Can Atheists explain to me why there is evil and suffering in the world?

[KaNesDeath]

I am curious about atheistic perspective on this issue.

Instinct, lack of parenting, social conditioning, religious beliefs, financial gain and dozens of other reasons.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

There is no such thing as evil, only varying degrees of selfishness.
Most of what we call suffering results from people being selfish. The rest is mostly due to chance - misfortunes that occur by happenstance. Illness, crop failures, that sort of thing.
There's no overarching reason for suffering, but it is very human to want there to be one we can identify, which is why the notion of God and the devil, good and evil, persist.

 

[Byron Carter]

Murderers and rapists get laid like gangbusters.

No, women do not want the "nice guy".

It's relative to your social order. Valuable members of your tribe tend to get laid. The "most fit". In gang culture, that varies from our own definition of "good".

Rapists though? I'd disagree. Even in prison they are looked down upon. One step above child molesters.

 

[WiolentOne]

I would settle for just a coherent definition of evil

I'm more interested in a christians explanation to how/why evil and the devil exit. Especially their origins.

 

[Thurisaz]

Rapists though? I'd disagree. Even in prison they are looked down upon. One step above child molesters.

I didn't say they get laid in prison. At least not in the sense I used the word.

Women and men have very different perspectives. And no, few enough criminal groupies are from gang culture.

 

[Thurisaz]

I'm more interested in a christians explanation to how/why evil and the devil exit. Especially their origins.

You probably mean why the devil exists. Was created good, had freedom of choice, chose badly, became the ultimate gamma male. As to why there is evil in the world, God gave the latter to man, who then decided to listen to the devil and let death to the world and here we are.

 

[meauneau]

What the majority of a single species believes during your brief lifetime has absolutely no relevance to the existence of God. This is a matter of logic rather than religious belief.

You say "God" as if it were the name of one particular and determinate thing that is well defined and which exists. This isn't the case.

The reason why I and many atheists attack the traditional god of theism is because this is the most common conception of god and also the most commonly defended. Logically it makes sense that we would spend more time engaging with those who posit this traditional god than with those like you who have to modify their good to avoid its non existence.

The only consistent definition of God across religions and scientific posits is the omnipotent force when we run out of galaxies, universes, and whatever comes after that. The containing lair unbound by physical laws and finite materials which instead creates new ones from nothing. Everything after that is human subjectivity, local folklore.

You sound confused. Is there a scientific definition of god? lol. The rest of the paragraph make no sense, at least to me.

When you look at one specific version of God -- the Abrahamic God or some ancient Pagan God or whatever -- find an inconsistency in that God's human-written description -- all you're doing is scolding the guy who wrote it for sloppy work. That's it.

And your definition is not human-written, and therefore it is not inconsistent. OK.

What you have done is modified god in a way that avoids these inconsistencies. When new inconsistencies are found you will modify it again to escape the inconsistency; It is an ad hoc definition of god.

There is no logical relationship whatsoever between the existence of God and the correctness of human interpretations of God.

Since god cannot be verified directly we therefore rely on arguments. That the existence of god is independent of interpretations is obvious. But the definition of god if internally inconsistent or contradicts with observations then the the set of statements which constitute the definition is false.

 

[m52nickerson]

A complete non answer

How is it a non-answer? It really very simply, if you remove God or any other supernatural entity from the equation you are left with only what man does. Further more since man has evolved like all other animals our nature stems back to that past. Nature red in tooth and claw.

 

[AviatorShades]

You sound confused. Is there a scientific definition of god? lol. The rest of the paragraph make no sense, at least to me.

Yes, *I* sound confused...

 

[snakedafunky]

Different chemical processes in your brain.

 

[meauneau]

Yes, *I* sound confused...

Strong response. Who are you Deepak Chopra? LOL.

 

[badascan]

Because perspective...

 

[Blackened]

In my atheist days, I simply noted that while there is suffering, which results from evolutionary mechanisms that motivate gene survival machines being functional long enough to pass those genes on, there is no such thing as evil.

Logically coherent atheism is nihilistic.

