hmmmm . . .
given your experiences i would like your thoughts on the thread title.
this should be interesting.
Love was a later addition to the universe. It had to cool off quite a bit. Nothing that loves hangs out at 10 Billion degrees K.
the universe was created by an act of love.
So better no children at all?
Is that what I said? Is that the only option available for a God--a universe of cruelty and chance or no universe at all? The OP says the universe was created out of love. What evidence is there for this?
The options (as they relate to children and cruelty) are children and the possibility for cruelty or no free will and nothing we would recognize as children (except in form). Your examples of cruelty are relevant to the problem of evil, and free will is the solution to that problem.
We are talking about a loving God that condoned teenage pregnancy by getting a teenage girl pregnant without her consent. Apparently that was a blessing the poor girl was to endure in a society that ideolised purity and virginity. Also a loving god that murdered the first born of unbelievers, just to show his power. Not even going to delve into the flood that slaughtered so many people. All out of love, apparently.What about the free will of abused children. Does the freewill of the abusive parent override that of the child? Sounds like your "loving God" plays favorites...
Syne said:So better no children at all?
What about the free will of abused children. Does the freewill of the abusive parent override that of the child? Sounds like your "loving God" plays favorites...
In a closed system (i.e. no possibility for "favorites") that allows for free will, the strongest often prevails. The existence of free will does not guarantee the freedom of all conflicting wills at all times, merely the possibility of freedom.
Who said that? Where did he say that?Syne said:So better no children at all?
If a mythical God created the universe as an act of love, then one would rightly question how a loving God can sit by and idly watch as millions of children endure pain and suffering no child should suffer and deem it necessary to prove free will. Love would be to ensure protection of a loved one. Not sit idly by while that beloved child suffers or is killed in the worst way possible. That is not love. That is indifference.
Gee how nice. A "lovingly wrought" system that favors the powerful over the weak and vulnerable. Freewill for only the assholes who manipulate and lie and cheat and bully others into submission. Sounds a lot like a godless universe of no freewill to me. Who gives a crap about those 6 million kids abused annually?
We are talking about a loving God that condoned teenage pregnancy by getting a teenage girl pregnant without her consent. Apparently that was a blessing the poor girl was to endure in a society that ideolised purity and virginity. Also a loving god that murdered the first born of unbelievers, just to show his power. Not even going to delve into the flood that slaughtered so many people. All out of love, apparently.
Childhood fantasies that give children nightmares.
"Prove" free will? Who said a thing about proving anything?