One sentence that throws the problem of evil out of the window.

[bennyboy]

Benny Boy, I don't know why you are asking me if Charlie Manson went to Hell after I've made it perfectly clear multiple times that I don't know who does/does not go to Hell. I'm not sure how much more clear I can be about this, so ill say it one more time: I don't know who goes to Hell. I don't know if Charlie Manson went to Hell. If I *had* to take a guess, id say yes, but i cant claim that because i dont know, and neither am i supposed to know. It's specificslly not my place, and we are warned against these types of judgements on other people's souls.

You are warned against that, because if you actually start to think for yourself, you'll realize that "holy" means "full of holes."

Whats really fucking annoying is that you dont accept my honest answer and you're accusing me of dodging the OP even though i've already answered to it (basically accusing me of being dishonest in my answers). I don't know what else say to someone who won't take what I say at face value. Kind of impossible to have a discussion with someone like that.

Good. Be annoyed. You have no actual address for the OP. Here we are, in the philosophy section, and your entire intellectual contribution is "La la la nobody can know, but I still believe God is good."

Listen, I've delt with you in the past where you treated me like shit, accused me of rape apology, insinuated I'm not the person on my avatar picture, and pulled the same shit that people "go easy on me" because I'm nice and because "the person on my avatar picture is hot".

They don't go easy on you for your ability to put forward a rational philosophical argument, do they? As far as I can remember, not only have you never really put forward a rational argument in defense of Christianity in general or the POE in specific, you've never even claimed there IS a rational argument to be made.

As for rape apology-- I don't think I said you directly support rape. I probably said that by being a "nice" member of the Catholic religion, you are contributing to the sustenance of an institution which deals with rape so lightly that it borders on condoning it.

...And now you're literally sitting here telling me I'm insidious and equating me with the Devil.

No, I'm not equating you with the Devil. The Devil is relatively harmless, what with not being real, but you are an actual existent entity. When nice people promulgate bad ideas, there's real damage being done.

I believe the entire Christian dogma, and that of Catholics in particular, to be usurious and harmful to the ability of the population to deal in a clear-minded way with the very real dangers in the world today. I therefore see people like you, no matter how well-intentioned, as a threat to the safety of my family and to humanity in general. And this isn't just me being superstitious: I could compile a list about a mile long of the way religion is being used in the US to degrade the citizens' rights or to prevent them from coming to rational conclusions about how the country (or its cities, counties, etc.) should deal with real problems.

Lol. As you can imagine, you're not exactly my favorite person around here, and the minute you start to pull the same bullshit and attacking me on a personal level, is the minute I lose all respect for you and start ignoring you. Theres no reason for me to take the time to have a conversation with the real fucking pricks of the forum. Goodbye asshole.

When a person holds onto bad ideas, and you attack those ideas, is that a personal attack? I've said you are nice, and you claim I said you were "hot." Okay-- where's the attack? I told you I want to challenge you to really think about ideas you hold, which are irrational and poorly supported by evidence, and which I believe bring real harm to the world. My defense for challenging you in this way is-- that's what this thread is ABOUT!

Please understand this-- I might be a prick or an asshole, but I always, and I mean ALWAYS, have a point. I don't wade into a philosophical forum and say, "La la la I don't have any actual support for my ideas or proof that my God idea represents more than a juvenile fairy tale, but I just choose to believe God is a swell guy anyway!"