When I try to think of what the best arguments for atheism might be, two immediate possibilities come to mind. The first is the problem of suffering and evil. How does a kind and loving God allow humans to suffer from natural disasters as well as our own evil deeds? Aren't murders, rapes, and incest bad enough without some innocent people enjoying a lazy day at the beach being suddenly swept away by a seismic wave? There is no valid human explanation for the problem of suffering because humans don't like pain but do like pleasure. People never want to experience sorrow; they only want to feel joy. But without sorrow, how do we understand and appreciate joy? Without pain, does pleasure even exist? For a moment let us consider the possibility of a supernatural Creator for this natural world we currently occupy...how could this Creator/God have some purpose for allowing pain and suffering in our imperfect world? Sure He could, and we would still not have the mental capacity to understand the Grand Plan. Naturally, this raises a new question--is there a Grand Plan, or only the illusion of a Grand Plan? To answer that question, I would ask the reader to read my book, The God Conclusion. If expressed in the correct language, the origin of our universe can be reduced to two basic, binary options: the universe was either planned or unplanned. If the universe was planned, we don't need a true multiverse hypothesis, where an unlimited number of failed universes exist only to reduce the improbability of the universe we have and still don't supply a cause for the … [Read more...]
Did God allow Saul to have free will?
My "go-to" attempt at theodicy for the problem of suffering and evil being allowed by a kind, just, and benevolent God has always been free will. I like to point out things like without pain, we would have no way to conceptualize pleasure, and without sorrow we could not truly appreciate joy. Likewise, some of my best evidence that the New Testament is true is that half of it was written by Paul, who persecuted and murdered Christians when he still called himself Saul. Few serious people question whether Paul was a real historical figure or that he went from being an executioner of Christians to ultimately become an early Christian martyr. However, I'm not the least bit afraid of challenging my own beliefs on a regular basis, and the question recently popped into my head: did God interfere with Saul's free will? Saul hadn't been looking for God -- in fact, he was actively searching for more Christians to murder when Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and completely changed his life. Yet if it weren't for Paul, Christianity would not be what it is today. So, how do we solve this conundrum? Atheists like to argue for determinism, but if determinism is really true, how can we as a society justify putting criminals into prison if they have no choice except to rob, rape, and murder other people? That doesn't seem fair, if we really and truly cannot choose between right and wrong. My counterargument has been that without free will, humans would become slaves to their DNA and their environment. But if determinism is true and we really are slaves to our … [Read more...]
The Ghost Who Solved Her Own Murder
On February 21, 1977, respiratory therapist Teresita Basa was brutally murdered by an unknown assailant. Her body was discovered by firemen. It was immediately apparent that Teresita was a murder victim because the butcher knife used to murder her was still embedded in her naked body. Police assumed Teresita had been sexually assaulted and then the fire set deliberately to cover up her murder, but the autopsy results showed that the murder was not an attempt to cover up a rape. The fe only clue found at the scene was a note that simply said "Get theater tickets for A. S." Four months passed, and the investigation began to go cold. However, in August detective Joseph Stachula received a phone call out of the blue that blew the case wide open. A doctor named Jose Chua who worked at the same hospital as Teresita called to report a most unusual circumstance -- his wife Remy had begun to go into trances and claimed to be temporarily possessed by the spirit of Teresita Basa, who then provided the doctor with specific information about her murderer. The Chuas claimed they did not know Teresita Basa--the only thing they had in common was the doctor worked at the same hospital and all three of them were Filipino. The Chuas had not wanted to come forward or get involved out of the fear of looking ridiculous, but Basa's ghost would not leave Remy Chua alone until Dr. Chua helped her by telling police what he "knew" about Basa's murder. According to Basa's ghost, a man named Allen Showery had come to her apartment to fix her broken television but while there decided to steal … [Read more...]
The Inspiration Network
I've made numerous derogatory comments about those television evangelists I like to call prosperity pimps because their primary goal is not to preach the Gospel of Christ but to line their own pockets with the hard-earned money of their followers. For example, I've criticized Joel Osteen quite a bit because he's probably the most famous example of these inspirational speakers disguised as pastors and preachers, but Osteen is hardly the worst example of a greedy entrepreneur posing as a man of God. Robert "Bob" Tilton might take the cake as the sleaziest prosperity pimp of them all with an insatiable greed for your money, but Diane Sawyer of ABC's PrimeTime famously kneecapped him while he was still (allegedly) making more than Madonna and Michael Jackson combined. Mike Murdock Even so, Tilton and Osteen have some stiff competition from the likes of Mike Murdock of Inspiration Ministries. Earlier this morning I watched Mike Murdock attempt some verbal gymnastics that might make Simone Biles jealous. With his first breath, Murdock compared tithing to paying protection money to the Mafia - but why would he do that? Apparently so God doesn't do anything bad to us. We should pay God (or his substitute, Murdock) ten percent so we don't get hurt. But then with his very next breath, Murdock talked about planting a financial seed as an investment so later we can reap the harvest as God magically sends wealth our way. In other words, he whacks you over the head with a stick before offering you the carrot. Defenders of Joel Osteen often like to say that he … [Read more...]
The attributes of God
When people talk about the attributes of God, know they are speaking from their opinions, not sharing epistemic evidence. In fact, if I claimed to know beyond question that what I'm about to say is absolutely true I'd be lying. There is a difference between what is true and what I believe to be true. I'd be claiming to intimately know God on a personal basis, and that would simply not be true. I may wholeheartedly believe I've had one intense personal experience with my Creator, but that doesn't mean I know God well enough to describe Him to you. What are the most commonly accepted "attributes" of God? Most people would say that God is omniscient, or all-knowing. Does God know everything there is to know? I can't speak from knowledge or experience because I've never had an extended conversation with God, but my best guess is that if it is worth knowing, God knows it. He probably even knows everything that isn't worth knowing, too. We're talking about the supernatural creator of our planned universe--the alternative of an unplanned universe is simply untenable. In a planned universe, the odds of success are improved to 100 percent guaranteed because an intelligent mind is responsible for guiding creation through every decision-making possibility that must be resolved in order for planned universe to exist. In the unplanned universe, statistical improbability dictates whether or not it is reasonable to expect success of any given anomaly, whether it be the origin of the universe (Big Bang), the initial expansion of the universe (cosmic inflation), or the … [Read more...]
