(February 14, 2015 at 6:09 am)robvalue Wrote: It's the omnipotence part which really is the stupidest claim about "God". Of course, there is no grounds to think an omnipotent being is even possible, and even if it were, no reason to think a creator also just happens to be able to do everything. It's childish fantasy.
It's stupid if you take god as an entity, an actual person, which is a very human and inherently flawed way of thinking. Personally I think attaching these attributes to god is a way of creating authority for people to follow - there's a god who knows everything, is everywhere and can do everything, so we better get on his good side.
It could also be that these adjectives are a means of describing god's infinity and were mistaken as literal.
(February 14, 2015 at 6:09 am)robvalue Wrote: Now, if religious people weren't making that claim, things get somewhat more defensible. Then it really could be the case that babies getting AIDS is a means to some end we cannot possibly understand, and there is no other way to do it given his power. Still a very paper thin argument, but at least it has some traction. Add omnipotence and everything is ludicrous. Including the idea that there's anything he actually needs to get done that he wouldn't just do instantly. The idea of having a long winded, incredibly slow acting plan is ridiculous. The way theists try and equate him with a parent is mind buggering.
There is a theory that our minds created time to prevent everything from happening at once, and since god doesn't exist in the context of time or space, his plan isn't slow at all. The parent thing is also not understood literally, it's sort of an analogy - god is what we come from, what we are a result of.
You could argue that if god is omnipotent then he could just make evrything right in a second, but that falls under not understanding his motives - again. It's measuring infinity with finite definitions like morality.
