If God exists, why did he create life? (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by dhw, Friday, December 10, 2010, 20:19 (4885 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

dhw: Here, then, is the challenge: if you believe in the existence of God, and can disregard the ancient, man-made texts with their unsubstantiated stories of dialogues between God and humans, can you find anything in this scenario that contradicts your own experience and knowledge of the world?-TONY: In a word, Yes. (and I know you expected that from me)
You are only looking at it from a negative perspective, i.e. attributing any possible motive to vanity, desire for praise and worship, morbid enjoyment at our own wanton destruction of everything around us. 
What about other possibly positive attributes? The simple joy of creation, for instance, the desire to share the gift of consciousness, which according to all accounts did not exist prior to the UI. Perhaps even to see if, given enough time, a simple consciousness could reach the potential that It possesses.-Thank you for responding. I did indeed expect opposition from you, although I'm quite surprised at its nature. The praise element was the tiniest of asides ("perhaps God gets a little thrill of vanity when churchgoers praise him") in the context of his not intervening. The whole of my argument centres on the motive of entertainment. You have begun your critique with humans, whereas I have carefully prepared the way by asking what God might have got out of dinosaurs ... a difficult question for those who think anthropocentrically. I've incorporated the "simple joy of creation", through my various references to creative artists and experimentation with different forms. Simple joy, complicated joy, saints and sinners ... it's all part of what I mean by entertainment. "To see if a simple consciousness could reach the potential that It possesses": what for? To satisfy his own curiosity ... all part of the entertainment. "To share the gift of consciousness" ... if you like, but since there is no communication, what would be the purpose of the gift? A conscious form of life offers a far wider variety of pleasures. What makes you think that entertainment is all wanton destruction? Have you never enjoyed a love story? Besides, I've included "love, beauty, happiness, joy", although it's true that I've suggested these are "almost certainly" outweighed by the suffering. I think the negative perspective is your own imposition, and in any case the positive attributes do not contradict my scenario in any way. So what exactly is your objection to life conceived as a show created by God for his own enjoyment, with all its good and all its bad?-TONY: I also notice in your post that there seems to be a sense that free will is not an attribute that would have been granted, or else we would be able to choose not to be the dancing monkey's that your scenarios propose.-There is absolutely no hint of dancing monkeys in my post! I have made it clear that he watches us and does not intervene, and a lack of free will would entirely defeat the purpose I have suggested! What sort of entertainment would it be if he knew what was coming?