It adds that blaming God for human oppression and suffering misses an important point.Oh come on, God, that canard doesn't hold up to logical analysis.
"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response, as read by Friend.
1) The free will theodicy fails under the analysis of making "freedom" an unqualified, universal highest good and goal, unconditioned by its consequences:
If you really believe that it is better to honor someone's freedom to do as they wish than to restrict that freedom when it causes harm, then you would committed to having to introduce, at every opportunity, the option to do wrong, since this represents free will, no matter the consequences. Thus, the next time your toddler asks for scissors or a knife or a gun, if you deny her, you are not being God-like and giving her unconditional freedom. That's a retarded claim, isn't it?
Also, the capacity for humans to act out their will/intentions must be separated out from the will/intent itself. The rapist who waits for a jogger in the park will only succeed if the contingencies, such as when a jogger decides to go jogging, whether she is carrying pepper spray, whether she has taken self-defense classes, whether a cop goes by at the same time...etc., etc., etc., are all correctly in place. God is supposed to be in control of these contingencies that allow evil to actually occur.
Also, why would one person's will be granted, while both another person's and God's own wills are overturned?
2) The free will theodicy fails under the burden of natural, impersonal evils:
No one wills for a tsunami to wipe out 200,000 people in Indonesia. No one wills for AIDS to eradicate millions of human beings and orphan millions more. No one wills for natural disasters and natural evils at all...except the one in control of Nature, apparently...
Quit fooling around and just admit you don't exist, God! :)
In related news, please explain to me, someone, anyone, how your 10 Commandments form the basis of our Constitutional Repupublic and its laws? Go down the list of the Bill of Rights and you find direct conflicts between the 10C and the 10A (amendments). It takes a mental contortionist to hold to the otherwise. Our laws are in no wise based on the ancient Jewish laws, and societies had laws against murder and theft and perjury long before (and long after) the Jews did.
If you really believe that it is better to honor someone's freedom to do as they wish than to restrict that freedom when it causes harm, then you would committed to having to introduce, at every opportunity, the option to do wrong, since this represents free will, no matter the consequences. Thus, the next time your toddler asks for scissors or a knife or a gun, if you deny her, you are not being God-like and giving her unconditional freedom. That's a retarded claim, isn't it?
Also, the capacity for humans to act out their will/intentions must be separated out from the will/intent itself. The rapist who waits for a jogger in the park will only succeed if the contingencies, such as when a jogger decides to go jogging, whether she is carrying pepper spray, whether she has taken self-defense classes, whether a cop goes by at the same time...etc., etc., etc., are all correctly in place. God is supposed to be in control of these contingencies that allow evil to actually occur.
Also, why would one person's will be granted, while both another person's and God's own wills are overturned?
2) The free will theodicy fails under the burden of natural, impersonal evils:
No one wills for a tsunami to wipe out 200,000 people in Indonesia. No one wills for AIDS to eradicate millions of human beings and orphan millions more. No one wills for natural disasters and natural evils at all...except the one in control of Nature, apparently...
Quit fooling around and just admit you don't exist, God! :)
In related news, please explain to me, someone, anyone, how your 10 Commandments form the basis of our Constitutional Repupublic and its laws? Go down the list of the Bill of Rights and you find direct conflicts between the 10C and the 10A (amendments). It takes a mental contortionist to hold to the otherwise. Our laws are in no wise based on the ancient Jewish laws, and societies had laws against murder and theft and perjury long before (and long after) the Jews did.
