Quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
No, you clearly do not. You have demonstrated no understanding of what that glib little quote means. I don't like it any more than you do, as it really is used by religious folks to cover up their lack of perception and understanding. It's a lazy answer. That is not, however, the answer I have given you.
You see it as such because of your lack of understanding of the material at hand and your eagerness to lump us all together. You have closed your mind to this; you have made a concious decision to remain ignorant. Yet you continue to comment from your admitted postion of willfull ignorance. Interesting. Anyway, like I said earlier, I think you would find theology fascinating. Take a look, if you are truly willing to learn something new. I really don't think you are, however, and that is unfortunate. You seem like a bright enough guy.
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Perhaps you missunderstand what I mean when I say “God works in mysterious ways.” Let me see if I can explain myself better.
Yes, this phrase is certainly “used by religious folks to cover up their lack of perception and understanding.” This is the lazy answer case.
There is another case, though, the real theological case. Let’s take the example you gave above, about god using “the trials and tribulations of life” to bring people closer to him. I see this as justification of the trials and tribulations of life, while you see it as god in action.
I have trials and tribulations in my life, yet they have not brought me closer to god. We all have trials and tribulations, yet not all of us are brought closer to god. So I see this “bring you closer to god” thing as a cop-out, a justification of why bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to everyone at the same statistical rate. That’s logic. That’s rational. That’s common sense.
Theology may have a reason for these hardships, yet the common sense reason is far easier for me to swallow.
You will no doubt answer why my trials and tribulations have not brought me to god with “you have not been chosen.” Again, this is the theological answer. My answer is that there is no god. Again, this is far easier to swallow than thinking that there is a god who has forsaken me.
Another example of this is what Jeff above: “He has "answered" these prayers via the skill endowed upon our physicians.” The common sense answer is they learned these skills in medical school.
Atheists pose many theological questions. There is always a complicated theological answer. There is always a common sense answer, one that does not require a god. Whether the theological answer is the lazy case, or has come from years of theological study, makes no difference to me. The common sense answer always wins. You say I have closed my mind to the theological answers, but I would say you have closed your mind to the common sense answers.
It’s this difference between the theological answer and the common sense answer that I call “god works in mysterious ways.”