I’m assuming that because of omnipotence. Having fully unlimited power and knowledge would mean that problems could be solved in much more effective, subtle, and precisely targeted ways. Why cause mass destruction? Why use a nuke when all you need is a good sniper?
If you have unlimited power and knowledge, you wouldn’t make mistakes. You wouldn’t have problems to solve. If something went “wrong”, that would mean its supposed to go wrong.
Maybe that’s the answer, but it isn’t satisfying to me. Part of me recognizes that the universe is much more complex than I’m capable of understanding, and maybe that’s why things don’t seem to make sense. However, a larger part of me thinks that there’s a simpler answer: god can’t be as powerful as we’ve been taught, and maybe doesn’t exist at all.
I also think of a guy I used to work with, who we’ll call Eric. Eric lived and acted the way that I was taught a religious person is supposed to - he was kind, non-judgmental, and generally pleasant to be around. I have to constantly remind myself that the world is full of people like him, but they don’t draw attention to themselves because they’re just not like that. They don’t go on the news and yell. They don’t use religion as an excuse to be hateful.
Anyway, thank you for taking this Atheism 101 crap seriously, and for challenging my assumptions. I appreciate you taking the time.
I’m glad we could have a normal conversation about religion, that usually doesn’t happen on the internet.
I was an atheist for a long time but eventually I found a religion that actually made sense to me. The main thing that drew me to it was that I was encouraged to question things like this, and come to my own conclusions if I didn’t agree with others. Maybe there is belief system that works for you, maybe there isn’t; but regardless I think its important to try to figure those things out for yourself, so good luck.
I’m assuming that because of omnipotence. Having fully unlimited power and knowledge would mean that problems could be solved in much more effective, subtle, and precisely targeted ways. Why cause mass destruction? Why use a nuke when all you need is a good sniper?
If you have unlimited power and knowledge, you wouldn’t make mistakes. You wouldn’t have problems to solve. If something went “wrong”, that would mean its supposed to go wrong.
Maybe that’s the answer, but it isn’t satisfying to me. Part of me recognizes that the universe is much more complex than I’m capable of understanding, and maybe that’s why things don’t seem to make sense. However, a larger part of me thinks that there’s a simpler answer: god can’t be as powerful as we’ve been taught, and maybe doesn’t exist at all.
I also think of a guy I used to work with, who we’ll call Eric. Eric lived and acted the way that I was taught a religious person is supposed to - he was kind, non-judgmental, and generally pleasant to be around. I have to constantly remind myself that the world is full of people like him, but they don’t draw attention to themselves because they’re just not like that. They don’t go on the news and yell. They don’t use religion as an excuse to be hateful.
Anyway, thank you for taking this Atheism 101 crap seriously, and for challenging my assumptions. I appreciate you taking the time.
I’m glad we could have a normal conversation about religion, that usually doesn’t happen on the internet.
I was an atheist for a long time but eventually I found a religion that actually made sense to me. The main thing that drew me to it was that I was encouraged to question things like this, and come to my own conclusions if I didn’t agree with others. Maybe there is belief system that works for you, maybe there isn’t; but regardless I think its important to try to figure those things out for yourself, so good luck.