Thoughts on Evil and the sky
One of the more interesting topics my philosophy professor covered was the subject of evil. Before I go into that however, I'll give a short preface explaining my thoughts. Prior to taking this class one of the main reasons why I so strongly believed that the God people believed in was not all-good was because evil existed. Here's a simple argument for evil.
1. If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good (all-PKG, for short).
2. If an all-PKG being existed, then there would be no evil.
3. There is evil.
TF
4. There is no God.
Bam, there it was. That was all the proof I needed that God didn't exist. How could there be so much sorrow, pain, hunger, death, and of course, evil if God was supposed to be all-PKG? On a side note, I also think that this simple statement makes an all-powerful God impossible. Can God create an object so massive that even He can't move it? If He can, He isn't all-powerful, if He can't, He isn't all-powerful either. On a side side note, why is God mentioned as He? Why can't God be She? Either God really is a He because the Bible is the word of God or it just proves that humans wrote it with the bias of male dominance back in the day. Back to my main thought. I never really sought out an alternative to explain how evil could exist while God existed as well.
Enter, my philosophy professor.
What my professor brought up were two interesting points on why evil can exist alongside God. Both were right under my nose with one being more obvious than the other. The more obvious theory was free will. In order for God to create a perfect world for us He would have to create a world where we were able to make our own decision, detrimental to ourselves or not. A question my textbook asks is, "Why couldn't God have made us free agents who always freely choose to do what is right?" I think that's a rather dumb statement. If God created us to always freely choose the right thing then He has manipulated us to do so destroying the free will that he presumably gave us. The free will argument didn't interest me nearly as much as the other argument for how evil can exist.
The really interesting argument for why evil exists is the soul-building argument. Basically, it says that evil exists because without it, we wouldn't be able to live to our full potential. One thing I've learned throughout my life is that overcoming any hardship makes you a stronger person. Thinking back on my past hardships and my family's hardships it's made me a much more humble person. I wouldn't be who I was without my past suffering. I'm glad I am the kind of person I am now. Patience is a virtue and I never really realized how patient and calm I am until people pointed it out. I've learned to take always take a step back and put myself in the other person's shoes before judging their actions. Even today while I was cleaning a table off a customer said to me, "Is anyone servicing this area? We've been sitting here for over ten minutes and nobody has even taken our drink order." So, for a split second I had a pang of animosity followed by a wave of calm. Yeah, I would probably be annoyed if I was him too, maybe not as angry but I gave him a free pass because not everyone is like me. I think I'm going off topic again. The only problem with the soul-building argument is that if there is nothing to gain from the suffering and it is pure evil then what's the point? Why is there pointless suffering? For instance, a man that has no family, no friends, no connections to anyone, starves to death. What was there to gain? All-in-all my philosophy professor got me to believe that evil is necessary for soul building. It is what makes us us.
It's getting late and my other thought I had is about distant objects. What I mean by that are objects like stars, other planets, clouds, and the Moon. I know most people probably don't take much time if any to appreciate just how beautiful and amazing the sky is. I love looking at the sky when it has clouds while I'm driving. It might not be safe but it sure if picturesque. I never ceases to amaze me how close to a painting it looks. Just a backdrop of white fluffs. When there's lightning I actively look around to try and look at some cool looking ones. Looking at the sky at night is just as dazzling. Whenever I come home late at night from work or going out I'll look up at the sky and just stare at the stars. People just don't realize that each star is so far away that we can't even begin to fathom such a distance. Our brain simply can't visualize a distance that far. Looking into a star is like looking back in time since light takes time to travel. I might be looking at a star that no longer exists for all I know. Each star has it's own solar system floating around it and just imagining other planets is crazy. Another night object we take for granted as just a circle or crescent in the sky is the moon. It's easy to just see it as a circle and forget that it is a solid land mass and that we could be up there walking around on it gazing back onto Earth. Makes me sad that we have all this potential to go beyond our planet and will never make any significant move outward in my lifetime. I hope rides to the moon get cheaper and more convenient when I'm older. I suppose I just appreciate just how massive the universe is. Some people are grateful to God that we have such a wonderful place to live. I find it more beautiful and fascinating by looking at how since the beginning of time all the different moments in the history of Earth from the geography to the biology created where we live and what we are now.
