The Case For God

by Farkel 47 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  peacefulpete

  .......You sound like the sort who thinks that not only isn't the glass half empty, it doesn't even exist!

  Actually, I'm quite a nature nut. While enjoying nature and seeing beauty in it's complexity I'm not naive about it coldhearted survival driven manner. Aesthetics being subjective and often a matter of perspective makes it unsolid footing for any arguement of Divine goodness. Under a microscope illusions (albeit nice ones)tend to fade. The sensation of belonging to the earth is better understood from an evolutionary position.
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  teejay

  Yeah, Farkel, and what about the duckbill platypus? How do you explain THAT one?!!
• 

  peacefulpete

  Poisonous "Critters" of Florida:
  Caterpillars

  Handling caterpillars may cause intense burning pain due to the insect's spines becoming lodged in the skin. Severity of symptoms depends on the maturity of the insect, the victim's sensitivity to the spines, and the number of spines embedded in the skin. The most common symptoms are redness, swelling, localized pain, itching and rash.
  NEVER RUB THE SITE. Spines can be removed from the skin by applying Scotch® (or any adhesive) tape to the affected area and quickly removing it. Call the Poison Information Center at 1 800 282-3171 for treatment advice.

  Saddleback Caterpillar

  Mostly brown with a light green back with a brown spot ("saddle"), the Saddleback has spines arranged in groups on its body. Return to Poisonous Critters. Io Caterpillar Two inches long, pale green with yellow spines and red-yellow stripe. The Io is a stinging caterpillar with tufts of hollow spine-like hairs connected to venom cells. Return to Poisonous Critters. Puss Caterpillar The most common poisonous caterpillar, the Puss Caterpillar is about one inch long. It has a white-tan color with spine-like hairs covering its body. Return to Poisonous Critters. Florida Poison Information Center/Miami Homepage A color brochure of this information is available from: Florida Poison Information Center University of Miami/JMMC PO Box 016960 (R-131) Miami, FL 33101 Specify that you want title Florida Critters, limit 5 per individual. For additional copies, contact (305) 585-5250 during business hours. Email Richard S. Weisman, Pharm. D., ABAT for more information. Page authored by Thomas Price. Page Updated 15 November 1998
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  Loris

  O.K. so there are poisonous critters. There are germs and icky creepy crawly things. Does their existence disprove God? Are they not just as interesting as the beautiful butterfly? Does the Creator have to fit the mold of the created?

  If we look at the Genesis story (I know, I know, It's just a story) But the Creator is said to have planted a tree of knowledge of good and BAD in the garden. Proving that Bad existed before Adam and Eve were created. If there is no Bad or ugly how can we truely appreciate the good and beautiful?

  I like Farkel am content to believe in a Creator and wonder at the stuff of the universe and continue to be

  a total clueless idiot

  Thanks Farkel for this thread.

  Loris
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  Mindchild

  Loris said,

  O.K. so there are poisonous critters. There are germs and icky creepy crawly things. Does their existence disprove God? Are they not just as interesting as the beautiful butterfly? Does the Creator have to fit the mold of the created?

  I thought this was a pretty interesting statement. From my perspective, it only disproves the Biblical version of God doesn't exist or that if there is a God, this being is a lot different than our religious expectations. The part I have a problem with is that not only is man clearly made out of the same stuff as other mammals and has an intimate evolutionary history with them, but suffers from the consequences of the evolutionary process. Evolution is not a planned, top down process, that is aimed to make life wonderful for all living creatures. Instead, it has death as an essential part. Death can come from being eaten by a tiger or being the victim of a hideious parasite or disease. None of it is pretty. If there was a top down design process for the human species, humans would be invulnerable to death, just as angels (if they exist) supposedly are. Does Christian belief allow for angels to die from diseases, to be eaten by predators, or die of old age? I think not.

  What evolution suggests to me, that if there is a God, this God also (at some very distant point in time) was the end result of a long evolutionary process which ended up being immune from evolution. Further, if such a God or Gods exists, perhaps they view evolution as a good thing and are not so interested in what crawls out of the swamp in the early stages but what the end result turns out to be. If you followed this hypothesis then there is no good or bad, what is important is what the end result turns out to be. I would think that man is a long way from the end result in this scenario.

  Skipper
• 

  Loris

  if there is a God, this being is a lot different than our religious expectations

  I totally agree. It would be nice to

  have all the answers but we do not.

  The God of the judeo/christian scriptures has

  a lot of explaining to his creation if he exists.

  But since no supreme being is stepping

  forward to explain things to us we are free to

  question, debate and wonder. Ain,t it great?

  Loris
• 

  bebu

  I like Farkel am content to believe in a Creator and wonder at the stuff of the universe and continue to be

  a total clueless idiot

  Loris, I am reading this, and looking at your avatar...

  bebu
• 

  logansrun

  Personally, I'm open to the idea that a "God" exists, whatever that may mean. I think it's safe to say that the only intelligible things that can be said about "God" are comments of negation. In my research and reflextion I feel all right saying:

  1) God is not the god of the Bible or any other deity in any religion I know of

  2) God appears to be non-interventionist. ie, "deistic" in nature. (or, God is so subtle about His interference we would not know one way or the other)

  That's pretty much it! Is God a "person"? I don't know. Is God a "thing"? I don't know. Something in between these two concepts? I don't know.

  Does God even exist? I don't know.

  A very important question -- Is it necessary that a God(s) exists? I would have to say....no. But -- but -- that does not mean it's not a possibility and a "live option" as William James would put it.

  Bradley