An example:
Typical Question: Why does God allow suffering?
Christian: Because people make the wrong choices with free will.
Atheist: How does that explain children born with AIDS or people dying in natural disasters (hurricanes/earthquakes etc)?
Me: How did the parent get AIDS in the first place? Why do people choose to live in areas prone to natural disasters?
Very few atheists on this site seem to consider that free will is universal and the choices of other people affect other people.
Your opinions on this subject would be appriciated.
2007-04-27 21:24:29 · 15 answers · asked by Nebulous 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
How can it be a "cop-out" when the free will argument makes humanity responsible for it's own actions.
If God limited or interfered with humanities ability to make decisions, it wouldn't be free will because we wouldn't have a choice.
As for the example of the 3rd-generation AIDS child, the blame rests with the initial mistake. When the dodo was made extinct there was no way to bring it back, and thus we learn the hard lesson that not all mistakes can be undone.
2007-04-27 22:12:46 · update #1
i know a few atheists: all of them want to argue; none of them wants to consider.
2007-04-27 21:27:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 5⤋
Do you not think this question is a bit one sided. At the end of the day christians have spent the last 2 thousand years not considering the decisions of others. It's only been for the last 80 or so years where women have been on an equal footing. As for your example people who have AIDS originaly only used their free will to have a bit of fun and to explore their sexuallity. They didn't use it to create the HIV virus. And people living in areas prone to natural disasters (that would be the whole planet by the way) live there because natural disasters don't happen in the same place everyday. They probably thought that the last time it happened it was just their "gods" being unhappy with an element of their society!
NEXT!
2007-04-27 22:58:03 · answer #2 · answered by Dragon 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All decisions we take are a result of the existing conditions and the way we relate to them due to our experience and nature. This would include any spiritual experience , visitation from angel with a divine message even. So it is difficult to see how anyone can chose other than the way they do. There would have to be an impulse from somewhere to make them do so and then that would be a causative agent, not free will.
Free will itself paradoxically could only have a meaning if it was a random decision.
P.S. I am not an atheist.
2007-04-27 21:37:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a born again athiest I find it objectionable when people say "I will pray for you " or " God bless you".
Christianity is not THE major religeon of the world although you would probebly agree with me, It is just a manifestation of ancient texts perported to be the word of God,That I am afraid is how most athiest view it.
From my point of view I was brought up to believe although my mother did allow me a choice,I went to church every sunday until about the age of 7.My oldest uncle was a vicar and I went to school with a chap who became a canon. and I went to a methodist school,so you could say I have not been ignorant to the scriptures.
You have to understand that a belief in a God or afterlife is just perposterous,It just isn`t there for us.We try to understand your beliefs but find you deluded,God for us just doesn`t exsist,never has or never will.
You are entrenched as much as we are. It`s that simple.
We see a reason that is not divine for all things,AIDS just a sexually transmitted disease that has got out of control.
People living in areas of danger, Don`t you understand these people have no choice? A Bangladeshi living on a flood plain is there because that`s all he`s got,His country is poor and the people poorer ,don`t you think he would move if he could,where will he go?who is going to pay for it? you?
The Bible doesn`t explain the dinosaurs,ancient fossil remains of humans,cave men or pre history before the Bible Ibelieve the Bible only records human history from about 9,000 years BC, what about the other millions of years,
You need faith to believe I understand that ,but you need more to be an athiest
2007-04-27 21:47:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think, as an atheistic site user, I should be offended by that statement.. all humans do have free will, true but we just choose to try to find other reasons and not use the universal excuse
but it seems as though you are generalizeing (spelling, I know) saying very few atheists consider that fact... but it could just be the same few saying that so you shouldn't generalize like that
2007-04-27 21:34:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
i'm new right here yet this caught my eye good away. this is unhappy that this instructor did no longer do greater examine into Paganism and Wicca. Paganism replaced into between the unique RELIGIONS earlier christianity got here alongside. Pagan is greater an earth faith than Wicca yet they are religions. i've got faith the Wiccan faith replaced into called a faith via the international at a convention in 1997 (?) at a huge summit assembly on Wiccan faith. the U. S. government even recognizes it - the infantrymen who bypass over at the instant are allowed to have the pentagram placed on their headstones the place it replaced into no longer known earlier. You dealt with it wisely! greater effective to no longer draw interest to your self via arguing with him. we are no longer thoroughly out of the closet yet as plenty human beings nevertheless think of we do sacrafices, and so on. Your instructor replaced into being very SMALL MINDED! in line with risk whilst there is the thank you to get to the class earlier every physique else, you will desire to leave him a e book on Paganism or Wicca. And there are various distinctive sects of the Pagan faith - which incorporate Hinduism. The Celts are a huge sect. And this is understood they got here from around India earlier settling in Western Europe. in line with risk leave you instructor a itemizing of books he can examine to greater effective tell him so he does not look like a biggoted jerk lower back. lol
2016-10-04 00:57:21 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"How did the parent get AIDS in the first place?"ok the parents got AIDS because they used their free will stupidly and had sex without using condoms.
did the unborn child tell them (in their dreams or whatever) "oh go ahead mum..i totally consent to be born with AIDS...go ahead and do it without a condom"??
nope! so basically that kid gets AIDS cos he's paying for somebody else's sins?? i think EVEN u would feel that the poor kid got an unfair deal.
2007-04-27 21:34:37 · answer #7 · answered by Mike B 1 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Free will is universal to atheists and Christians alike, but it is nearly impossible to make it a reality. There are always so many things of all kinds that keep us from reaching our goals.
2007-04-27 21:32:31 · answer #8 · answered by Constant Reader 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most of us prefer arguments that reinforce our own opinions....atheists are no different.
I would further add that the corporate sin of humanity over the generations has damaged our world and we all suffer as a result of it. e.g. Deforestation has altered the natural climate.
2007-04-27 21:31:53 · answer #9 · answered by alan h 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
some believe that on the most elementary level of matter everything is goverened by rules. those rules we might not understand yeet but they believe there are. thus the behaviour of matter is computational, deterministic, it follows the rules. From that it also follows since a human is made out of matter that free will does not exist.
2007-04-27 21:29:55 · answer #10 · answered by gjmb1960 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
stubbornness. people are bored have nothing better to to do but to argue with each other. id be lien if i said Christians don't try to convert people because they do and there probably the worse for it. Christians DO NOT like the idea that Humans written the bible as witness to a man called Jesus and that the fact its not sold proof and they will deny deny deny. because they are afraid we might just be right. sorry are right.
2007-04-27 21:43:56 · answer #11 · answered by dragontears 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