... and what would God say to Stephen Fry?

[tamedlion]

Objectively we can know that what he is saying is wrong, a bit like we can know that if someone says “2 + 2 = 5” they are wrong.

What we can’t “judge” is the state of his soul. We can’t assume that he has enough understanding or free will to be in a state of mortal sin or hell-bound if he doesn’t repent. Especially given his mental illness.

And we need not judge a person to find out why they think wrongly and help them. We don’t call a maths student stupid who gets an equation wrong, because the thing least likely to help them learn is in fact to judge them as stupid and call them such.

Who in their right mind would try to judge some ones soul or call him stupid because he got a math equation wrong? But if you could be a good lad and get pass from calling him stupid to let him know that he’s got it wrong, wouldn’t it be judging?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

But…if there* is* a “all-loving” and “all-powerful” God, what to make of bone cancer in little children?
It’s much easier to explain it if there isn’t a God.

Sorry but I can personally attest that a heart wouldn’t shed a tear for the bone cancer children and would more likely advocate their relief from this world (a.k.a. murder). Being a intrigued by Lovecraft myself, I tend to smirk at the idea of what I’d be in a universe like that. Chances are I’d be another Curwen minus the stupidity of cultural inflexibility. I’d be twice as hedonistic, power hungry, and nigh unstoppable than I already am.

And believe it or not, I actually don’t say this to imply that religion is somehow a mental construct I impose to hold myself back. (Because really, it doesn’t do that for me anymore given that I’m pretty lapsed Catholic to begin with.)

On the flip side, that’s why I’m more often curious than offended by people who say the things Fry does. I for one have a lot of rather… ill-tempered questions to ask our Christian God. Some of the posters think it’s the ultimate arrogance yet somehow I wonder how many of them actually lived under spiritual tyranny (self-imposed and otherwise).

It’s why I’ve grown a bit of contempt for the story of Job. They say it’s the story of a man who stood fast in his faith in spite of his God’s abandonment. I say it’s your typical pro-religious propaganda, designed to glorify the life of the hapless mortal being ping-ponged across two cosmic players.

If there’s an answer to the Problem of Evil, Job’s story is the worst (if it’s even legitimate).