I don’t have much of a topic today. May be discussing a bit about a conversation I had recently that included a few things of note:
1. I was told recently that the amazing things in nature couldn’t have been produced naturally. I said nature is so amazing–in the things I see it do–I can’t really put much past it. Why wouldn’t I think nature could do something cool–like produce a tree? The person replied that’s the reason they believe a god is involved, precisely because nature is so amazing–so unbelievably, incredibly, mind-blowingly amazing–that only a god could have created.
2. Next I was told (during the same dialog) that I was being “negative.” The reason I was being “negative” was that I pointed out they worship a god that commanded genocide, mass infanticide, execution of gays, endorsement of slavery, making raped women marry their rapists, telling people to “take no thought for tomorrow,” setting up a human sacrificial plan to deal with the heinous and self-imposed crime of being imperfect and human and exercising freedoms He supposedly gave us. I asked “if this god did what your Bible indicates…why on Earth would you choose to worship it?” I was told that anybody could go through and pick out the “bad” bits…but why focus on the negative–when there are good things in there, too? So, it’s “negative” to say we ought not to worship a god who tells us to put the babies of our neighbors to the sword; but it’s positive to worship a god who tells his followers to put babies to the sword if you simply ignore that part and focus on “love one another.”
It reminds me a bit of the caller who said that the recent Giffords assassination attempt was a miracle. The idea that a woman is severely brain damaged, several people–including a child–are dead, and more are wounded, and that is evidence of god’s merciful benevolence, just continues to floor me. When a random shooting that results in hideous loss of life and pain can be evidence of goodness and loving mercy–what isn’t evidence of goodness and loving mercy? Honestly?
As the show is an hour these days, I’m not sure how much time there will even be for discussion. But these would be my points for today if we have time or lulls in the calls.
