(July 17, 2024 at 1:24 pm)Modern Atheism Wrote:(July 17, 2024 at 8:03 am)Belacqua Wrote: It's really common for people to assume that an omniscient deity would have the same opinions they do.
Which is fine if those opinions seem reasonable. You don't need all the knowledge in the unviverse to have an opinion on something. You just need all the relevant knowledge.
For what it's worth, I agree with the opinion you expressed earlier. If I had knowledge that was important for all human beings, I would distribute it to everyone, clearly, and without a paywall.
Due to the contingencies of our birth -- time, place, social class -- we hold these values. Post-Locke, post-Jefferson, Brotherhood of Man, etc. etc. etc. I also hold those values. You could certainly construct arguments for these values against people who disagree.
The question, though, is: how do we know that an omnipotent deity would agree with us? There have been other times and places where the values were different. Is there some indisputable proof that our values are eternally the best?
I am very very far from omnipotent. By definition, an omnipotent deity would know a lot more than me, including, possibly, reasons to do things in ways that seem obscure to me.
Here is a poem I like:
Quote:Beyond the bright cartoons
Are darker spaces where
Small cloudy nests of stars
Seem to float on the air.
These have no proper names:
Men out alone at night
Never look up at them
For guidance or delight,
For such evasive dust
Can make so little clear:
Much less is known than not,
More far than near.
— Philip Larkin