Saturday, May 16, 2015

Things That Keep Christian Theists Up At Night (Answered by an Atheist)


A continuation of Randal Rauser's post about things that keep atheists and Christian theists up at night. See here for my response to the things he thinks keep atheists up at night.


1. If God exists, why isn’t His existence as obvious as the physical world?

He doesn't exist. That's why the physical world shows no trace of objective evidence god exists. But if he does, and sends people to hell for not believing in him, and makes his existence extremely ambiguous, god is a monster. Even if not, why would god make his existence ambiguous if he created us to know him? That makes no sense. So there must be another reason why he created us. Here you can pull any ol' idea out of your ass.

2. Why is there so much pain and suffering?

Because the universe doesn't care about our existence. Things happen by chance and natural processes, all of which are indifferent to our pain, suffering, and existence.

3. Why isn’t there better historical evidence for Jesus and his resurrection?

Because Jesus didn't actually get resurrected, and may not have even existed. The historical record is compatible with this.

4. How can God know the future and there still be free will?

I don't think god knowing the future in and of itself precludes free will. I think free will in and of itself isn't logically supported, and certainly isn't supported by any scientific evidence. Another way to look at this question is if in universe X you are an atheist and go to hell, and if in universe Y you are a Christian and go to heaven, if god chooses to materialize universe X over Y, knowing that this would guarantee you an eternity of suffering, why would he do that, as opposed to just preventing you from existing in the first place?

5. Why are there so many morally questionable things in the Bible about God (Canaanite genocide, etc.)?

Easy. The Bible was written by primitive people who invented god in their own racist, sexist, homophobic, and bloodthirsty image.

6. Why are there so many contradictory religions to my own?

Because all religions are man-made. That's the best explanation of it.

7. The existential hiddenness of God

Best explained by god not existing.

8. The driving out/slaughter of the Canaanites

Mostly likely a made-up narrative to give the early Israelites a tale that can distinguish themselves from the Canaanites, who they branched off of, since there is no evidence to show those conquests actually happened.

9. The immortality of the soul

Doesn't exist. No evidence for it. Based on fantasy and ignorance.

10. The remote possibility that Calvinism might be true.

I've had a few Christians argue with me that Calvinism is the best interpretation of the Bible. Many Calvinists own up to the fact that Yahweh is sort of a prick, and is not omni-benevolent, but he's the boss and that's that. I don't take any serious positions on this. It's all fairy tales to me under the label "religion."

In every case the atheistic answer is the much simpler and more plausible answer.

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