Heathen Dawn

Surprisingly to some, I agree with you completely. This is why I don't use the Argument from Evil for proving the non-existence of God. I don't count evil as evidence of God. After all, without evil this would be a fairy-tale world where we would not develop.

Instead, I expand the Argument from Nonsystematic Fate for the non-existence of God. According to this argument, the good that befalls creatures in the Universe is as baffling as the bad, and this bafflement is evidence that God - the external all-controlling sovereign of fate - does not exist. If good and evil were distributed in such a way as to be comprehensible, such that one could look at fate and discern external control over it, then the existence of God would be evident. Instead, fate flows precisely as if all elements are autonomous and there is no controller, no Lord over them. This, as far as I'm concerned, is the strongest evidence for the non-existence of God.

Mageth

Good point Heather Dawn. I actually had that argument in mind when I posted my half-joking comment, "So the two cancel out, giving a net sum of zero. Therefore, god doesn't exist."

echidna

Actually folks, the argument IS quite convincing.

A world full of so much happiness AND suffering can only lead one to the conclusion that God exists.

<a href="http://www.theonion.com/onion3716/god_diagnosed_bipolar.html" target="_blank">God diagnosed with bipolar disorder</a>

But which religion could possibly worship and sanctify such a neurological disorder ???

Oh yeah, Catholicism.

Amie

I'm catholic

hmmm although I have not read many of Gemma's posts...

echidna

It’s OK, my partner’s Catholic as well, as are many of my friends. It’s just that fortunately none of them take their Pope too seriously …

From what I’ve seen of whoever is posting as Gemma though, Vatican edicts rate as a fairly high priority in life.

fcuk

you have to give gemma and sabine grant credit, though, for being so faithful to their god even though we've been rather &lt;ahem&gt; persuasive in the other direction. while engaged in intensive 'discussions' with some christians online, i've been known to pull the 'okay fine, you're right, you win' gig, which they show no inclination of doing.

Amie

then you are in excellent hands

yeah thats good to hear...neither do I...some people think the pope is infallible, I strongly disagree with that. He is just a man.

hmmm that is sometimes not a good thing at all however if she feels it is right for her then hey no harm no foul...
Have a good one echidna
all the best...
Amie~

echidna

(Don't tell anyone here, but I generally quite like Catholics, just our little secret )

Mike Rosoft

&gt;some people think the pope is infallible, I strongly disagree with that. He is just a man.

That's interesting, Amie. What's your opinion on church reform, such as women priests and optional clerical celibacy? Even though I am atheist, I am interested in these matters.


Mike Rosoft

Boro Nut

I don't think anyone in their right mind is actually suggesting that. This misconception crept in from Latin American countries, where standards of translation from the original Spanish into the somewhat limited vocabulary of the indigenous languages were not as rigorous as they could have been. It's certainly not the position of the Vatican themselves. They hold that everything the pope says is papal bull, and since the advent of polysynthetics, the pope has been inflatable.

Boro Nut