thanks, god.

[LukeMC]

2) Cotton Candy World (wasn't that a Madonna song? lol )
I think to want no suffering is a natural human desire. That doesn't fit what we've got. I'm just happy with what we've got. To turn this around: I thought this was something a lot of atheists believed too? If you want to have a full life and appreciate our universe for what it is, don't you have to turn a blind eye to the atrocities natural laws have caused as well as the good stuff? I think if you can answer that question then you've also answered the reasoning with God in the equation too.

To appreciate the universe for what it is, turning a blind eye to disasters is exactly what I shouldn't do. I accept that the universe is an unforgiving place with no worries about my life or well-being. I can't hold anybody accountable for this though. I can't point my finger and say "it's God's fault!" because I don't believe a god exists. My position is just to accept what the universe is in its beautiful and harsh purposelessness (is that a real word?).

From my standpoint, "good" and "evil" are purely animal constructs and we interpret events as they happen then move on. To add a God into the equation instills a purpose on the otherwise indifferent disasters and they are no longer just events, they are calculated events of intended terror with an actual purpose. In a universe where this is the case, God would be directly responsible for this. In a Godless universe I would deal with the event as something that couldn't be helped- end of story. In a world with a God I would be able to point my finger and say "you did this- you made this happen". I still hold the position that God is responsible for terrible events and therefore is not all good.