Fine tuning specifics: Reasons for God (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 09:27 (2768 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Another take by Marvin Olasky:
https://townhall.com/columnists/marvinolasky/2017/04/25/gods-fingerprints-are-everywher...

Although I am sceptical about precise figures relating to unsolved and possibly insoluble mysteries, I accept that life and evolution are both miraculous events, and one needs a mighty restrictive pair of blinkers to dismiss the argument for design. Sadly, the rest of the article reveals an attitude just as blinkered.

QUOTE: The second proof of God’s existence: 20th-century theodicy. Decisions by three atheists -- Mao, Stalin, and Hitler -- led to 100 million deaths. Some people say that shows a merciful God does not exist, but we should flip the surmise: Atheism kills….

We’ve heard this nonsense over and over again. Atheism does not kill. Mao, Stalin and Hitler did not slaughter millions in the name of atheism, and I do not know of any atheist literature that can be interpreted as an order to unbelievers to go and kill anyone who does not share their unbelief. Olasky generously mentions Christians - though not Muslims - who have slaughtered others, but they only did it on a smaller scale (ah, so that's OK, then) and claimed godlike status! (I thought they believed they were doing the will of God.) And to say that the megalomania of dictators proves the existence of God is a non sequitur that is not worth wasting time on.

QUOTE: "Why don’t we wake up every morning and realize our existence is miraculous?”

Does he believe that atheists are incapable of appreciating the miraculousness of life?

QUOTE: But here’s a third reason to believe in God: I’ve met some men in their 20s whose thinking as teens was so destructive that it looked as if they would soon be dead, imprisoned, or traitorous. I was one of them. But “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” -- and the Bible tells me so.

The third reason to believe in God is that he believes in God and it helped him to become a better person. I appreciate that such faith can indeed be a power for good. So can a placebo. It doesn’t prove God exists, let alone that his mercies never come to an end.

David’s comment: His message is the micro point discussions we have on one tiny aspect of God's reality are beside the point. The overall picture proves God beyond a reasonable doubt.

Apart from the Goldilocks argument, which we have agreed on many times, if the rest of our discussions sank to this level of thinking, I would close the site down.