Comments on: And the winner is… http://freethoughtfortwayne.org/2008/05/10/and-the-winner-is/ Home of Fort Wayne, Indiana's FreeThought Community Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:49:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: theodoersing http://freethoughtfortwayne.org/2008/05/10/and-the-winner-is/#comment-139 theodoersing Mon, 12 May 2008 23:08:21 +0000 http://freethoughtfortwayne.wordpress.com/?p=77#comment-139 Anon, Many believers like to point out that there are many perceived miracles nowadays, but we in our oh so scientific mindset are too steeped in knowledge to see the forest before the trees. There are many things in reality that stand as a testament (no pun actually intended) to the sadism of God if (S)He or It exists. God would be responsible for evil in all forms (if you want to be absolutist about good and evil), parasites, hell, natural disasters, etc., etc.. Btw, I also liked your haiku very much. It was a tough decision. I chose agnos' because I'm a sucker for wordplay: Fish story (as in tall-tale) and fish story (as in Jonah). Anon,
Many believers like to point out that there are many perceived miracles nowadays, but we in our oh so scientific mindset are too steeped in knowledge to see the forest before the trees.

There are many things in reality that stand as a testament (no pun actually intended) to the sadism of God if (S)He or It exists. God would be responsible for evil in all forms (if you want to be absolutist about good and evil), parasites, hell, natural disasters, etc., etc..
Btw, I also liked your haiku very much. It was a tough decision. I chose agnos’ because I’m a sucker for wordplay: Fish story (as in tall-tale) and fish story (as in Jonah).

]]> By: Anon http://freethoughtfortwayne.org/2008/05/10/and-the-winner-is/#comment-138 Anon Mon, 12 May 2008 04:22:08 +0000 http://freethoughtfortwayne.wordpress.com/?p=77#comment-138 Agno, I'm not trying to diminish your glorious victory in any way, but the whole whale-swallows-person story never really struck me as being absurd. After all, if we are talking about an entity (god) that created the entire universe, all the laws in it, and has control over life itself, it seems reasonable to me that such an entity would be able to manipulate physics in such a way to allow a whale or fish to swallow a person and then spit him out, unharmed. However, the story is one of many in the bible that can serve as a 'test case' for the existence of a god. For example, if someone were able to part the Red Sea (Exodus) or survive being burned alive (Shadrack et al. in Daniel) it would certainly lend credence to the belief that god exists. If the bible is to be believed, God was clearly capable of performing similar types of miracles 2000 years ago in front of large crowds of people. Why do we not see such miracles in modern times? Is he now powerless? Does he have some ulterior motive for remaining undetectable? If the Christian (or any) god does exist, it seems exceptionally sadistic to not offer any evidence of his existence -- evidence which he provided to others in the past in the form of miracles -- and then, upon one's death, send him/her to be tortured for *eternity* for not believing. Perhaps I should expect nothing less of the god described in the bible. Agno, I’m not trying to diminish your glorious victory in any way, but the whole whale-swallows-person story never really struck me as being absurd. After all, if we are talking about an entity (god) that created the entire universe, all the laws in it, and has control over life itself, it seems reasonable to me that such an entity would be able to manipulate physics in such a way to allow a whale or fish to swallow a person and then spit him out, unharmed.

However, the story is one of many in the bible that can serve as a ‘test case’ for the existence of a god. For example, if someone were able to part the Red Sea (Exodus) or survive being burned alive (Shadrack et al. in Daniel) it would certainly lend credence to the belief that god exists.

If the bible is to be believed, God was clearly capable of performing similar types of miracles 2000 years ago in front of large crowds of people. Why do we not see such miracles in modern times? Is he now powerless? Does he have some ulterior motive for remaining undetectable?

If the Christian (or any) god does exist, it seems exceptionally sadistic to not offer any evidence of his existence — evidence which he provided to others in the past in the form of miracles — and then, upon one’s death, send him/her to be tortured for *eternity* for not believing.

Perhaps I should expect nothing less of the god described in the bible.

]]> By: Andy http://freethoughtfortwayne.org/2008/05/10/and-the-winner-is/#comment-137 Andy Mon, 12 May 2008 04:06:52 +0000 http://freethoughtfortwayne.wordpress.com/?p=77#comment-137 Get the IN God We Doubt bumper sticker... Get the IN God We Doubt bumper sticker…

]]> By: Skeptigator http://freethoughtfortwayne.org/2008/05/10/and-the-winner-is/#comment-136 Skeptigator Mon, 12 May 2008 01:48:06 +0000 http://freethoughtfortwayne.wordpress.com/?p=77#comment-136 Congrats agno man Your haiku skills are awesome I'm very jealous Congrats agno man
Your haiku skills are awesome
I’m very jealous

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