Epicurus on the question of God

[CaptainObvious]

Captain, put that "incense" away and turn off the black light.

Sometimes on the subject of God, creation, mysteries of the universe, I just like to let my thoughts go and write whatever comes to mind. Kind of like listening to jazz. Occasionally I stumble into something that makes sense when I go back to it. Other times, not so much. This may be one of those other times.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

Sometimes on the subject of God, creation, mysteries of the universe, I just like to let my thoughts go and write whatever comes to mind. Kind of like listening to jazz.

Oh, so you were riffing. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[peilthetraveler]

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

The definition of malevolent is having or showing a wish to do evil to others. If being able but not doing something make you malevolent, then isn't everybody malevolent? If you see a homeless guy on the street asking for money and you are able to give him $1, but not willing, does that mean you want to do evil to him? Right now there are starving children somewhere in the world and you have the ability to go search for the many organizations on google and make a donation to feed them, but are you willing to? I guess that means you're malevolent and want to see children starve, right? I mean according to Epicurus's logic, thats exactly what it means. You want to hurt children and see them starve because you're not willing to go donate $5 right now.

...and now you can see how Epicurus's quote falls apart right there by not using the correct definition of malevolent.

 

[Optionpro007]

"Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal of healing and help, regardless of the form it takes." - Dr. Helen Schucman

 

[Frederick Foresight]

The definition of malevolent is having or showing a wish to do evil to others. If being able but not doing something make you malevolent, then isn't everybody malevolent?

Fine, parse words and go with your own definition. And then try and distinguish your god from a disinterested bystander who doesn't want to get involved.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke

So much for your good god.

 

[peilthetraveler]

Fine, parse words and go with your own definition. And then try and distinguish your god from a disinterested bystander who doesn't want to get involved.

Yes, I will go by my and the worlds definition of malevolent and you can go with the definition you need to fit your narrative.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/malevolent

 

[Zr1Trader]

When a whale eats 1,000 krill in one quick swoop. Is that good or bad?

When a star blows up is that good or bad?

When a forest fire wipes out many trees, but gives fertile soil for new life, good or bad?

If US wipes out a dictator like Sadam you think it's good, but then ISIS takes over so was it bad?

So when looking at these situations, how would god choose a side to take for intervention for the purpose of "good" . I think there has to be + and - to everything.

It is what it is.

 

[stu]

The definition of malevolent is having or showing a wish to do evil to others.

If you create a universe which can be all good and then you introduce evil into it when you don't have to, that is the very definition of having or showing a wish to do evil to others.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

When a whale eats 1,000 krill in one quick swoop. Is that good or bad?

When a star blows up is that good or bad?

When a forest fire wipes out many trees, but gives fertile soil for new life, good or bad?

If US wipes out a dictator like Sadam you think it's good, but then ISIS takes over so was it bad?

So when looking at these situations, how would god choose a side to take for intervention for the purpose of "good" . I think there has to be + and - to everything.

It is what it is.

And when a mugger kills a beloved relative of yours? Tell me about the + and - for that one.

 

[MrScalper]

This plus and minus thing is of no real significance, unless you want to study things at the atomic level, and they then become positive and negative.

We are all aware of atoms, electrons, protons, etc, etc. They are so small they can not be seen, just traced.

The reality is that at this point in our existence, we do not yet fully understand how or why existence began, and even if the gaseous theory is correct, the particles had to come from somewhere, as it is very hard for us to comprehend something just appearing out of nothing!

Who knows?

The real answer is of course nobody, and it will probably be billions of more years before the answer is fully understood.

Until such time, we will continue to get other peoples thoughts on existence, and we all know how many variations of same exist.

Some have used, and continues to use, this to their advantage to accumulate wealth and gain power.

That is life!