction level, power of one over the other will be one of the major players... and the perception of little to no accountability.
This we understand and I think we can all agree on this, right, CL?
Now, let us suppose that the god proposed by the catholic church does exist. All those things I said above still happen... shit still happens, accountability is still perceived as close to nil. Our perceived reality is still there.
The problem of evil (for that is what we're talking about), described long ago by the likes of Epicurus, is a very real one. The church has hidden it under the rug with the mysterious divine reasoning for it. The supposition that this god has an ultimately overall best plan for everyone seems to include some very nasty details for a sizable portion of the population. Due to these nasty details, something is definitely wrong with the picture of the all-good, all-powerful god...
Well, that picture works, as long as you don't think too much about those nasty details... best keep them far away from the minds of the good people. CL, you don't want to think too much about all these evil actions, do you? Your life is peaceful, mostly care-free and so are the lives of most of your closer acquaintances and family members. The community is friendly, helpful, good to each other... mostly... and the belief in a god is a great thing to bring all the disparate personalities together and to keep that communal peacefulness.
This belief is then seen as a positive community building mentality.
Thinking about the evils of the world can shatter this mentality, so the mechanism to sweep them under the rug has been brought forth. It's nothing new. But do notice how many unverifiable suppositions you have to make for this sweeping to work:
- A creator God exists.
- God can create whatever he wants to, how he wants to.
- God is good and wants the best for his creation.
- God imbued his creation with free will, the freedom to choose their actions from the infinite pool of possible actions available. Completely unrestricted, except by some physical details (that we've managed to cut short with some extra gear - flight, space travel, X-ray vision, microscopic vision, long distance communication).
- God's ultimately good plan must do with some evil among its creation. It wouldn't work otherwise.
Occam'z razor immediately informs you on which view (atheist, or theist) is likely to be the more correct one.... the one with the fewer assumptions.
However, an ingrained belief is difficult to shake off... your mind will try its utmost to retain that belief, to keep your view of the world in harmony with the belief.
It is normal, it is natural. We understand. But we are also saddened by knowing of this inability of yours.
We like people to be intellectually honest with themselves... and by holding on to this mountain of assumptions, you (and many like you) are clinging to the less honest option available... and you do that for the sake of... what? community? family?
