As we see so often, the issue comes down to "I have a value which I hold to unquestioningly, and the God I don't believe in doesn't seem to share this value, therefore God can't be so great."
In this case the value is efficiency. Why would a god make a system with inefficiency. The idea that an omniscient being might have reasons unknown to me is abhorrent.
First, it would be good to question whether efficiency is always a good idea. Critics of the industrial revolution were pointing out 200 years ago that the efficient production of goods often led to various other problems. So efficiency in itself is not always good. I suppose people don't read Ruskin any more, but he was pretty eloquent about the difference between an efficiently mass-produced chair and one made by an experienced craftsman. And of course nobody admires the Nazi's extremely efficient methods of extermination.
Second, there is evidence that if this world was made by a god, it is based on abundance. Ridiculous overabundance which doesn't require efficiency. People kind of don't need all the space that there is in the universe, but apparently this imaginary god wanted to make it. Not to mention the many species of beetles. So any ideas about God which acknowledged reality would have to see values other than efficiency for people.
Depending on how you read the New Testament, it can certainly be interpreted as advocating wildly inefficient overabundance in how we treat people. And classical theology says that God made the whole universe not because it was an efficient way to get something done (God needs nothing) but because something which is overabundantly good will overflow.
In this case the value is efficiency. Why would a god make a system with inefficiency. The idea that an omniscient being might have reasons unknown to me is abhorrent.
First, it would be good to question whether efficiency is always a good idea. Critics of the industrial revolution were pointing out 200 years ago that the efficient production of goods often led to various other problems. So efficiency in itself is not always good. I suppose people don't read Ruskin any more, but he was pretty eloquent about the difference between an efficiently mass-produced chair and one made by an experienced craftsman. And of course nobody admires the Nazi's extremely efficient methods of extermination.
Second, there is evidence that if this world was made by a god, it is based on abundance. Ridiculous overabundance which doesn't require efficiency. People kind of don't need all the space that there is in the universe, but apparently this imaginary god wanted to make it. Not to mention the many species of beetles. So any ideas about God which acknowledged reality would have to see values other than efficiency for people.
Depending on how you read the New Testament, it can certainly be interpreted as advocating wildly inefficient overabundance in how we treat people. And classical theology says that God made the whole universe not because it was an efficient way to get something done (God needs nothing) but because something which is overabundantly good will overflow.
