Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Nutcase God Strikes the Atheist

When I wrote my blog, What kind of nutcase God would create the stomach flu, I didn't actually have the flu yet, and was hoping that by being careful, I'd escape. No such luck. I spent Thursday night in the bathroom, sicker than a dog, and when I was coherent enough to think, pondering how any theist could believe their god or gods had deliberately created such a thing as disease in general, and the stomach flu in particular.

Disease is the one place where Creationism completely falls flat. I have never, not once, heard a good rationalization from any Creationist as to how disease could be anything but a cruel joke played by a nasty God.

The classical explanation is that we deserve this fate, due to the actions of Adam and Eve six thousand years ago. Somehow, I deserve to be punished for something I had nothing to do with, couldn't control, and was a nasty bit of entrapment to begin with.

But this explanation is deeply flawed: What about animals? They get the same diseases and suffer the same torments as we humans. How does God justify this cruel treatment of completely innocent creatures, simply because Eve took a bite from the forbidden fruit?

Aside from the obvious physical facts that contradict Creationism, there is a deep moral problem. After suffering through the stomach flu, I'll say it again: If the Creationists are right, then their God is a nutcase, cruel, evil diety. I can respect (but not agree with) some views of religion, but not Creationism.

4 comments:

  1. When I was a believer, I always thought that original sin was thrown out in the OT, because Ezekiel 18:20 says that:

    "The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him."

    Since Adam was the the 'father' of humanity, it wouldn't make sense that his sins would be held against us after Ezekiel.

    Agree/Disagree?
    Anyways, good stuff here.

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  2. Mathew - I can't agree/disagree with these esoterical biblical arguments, because to an unbiased eye, the are nothing but a collection of unrelated parables that were never intended by their authors to be canonicalized as "God's word."

    On the other hand, if Ezekiel overrides the concept of original sin, then Creationists have an even bigger problem explaining why God created the stomach flu, don't they?

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  3. I've taken to blaming god for everything, from cancer to colds to hangnails. It's hilarious.

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  4. It is all due to the fall of man because of Adam eating the fruit of good and evil our bodies became corrupt. It says in the Bible if you eat from this tree you will surely die. And of course those genes for sickness traveled down our ancestor line to us. God lets bad things happen cause if they didn't then why would we even need God? Evil happens so we can learn and grow not be selfish brats stuck in our own ways. Think about it parents who give their kids everything turn out horriibly wrong and the parents' whose kids go through bad times turn out humble and greatful for what they have.

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