1. If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good (all-PKG, for short).
2. If an all-PKG being existed, then there would be no evil.
3. There is evil.
TF
4. There is no God.
Bam, there it was. That was all the proof I needed that God didn't exist. How could there be so much sorrow, pain, hunger, death, and of course, evil if God was supposed to be all-PKG? On a side note, I also think that this simple statement makes an all-powerful God impossible. Can God create an object so massive that even He can't move it? If He can, He isn't all-powerful, if He can't, He isn't all-powerful either. On a side side note, why is God mentioned as He? Why can't God be She? Either God really is a He because the Bible is the word of God or it just proves that humans wrote it with the bias of male dominance back in the day. Back to my main thought. I never really sought out an alternative to explain how evil could exist while God existed as well.
Enter, my philosophy professor.
What my professor brought up were two interesting points on why evil can exist alongside God. Both were right under my nose with one being more obvious than the other. The more obvious theory was free will. In order for God to create a perfect world for us He would have to create a world where we were able to make our own decision, detrimental to ourselves or not. A question my textbook asks is, "Why couldn't God have made us free agents who always freely choose to do what is right?" I think that's a rather dumb statement. If God created us to always freely choose the right thing then He has manipulated us to do so destroying the free will that he presumably gave us. The free will argument didn't interest me nearly as much as the other argument for how evil can exist.
The really interesting argument for why evil exists is the soul-building argument. Basically, it says that evil exists because without it, we wouldn't be able to live to our full potential. One thing I've learned throughout my life is that overcoming any hardship makes you a stronger person. Thinking back on my past hardships and my family's hardships it's made me a much more humble person. I wouldn't be who I was without my past suffering. I'm glad I am the kind of person I am now. Patience is a virtue and I never really realized how patient and calm I am until people pointed it out. I've learned to take always take a step back and put myself in the other person's shoes before judging their actions. Even today while I was cleaning a table off a customer said to me, "Is anyone servicing this area? We've been sitting here for over ten minutes and nobody has even taken our drink order." So, for a split second I had a pang of animosity followed by a wave of calm. Yeah, I would probably be annoyed if I was him too, maybe not as angry but I gave him a free pass because not everyone is like me. I think I'm going off topic again. The only problem with the soul-building argument is that if there is nothing to gain from the suffering and it is pure evil then what's the point? Why is there pointless suffering? For instance, a man that has no family, no friends, no connections to anyone, starves to death. What was there to gain? All-in-all my philosophy professor got me to believe that evil is necessary for soul building. It is what makes us us.
It's getting late and my other thought I had is about distant objects. What I mean by that are objects like stars, other planets, clouds, and the Moon. I know most people probably don't take much time if any to appreciate just how beautiful and amazing the sky is. I love looking at the sky when it has clouds while I'm driving. It might not be safe but it sure if picturesque. I never ceases to amaze me how close to a painting it looks. Just a backdrop of white fluffs. When there's lightning I actively look around to try and look at some cool looking ones. Looking at the sky at night is just as dazzling. Whenever I come home late at night from work or going out I'll look up at the sky and just stare at the stars. People just don't realize that each star is so far away that we can't even begin to fathom such a distance. Our brain simply can't visualize a distance that far. Looking into a star is like looking back in time since light takes time to travel. I might be looking at a star that no longer exists for all I know. Each star has it's own solar system floating around it and just imagining other planets is crazy. Another night object we take for granted as just a circle or crescent in the sky is the moon. It's easy to just see it as a circle and forget that it is a solid land mass and that we could be up there walking around on it gazing back onto Earth. Makes me sad that we have all this potential to go beyond our planet and will never make any significant move outward in my lifetime. I hope rides to the moon get cheaper and more convenient when I'm older. I suppose I just appreciate just how massive the universe is. Some people are grateful to God that we have such a wonderful place to live. I find it more beautiful and fascinating by looking at how since the beginning of time all the different moments in the history of Earth from the geography to the biology created where we live and what we are now.
Read The Enneads by Plotinus. Also read Confessions by Augustine. You MUST. Right up your alley and some of the most challenging and interesting texts I have ever encountered. Also, I think evil exists because good exists. There can't be one without the other.
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