And it's a shitty worldview to live in, I say this as a former nihilist.

Do whatever you have to to find purpose. I keep some of the Christian Values I was raised with and apply western philosophy to it.

 

[Thurisaz]

And it's a shitty worldview to live in, I say this as a former nihilist.

Suited me okay until it didn't. I was a happy nihilist, but I got better.

Do whatever you have to to find purpose. I keep some of the Christian Values I was raised with and apply western philosophy to it.

Most westerners subscribe to a perverted form of Christianity where they grab a few of their values, interpret them in ways that can only be achieved through serious feeling and live satisfied that they're good people. As a Christian I have a somewhat different perspective. While I am a protestant of sorts, I do believe sola scriptura was probably the stupidest idea ever.

 

[BAM]

whenever someone tries to explain why humans do what they do, rarely does it fit nicely in a box, regardless of approach, whether that be psychologically, biologically, philosophically or religiously based. I'm sure sometimes it's a range of factors, and sometimes a singular overwhelming factor.

 

[Blackened]

Suited me okay until it didn't. I was a happy nihilist, but I got better.


Most westerners subscribe to a perverted form of Christianity where they grab a few of their values, interpret them in ways that can only be achieved through serious feeling and live satisfied that they're good people. As a Christian I have a somewhat different perspective. While I am a protestant of sorts, I do believe sola scriptura was probably the stupidest idea ever.

Listening to Peterson describe "what religion really is" really opened my mind to it again.

Also, has listening to Jews explain the concept of "G-d". It's so much easier to grasp than the trinity. I feel like Christianity would be improved (as it is taught) with a more solid understanding of the "Old Testament". Never understood that Talmud shit the Jews are into, fucking weird.

I could see myself rejoining Christianity if the circumstances were right and I were placed in the right community.

 

[RhinoRush]

What has this thread got to do with politics?

 

[Blackened]

Different chemical processes in your brain.

The biggest problem I had with this is consciousness itself.

The mere ability to experience, and the experience of experience itself, "time" and it's relationship to self... I just don't know anymore man.

Certainly feels like someone is in the drivers seat, know what I mean? But do reactions and chemicals plugging into receptors create this "illusion"? Why doesn't HBr reacting with cis-butene not "experience"?

Obviously if I were going to make this a coherent argument, we'd have to go through a lot more steps (and I'd be interested in doing so as a thought experiment), but I think you get my point.

 

[King Joffery]

Good/Evil is all just brain chemistry, a small change in the brain can completely alter a person's personality. There are numerous reports of people who have gone from having a nice friendly personality to cold and selfish after suffering a bit of brain damage.

There was even a case of a man who developed pedophilia urges so went to the doctor and was told he had a brain tumor, got it removed and the urges went away. The urges eventually came back so he returned to the doctor to find the tumor had returned.

 

[Thurisaz]

Listening to Peterson describe "what religion really is" really opened my mind to it again.

Might listen to it as well. I like philosophical and religious stuff and have, along with Christianity, deep affinity to the Norse gods. ATM I'm reading "Summoning the Gods" by Collin Cleary, even if it is deeply esoteric pagan stuff with Hegel and Heidegger of all things.

Also, has listening to Jews explain the concept of "G-d". It's so much easier to grasp than the trinity.

I don't overmuch like Jews talking religion. The trinity is weird, as it makes God almost like a family instead of one being, but it's not explained clearly. Obviously it is something we don't really have words for, and thus have to approach it metaphorically if at all. I don't concern myself with it.

I feel like Christianity would be improved (as it is taught) with a more solid understanding of the "Old Testament".

Well, yeah. Lots of Christianity as it is taught today isn't Christianity. A reliable way to identify if they are is to see if they adhere to what the Bible says. The congregations seldom try hiding it and the chaff is really easy to identify from the wheat.

Never understood that Talmud shit the Jews are into, fucking weird.

Fucking evil.

I could see myself rejoining Christianity if the circumstances were right and I were placed in the right community.

I'm in no Christian community per se myself, but I'm interested in one an acquaintance told me about recently. Just trying to live a Christian life and studying the Bible is enough for me right now.