Problems with the Problem of Evil

[EricH]

To be fair, you are claiming both a god (benevolent one) and evil (as a tangible thing) coexist....

I'm pushing back on the sort of cognitive dissonance which says we can blame God for lung cancer even if we know smoking causes lung cancer.

This is what I said:

If the creationists are to be believed, God created life, he created the living cells, and designed them to mutate when subjected to certain conditions. Heck, some people have claimed that God designed rivers and streams to polish pebbles that fall into the water, and the gems that are formed under high pressure and temperature inside the crust. So yes, if the creationist claim is true, then God designed cancer. Like everything else.

I did not claim God created cancer. I argued the position that is highlighted in my post above. I am an atheist and I don't believe God exists. And you would know this from my posts and by looking at my profile. And the context and meaning of my post would have been obvious to even the most brain-dead creationist. But you somehow missed the point.

You first misrepresented my position in this post.
Several posters pointed out your mistake. Here and here for example.
You then doubled down and misrepresented my position again in the post quoted above. The first time might have been a mistake or an oversight. But the second time your actions are deliberate. You chose to knowingly misrepresent my position, even after my position had been clarified, and there could be no doubt as to what I was saying. This behavior is not acceptable.

In parting, I suggest you find another outlet to getting your rocks off.

 

[Lion IRC]

As a doctor who worked with cancer patients for over 40 years, I can attest to the fact that God did a superb job of creating cancer

I did not claim God created cancer.

The quote function is great because it saves me putting words into peoples' mouth.

 

[Lion IRC]

We can blame God, if it exists, "for cancer" even if we know "smoking causes cancer"...

I'm sticking with...the problem of obesity is not because God created food.

According to science obesity causes disease.
Is that (still) true?

 

[pood]

As a doctor who worked with cancer patients for over 40 years, I can attest to the fact that God did a superb job of creating cancer

I did not claim God created cancer.

The quote function is great because it saves me putting words into peoples' mouth.

Seriously? You’re going to triple down on what EricH already correctly identified as a clear violation of one of the rules of the board, which is not to misrepresent what other people posted?

 

[Lion IRC]

My side has more scientists than yours.
...and always has.

Nope. Wrong again. Most modern scientists are atheists.

Pretty sure they have scientists in those tiny countries like India (Hindu), Indonesia (Muslim), Brazil (Christian), Pakistan (Muslim), Mexico (Christian), The Philippines...

Are you saying the majority of them are atheists?

 

[Elixir]

Lulz. Regress causes of bad stuff until your god is in the clear, while praising god as primary cause of all the good stuff.

Is your god Donald Trump by any chance?

 

[Jarhyn]

We can blame God, if it exists, "for cancer" even if we know "smoking causes cancer"...

I'm sticking with...the problem of obesity is not because God created food.

According to science obesity causes disease.
Is that (still) true?

The problem of obesity is caused by God in his act of creating food IF God is infinitely aware that creating "food" in that way leads to obesity, and if they are infinitely powerful and also infinitely benevolent they would solve it.

Obesity can cause disease, and lead to people having problems with their health.

Obesity is caused, if God is infinitely capable, by the allowance of things like thyroid and pancreatic conditions, at least for a great many sufferers of it as much as by anything else.

It is only a problem if you want to insist on upgrading your imaginary friend from possible activities in the simulation/host relationship to impossible ones even from that vantage.

 

[pood]

We can blame God, if it exists, "for cancer" even if we know "smoking causes cancer"...

I'm sticking with...the problem of obesity is … because God.

So you admit God created obesity? Thanks for your concession.

 

[pood]

I bet Lion’s lame-ass defense ( if he even offers one) for cherry-picking EricH’s quotes is that God DOES exist, and so the fact that EricH is merely posing God’s existence as a HYPOTHETICAL, which he omitted from the quote he cherry-picked, is irrelevant. But, yes, IF God exists, THEN he is to blame for cancer. It’s that simple.

I also like how Lion skates around cancer by attributing it to SMOKING, and not his mythical Sky Daddy, while failing to respond to the observation that children get BRAIN CANCER. Hey, Lion, did children get BRAIN CANCER from smoking? (Smoking does not cause brain cancer, and almost all children do not smoke anyway.) Or did children get BRAIN CANCER from overeating? (Overeating does not cause brain cancer, either).

Well?

 

[Lion IRC]

The problem of obesity is caused by God in his act of creating food IF God is infinitely aware that creating "food" in that way leads to obesity, or if they are infinitely powerful and also infinitely benevolent they would solve.

Maybe God is pro-choice.

Yes, He could take away our 'right' to do whatever we want with 'our own bodies' but He probably thinks the exercise of reason and intelligence is a nett good.

If God takes away our free will guess what accusation would replace the Problem of Evil?

 

[Jarhyn]

To be fair, creators are again only as blameworthy as they have foresight, special influence, and satisfiable intents compatible with interference.

Such entities are not automatically worship-inducing or worthy of it; the only ones I see worthy of worship are those who go to whatever necessary measures to prevent it.

 

[pood]

Did God give children the free will to have brain cancer, Lion?

 

[bilby]

As a doctor who worked with cancer patients for over 40 years, I can attest to the fact that God did a superb job of creating cancer

I did not claim God created cancer.

... me putting words into peoples' mouth.

The problem with the quote function is that it can easily be abused to misrepresent people.

 

[Lion IRC]

did children get BRAIN CANCER from smoking?

Ask an expert.
paging EricH...paging EricH

What is the evidence-based primary suspect cause of childhood brain cancer. I always defer to science. If science says God caused it I won't argue.

 

[Jarhyn]

Lion, you don't even understand what free will IS. I have had... Well, there was a years long discussion on the topic across 2-3 threads that you were absent from. While you were busy huffing farts over why god would create free will, I spent some time actually creating it, studying it, and understanding the nature of responsibility through conceptual construction.

If you want to talk to me about it, try to read at least some of one of those threads.

 

[pood]

did children get BRAIN CANCER from smoking?

Ask an expert.
paging EricH...paging EricH

What is the evidence-based primary suspect cause of childhood brain cancer. I always defer to science. If science says God caused it I won't argue.

No, science won’t say that, because there is no scientific evidence for Sky Daddy.

But, the issue at hand is, IF Sky Daddy existed, THEN, yes, he would be to blame for brain cancer.

What you are ducking, is this question: Why did Sky Daddy give children brain cancer, or at least allow it to happen, if Sky Daddy is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect?

Or, more generally, if Sky Daddy exists, why do you credit him with good things, but never blame him for bad things?

 

[Elixir]

How pathetically dishonest you “Biblical theists” are.

No, science won’t say that, because there is no scientific evidence for Sky Daddy.

Also, it has been pointed out that “science says” is an utterly meaningless phrase. Creos freely assert that “science says” stuff because some religious wack with a PhD said so.

 

[bilby]

I always defer to science.

Sure you do.

If science says God caused it I won't argue.

Science has literally never once said that about anything. I strongly advise against holding your breath.

 

[Lion IRC]

Lion, you don't even understand what free will IS

What's hard to understand about two words?

free + will

Theyre just 4 letters!

They only have one syllable FFS!

Which one are you projecting must be so hard for me to grasp?

Free?
Will?

 

[Jarhyn]

Lion, you don't even understand what free will IS

What's hard to understand about two words?

free + will

Theyre just 4 letters!

They only have one syllable FFS!

Which one are you projecting must be so hard for me to grasp?

Free?
Will?

Ha! Hahahahahahahaha. Read the thread. That's like saying "what's so hard to understand about primes, it's just six letters strung together?"

Read the threads I referenced.