Morpheus... when atheists say "Why does God allow suffering" how do they define it? That is the definition I want to work towards.
little_Socrates
JoinedPosts by little_Socrates
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102
A couple questions for atheists on Suffering
by little_Socrates inwho told you that the world should be free from suffering?.
do you find any value in suffering?.
do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?
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102
A couple questions for atheists on Suffering
by little_Socrates inwho told you that the world should be free from suffering?.
do you find any value in suffering?.
do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?
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little_Socrates
The entire human experience is beautiful. Yes I know many things can be unpleasant but they just fall on that continuum will all the great things we can experience.
My point about the victims you mentioned... even though they died tragically, it doesn't negate all the great things they experienced in life. The goodness of living is so much greater than the badness of some suffering we may face.
What makes their deaths any more evil than any other one?
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A couple questions for atheists on Suffering
by little_Socrates inwho told you that the world should be free from suffering?.
do you find any value in suffering?.
do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?
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little_Socrates
I see you ignored the content of my reply.
Not really... but let me put it a different way. You are coming with a preconceived notion that suffering is evil. I don't accept that. I want you to prove it.
So If you could have given the victims of the tsunami a chance as the wave was hitting to have never been born so that they wouldn't have had to experience that horrible death... do think they would have chosen to have not existed? Didn't at least the vast majority of the victims over the course of their life's experience much greater joy/love/fulfillment/pleasure than they did evil on that day? We all have to die what makes it evil how they died?
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A couple questions for atheists on Suffering
by little_Socrates inwho told you that the world should be free from suffering?.
do you find any value in suffering?.
do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?
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little_Socrates
I am just trying to understand the atheist argument on suffering. It seems they like to hammer on certain preconceived ideas that theists bring to the table. I am just trying to turn it around and see if I can get atheists to defend and explain their positions. Usually theists are the ones that always have to defend themselves :)
Cofty as an atheist do you find any value in suffering? If you could arrange your life to avoid all suffering would you? Now I understand suffering that we may willing let into our life's isn't to the severity you guys are probably talking about, but it is more a question of severity than type.
If some suffering is useful and valuable, where do you draw the line to what is just pure evil?
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A couple questions for atheists on Suffering
by little_Socrates inwho told you that the world should be free from suffering?.
do you find any value in suffering?.
do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?
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little_Socrates
Who told you that the world should be free from suffering?
Do you find any value in suffering?
Do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad? Isn't good only good because we know what bad is? If there was only good would it really be "good"?
If you where God and could eliminate suffering what would the world look like? Or conversely if there was a loving God what should we expect the world to look like?
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Memorial Question?
by naazira inover the years, i've come to notice that some of the friends will not touch the plate with the bread or the cup of wine ,when the emblems are being passed around.
i remember a row of 3 people told the brother to skip over them.
every year i have noticed this behavior.
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little_Socrates
If you can't eat it.... why would you want to touch it? -
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Hard Rock @ Bethel :-D
by Dismissing servant in.
this is a new version of the bethel dance video.
i think it's awesome.. http://youtu.be/hxdtqg7lqni.
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little_Socrates
Much better than the origional! The dancing fits this song MUCH better than the other song.
I am really really starting to get tired of the happy song.
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Nethanyahu speach to US Congress - not in sync with NRA position on weapons
by RubaDub ini don't quite understand why mr. nethanyahu is so fearful if iran or other nations have nuclear weapons.
as the nra espouses, the more people are armed and the more weapons on the street, then the safer we should feel.
we all should have the right to protect ourselves.
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little_Socrates
Yep Nukes and Handguns are exactly the same!
Handguns can be printed at home on your 3d printer. With hundreds of millions in existence how will you get rid of them? Worst case scenario? Someone goes apeshit and kills a few people.
Nukes require the resources of an entire nation to build. There are only a handful of countries that have them. Efforts of international community can slow the proliferation of them. Worst case scenario? WWIII with hundreds of millions or billions dead.
Yea lets keep comparing the two as if they are exactly the same. Who needs intellectual honesty anyways?
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Nethanyahu speach to US Congress - not in sync with NRA position on weapons
by RubaDub ini don't quite understand why mr. nethanyahu is so fearful if iran or other nations have nuclear weapons.
as the nra espouses, the more people are armed and the more weapons on the street, then the safer we should feel.
we all should have the right to protect ourselves.
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little_Socrates
RubaDub.... the sarcasm is deep with that one!
I think it is simple. In America the sovereign indivual is supposed to be the highest authority in the land.
Other places but a much bigger emphasis on the "collective" good. Those places don't like to see individuals be armed.
Guns takes the authority of the masses and gives it to the individual... wither or not you think that is a god thing depends on your view of the world.
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Have you met people in the "world" who are more commited to their christian believes than JWs?
by nevaagain ini met a coworker at my work who was even more commited to his religion then almost anybody i had seen in the jw mids yet.
whenever we went for lunch, he would do a little prayer first, he didnt care if anybody would take notice of him.
he does not curse, never!
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little_Socrates
Does the religion have a paid clergy?
Does it "request" funds/donations?
Does an affirmative answer to these questions automatically disqualify it from being a valid and useful institution?
The watchtower has no paid clergy and doesn't really request funds (at least not the same way most Churches do) even still they are a destructive cult.
In my mind if there is no paid clergy or contributions requested I think "too good to be true what is the hook?" Even the greatest and most useful charities in the world have paid staff and ask for donations. Why can't a Church do the same?