Can I ask Creationists a real, serious question without receiving a bunch of insults...?

Question

...or stupid comments?? Im absolutely serious when I ask this:


Ive been watching the nature series "Planet Earth" on the Discovery channel. Absolutely stunning video showing the immense beauty of our world. I can certainly understand why people look at that beauty and see an intelligence behind it. While I do not agree with creationism or intelligent design, I can certainly understand how the beauty and awe we see around us might lead others to think it was created...

However, I wonder - when you watch nature shows and see a lion brutally maul a baby antelope, or see a polar bear attempt to attack a walrus but instead get his butt whopped and then it dies from starvation - right there amongst the very walruses he was trying to eat.... Do you see God in that? Do you see intelligence or beauty in the "design" of brutal killing in order to survive???

I really wonder about that...

Interesting so far....so the whole world is broken... What would it be like if it were perfect? Would the lion ask the antelope "Excuse me, but would you mind if I ate you please?"

Me too Gorgeous - it made me cry, the way he dug that little hole for himself, cried out in pain, then dropped onto his side and died... thinking of it makes me want to cry again..

Nice dodge there, Sentinel. Thats how a person who has no answer responds... Personally, I was going to give you the ten points, as you obviously need to learn that some of us here are truly curious, but seeing as you couldnt manage to respond without an insult, you can go shove it.

Answer 1

OK, I'm a creationist and this is one hell of a question! You've got me thinking now.

I'm not sure if this is going to give you an answer you're looking for. The way I see it, God created good and evil. That is what most people can't digest when thinking about God, saying how can God allow all this suffering in the world, all these killings and so on (just giving an example, I may be off topic)? At least this is something I've been wondering about for a long time till I realised that good and bad need each other. You can't have charity without poverty, you can't have love without hatred, you can't have justice without a crime, you can't have a full belly without someone being hungry out there, etc. etc. Perhaps there lies the answer.

Somehow after reading your question, I don't feel that much convinced of it to be honest. Really awesome question.

Answer 2

Actually, after Noah's flood, God told Noah that they could eat meat, since all the vegetation had died. What that tells me is that before the flood, men were vegetarians, and possibly animals too. You'll notice in Genesis, the humans have no fear of any animals, which would have been odd with all those hungry lions and tigers running around, not to mention Eve didn't seem at all upset at conversing with a snake. Maybe God had the animals of the world, including men, evolve in order to crave meat? Of course, I don't know, but its a possibility I've often though about. Also, we are told that during the 1,000 year reign of Christ, the time after God's final wrath, that the lions, lambs, wolves, deer, etc., will all sleep together, and all eat hay. How this happens, I don't have a clue, as cats need meat or they'll go blind, but hey, I'm a christian, so I'm guessing there's more to it than my small mind can figure. Maybe it'll be okay to eat fish, saving the cats going blind thing or maybe He'll unevolve all those creatures He evolved into meat eaters???

Good question, and you have good taste in documentaries. I personally have a tendency to flip the channel during the actual attack sequences, but I'm addicted to Animal Planet, Discovery and History channels.

Ajj085: At one time all the continents were connected, which is how animals, not to mention man, got on all the land masses, tropical islands and all.

Answer 3

not everything can live. Without death of some overpopulation kills everything. if there are only enough born to maintain the number if they have accidents then the population decreases and eventually dies off.
killing is often brutal because no animal will look around it and say "holy cow there are a lot of us!" and offer itself to be eaten, so there's always a struggle between 2 animals when only one gets to live.
Maybe the killing wouldn't be so brutal if the animals had opposed thumbs and could peacefuly shoot their prey and be done, but then they don't have that opportunity and they do what they can. (and besides if they could shoot weapons life would look like a "farside comic" and by god if I have to share my newspaper with a zebra...! lol
The beauty comes from the cycle of life and death, the constant change in the species and dispite some extinctions and some over populations, and ofcourse the impact of the industrial and post industrial ages, there is still a prevaliance of life on earth. At least that's my opinion, yea, survival and thriving at any cost.

Answer 4

Good question for sure. I'm really thinking about this...

I can't say that I see beauty necessarily because it grosses me out to see things die or get attacked. But I feel awe for animals that act on total instinct. For whatever reason, God didn't put much thinking power into most animals' minds but he did give them instincts and the way some animals use this to hunt or to defend themselves or to just get away from predators is amazing. I see beauty in the strength of a lion even when they're ripping apart an antelope. And I see beauty(?) in another animal who uses complete and total instinct and sense just to keep away from this animal. It's sad that some animals die, even the predator animals, but I guess it's God's way of keeping the population of one type of animal down. how many more lions would die of starvation if none of them died and they killed all the antelope and zebras? There is beauty in the organization and the clockwork of nature. One thing dies so that another can live. I just thougth this through while writing it so sorry if I'm repeating some stuff. That's how I see though...

Edit: For the guy two below me. We can question if we want. Abraham questioned God when he wanted to destroy Soddom and Gomorrah. He questioned so many times ("God what if there are 5 people in that city that are good? Will you STILL destroy it?") that he thought God would be angry with him. But God wasn't angry. He enjoys when we question and especially loves when we question and then obey God because we thought for ourselves. God gave us free will so that we wouldn't be little robots just doing what He says and never questioning anything. That is incorrect. We are not God's cars or his pawns. We are his creation and he loves us the way we love our children (which are like our little creations).

