Friday, May 15, 2015

Is "Does God exist?" an important question?

I hear believers, usually those about to argue for God's existence, claim that the question "Does God exist?" is an important question. Is it? I do not think so.

There are two possibilities that the realities of the world we live in leave use. Either God does not care about our well being or God does not exist. The massive suffering in the world leaves only these options.

Some might say that God does care but is unable to do anything. This is the thesis of Harold Kushner's book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. But if there is a being somewhere who is impotent to act to stop even a little suffering in this world, how can this same being have created the universe. The power to create something from nothing could easily be used to feed starving masses.

Some people claim that Atheists are simply mad at God. And surely if such a creature existed we would have much to be mad about. I do not need to even point out the little suffering in my life, there is so much suffering in this world. If God exists, he is making no effort to reduce suffering. If he cared about our welling being, he would reduce suffering. Therefore, if God exists, he does not care about our well being.

Some believers, desperate to cling to a belief in a good God, claim that God has a greater plan. But God is supposed to be all knowing. Is God not smart enough to achieve his plan without so much suffering? If God does not know how to achieve his plan without human suffering or does not have the power to so achieve his plan, clearly he is not a god.

So we are left with two options, either God does not exist or he does not care about us. If God does exist, then he is irrelevant to us as he does not care. If he does not exist, God matters even less. 

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