Do you agree one of the following three conditions is true?
Regarding the existence of a deity and it's ability to selectively intervene in the course of human events, it occurs to me that one of the following three possibilities must be true.
God intervenes in our lives ALL of the time.
God intervenes in our lives SOME of the time.
God intervenes in our lives NONE of the time.
I wanted to carry each of these to their logical conclusion.
God intervenes in our lives ALL of the time.
If so, then there is little point to our existence. We are all chess pieces on god's 64 squares and there is no free will. God simply uses us for his own amusement. He plays with us as a child plays with dolls. Not much of an option, even for believers.
God intervenes in our lives SOME of the time.
If so, then god is is still controlling all events. This one really isn't an option. I'll explain. Because god has the ability to alter all events but only chooses to intervene some of the time, while allowing so-called human free will to determine the course of events at other times, god is still making the choice in all cases. Choosing nothing is still a choice. And if god intervenes in any singular event, it alters the course of all future events which again, puts god in control of all events. I've postulated this theory to believers who reject it out of hand but I think it does hold water. Having the ability to alter all events and choosing to not alter all of them is still a choice and determines the outcome of all events.
To put this in human terms, suppose I am standing near the edge of a cliff, and a toddler is stumbling towards the edge. I have the ability to grab the child and prevent a treacherous fall to a certain death, however, I do nothing and simply blame the child's death on my unquestionable wisdom to do nothing and for reasons that only I can know and refuse to share. Am I not responsible? Assuming that I am a decent, caring, loving, compassionate being who cherishes life and especially the life of an innocent child, am I not obligated to exercise my control of the situation and save the child from a terrible fate?
The typical god in our society is attributed with the quality of being a god of good will, good conscious, love and compassion. I know, forget all those stories in the OT, we know most believers have never bothered to read them. So the possibility of god intervening our lives some of the time really is just an illusion and a claim made by believers to explain away the obvious question of "why does god allow horrible things happen to good people?". The answer I usually get goes something like "god is so wise and mysterious we inferior humans can never question his wisdom". Yeah, right, I'm calling BS on that one.
God intervenes in our lives NONE of the time.
Which means god never does anything and all events are the result of human free will. This certainly would explain the world I observe on a daily basis. There is no demonstration of god's existence and any perceived existence in our lives is purely imagined and not real. Thus in this case, god does not exist, except in some people's minds. Note this is the only scenario where free human will can exist at all. If humans exercise free will, it can only happen when there is absolutely no intervention by a deity or god.
Any thoughts? Did I miss anything? Is there a fourth option?
1
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God is not good and actively fucks with us. That might look a lot like no god.
It also describes the OT God. He's a real ass.
ScottAHurst
Level 6
Jan 12, 2018
0
God intervenes? Free Will?
I am going to present you with two books both written by Antony Peaked.
the first book is called The Daemon: A Guide to Your Extraordinary Secret Self." the second book is called" Opening The Doors of Perception."
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam indoctrinates us into this silly notion that there's this dude and he has total control and a plan. Well, it sounds like your life seems to have some coincidences and some researchers aren't bound by silly beliefs that I'm afraid that people here are still bound by.
sirbikesalot06
Level 5
Dec 26, 2017
0
Ohferpetessake...all of this lovely eloquence wasted on a silly concept ("gawd" )?
With your brainpower, why aren't you inventing teleportation or something? Lol!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Dec 20, 2017
0
You missed Option 4: there is no god and everything happens because of the laws of physics. "Free will" is a name given to humans, animals, amoebas and everything else going about their daily lives doing what they will. It doesn't need a fancy name or special construct; it's called living.
When you start from THAT point of view, everything works out and no god is necessary in any conditions.
AtheistInNC
Level 7
Dec 13, 2017
2
Where in NC? Is there an atheist community there?
@PEGUS I live in Durham county, in the triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-RTP). There may be an Atheist community; I know the FFRF has a chapter here, so I would guess that indicates an Atheist community.
@AtheistInNC I have a summer house in Highlands and we have a great Humanist group there. Join us on Mondays at 10:30 in the public library if you are in the area. We would welcome you.
@PEGUS Thank you! I probably won't be on that side of NC until this spring or summer (I like to go to chimney rock and lake lure). I'll try to stop by.
You are almost assuming there is a god. Which god is my question-pick a god any god like you're choosing from a deck of cards.
sassygirl3869
Level 9
Dec 4, 2017
0
Any belief in an omnipotent, omniscient supernatural deity necessarily negates individual responsibility for your actions.
That's why it's so intoxicating, because people are childish. Our entire experiment in consciousness is hampered by this old fashioned thinkng and vested interests use religion deliberately to manipulate people who are badly educated and socially retarded.
Your analysis seems right enough to me !!
OutlawJosie
Level 6
Nov 30, 2017
1
a religious book is a waste of time as there is no proof of GODS . if there is such a thing he/she/it is some kind of an asshole anyway.
LeighShelton
Level 8
Nov 26, 2017
0
Does this god have the ability to be at any point in time? If so, this effects the nature and timing of any intervention.
I disagree that a lack of intervention means a god does not exist. One could assert that such a god might as well not exist, but one cannot know that this god will never intervene.
Based on your reasoning, none of this matters if this god created the universe, as that is the ultimate intervention, is it not? Especially if said god can travel freely in time.
bingst
Level 8
Nov 25, 2017
0
I would take some issue with how you framed these questions. They all presuppose, not just Theism, but Monotheism. Neither of these follow from external evidence, though I can see how you can structure a test of Monotheistic God Concepts using the frame proposed here.
Mweens
Level 4
Nov 25, 2017
1
Silly questions; they're based on the premise God exists.
Sigh
Hominid
Level 7
Nov 25, 2017
7
Eureka!
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