Answer 5

Yes indeed I do!
This is how the eternal, all knowing God as set up the present world, and in very ancient pre-historic world as well! If there were NO death, then the planet would be 'overrun' by animals, insects, and even mankind!!!
When SINS entered the world and man's sins were then accounted to him starting with Adam and Eve, then God further cursed the ground(outside of the Garden of Eden) for his sake and his descendants sake! This means God took Adams eternal life span and shortened it to only 1000 years of which he only lived 930!!! Latter to have their life spans shortened to only 120 years at the time of Noah and beyond!
When I watched nature shows in the past, and I haven't seen one in months, because I don't own a television, and probably wouldn't want 'Satan's tool' in my home anyway, it only serves to prove to me that a all knowing, all powerful God is STILL in control of this planet HE CREATED!!!

Answer 6

I see brutal killing in order to survive. I put myself in the position of the animal being attacked.....Also I put myself in the position of the animal attacking in order to eat. I would not consider it beautiful or intelligent. However, I would look at it as a natural function of this planet that I have grown to except. In my idea of beauty... no creature would have to endure such horrific treatment.... I really do not see god in the struggle of survival.... I see god as the tranquil idea that sits safe when all things are functioning to a persons specific standard. Very interesting question by the way. PM me sometime for topics like this for conversation.

Answer 7

I'm a Christian, and while I'm undecided about the issue of evolution vs. Creationism, I will answer.

Yes, I do see beauty in all of nature, even predators gorging themselves in blood or an animal wasting away from starvation. These things are all part of an amazing, intricate balance that allows nature to function.

You forget that the Judeo-Christian god who most Creationists serve required animal (and in the case of Christians, human) sacrifice in order to restore holiness to the world. Why shouldn't the universe he designed reflect this principle?

Answer 8

Great question! I don't know how good of an answer I can give you other than I see beauty in everything.

But, here is an example of the balance within our world and Wildlife...

Consider the research and documented case of the Owl Butterfly. The Owl butterfly lives in the rainforests, from Mexico to Brazil. Birds being the natural predators of the Owl Butterfly. And, the predators of these birds are actual Owls that live in the same rainforests.

Like all owls, these owls have a very distinctive colored markings around their eyes unique to their species, and the birds recognize their predator, these owls, by these distintive markings. When a bird sees the eyes of these owls, its brain registers that it is in danger and that it should fly away.

Now, these birds prey on a very specific butterfly, aptly called the Owl Butterfly, which is the main meal for the birds.

Somehow, this Owl Butterfly, which as far as we are concerned has a below zero intelligence, has a wing pattern that is identical to the color and pattern of the Owl's eyes. Thus, when the butterfly extends its wings, it reveals the pattern matching the owl's eyes. The bird, then, will recognize the pattern, on the butterfly's wings, as the eyes of its feared predator, panic and leave. However, if the bird spies the butterfly, but does not recognize the pattern on the butterfly's wings, then it has a tasty treat.

This maintains an amazing balance in the butterfly population and in the ecosystem as a whole. This is how I see most of life; very well balanced.

If you think about this type of balance fully, you will see there isn't an easy answer to explain it. Did these butterflies somehow get together and decide, "Hey, let's all wear that owl's eyes for our wings!" The question would still stand; Why that owl, when there are hundreds to choose from? To get that specific owl, with that particular pattern is astonishing to me.

We could even try to explain this phenomenon on genes and genetics. However, even these concepts must have data coming in to support it. And, the only real way to prove this theory would be to show that some sort of connection was formed between these owl, birds, and butterflies. This is, of course, not likely.

Thus, I see beauty in everything!

Answer 9

When God created the world, it was perfect, but when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil sin entered the world. The world was no longer perfect and things today are not the same as they were before sin entered. In order for sin to be forgiven, the price of sin, which is death, must be paid in some way. God killed the first animal because he gave skins to clothe Adam and Eve after they had become ashamed of their nakedness due to them having sin in their lives. After sin entered the world, animals began to be ferocious and began to eat each other. God never intended the world to be the way it is today, but since he gave human's free will, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and the world changed. The World was cursed by God whenever sin came. Before sin came into the world everyone ate plants or fruit. When sin entered the world, everything changed and because of the sin in us we deserve death. Only by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior can you be saved from eternal suffering. There is only one way in which you can be saved and Jesus paid the price for the sin we commit each and every day so Jesus is the only way to overcome death.

Answer 10

Yes as a matter of fact. Lions are design to be predators and this is how they survive. That's their lifeline so they do what it takes to make sure they get their food.

Don't you see the beauty in the design of that tremendous power, agility, stealth, smartness etc?

On the other hand the pray has its own qualities. Its not always easy for the lion to catch its pray as they go hungry for days. That is why its called wild-life. Every thing serves its purpose.

Tuna that feeds you is also a big food source for Whales and look the beauty of the design that its available in a tremendous amount :)