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Commentary

Can atheists make sense of good and evil?

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Here is a post by Michael Egnor at Evolution News. He is responding to complaints by an atheistic evolutionary biologist named Jerry Coyne about the problems of evil and suffering.

Excerpt:

There are, of course, countless attempts to understand how an infinitely good God can allow evil. I believe that it is because he gives us freedom, and freedom entails the possibility of evil. My dilemma is with natural evil. Why did God not stop the Indian Ocean tsunami? Why does he allow innocent kids to die from accidents or disease? There are theories to account for natural evil. I still don’t know.

But there’s an issue with Coyne’s question. This is it: I believe in God, and as such the question, “Why is there evil?” is a natural question for me.

But what warrant has Coyne to ask that question? Coyne is an atheist, and therefore he believes that there is no transcendent purpose in the world. And Coyne is a Darwinist, so he believes that there is no purpose in the origin of man. And Coyne is a materialist, so he believes that the human mind is, in some way, merely the brain — evolved meat.

Does it make sense for an atheist to ask, “why is there evil?”

This might might be a fun question to ask your co-workers, family and friends who are atheists. What do they mean by good and evil? Is there a way humans ought to be that is independent of personal preferences and arbitrary cultural conventions? Is there a way that the universe ought to be? If there is no way the universe ought to be, then what are we to make about atheist complaints about evil and suffering?

Leave a comment with your story, but try not to get fired. Just ask questions, don’t fight. Unless you know what you are doing!

I’ll leave some hints in the tags for the post about what I would say to answer the problem of natural evil. Here is my full response to the problem of evil. Here is my full response to the problem of divine hiddenness. And my full response to the problem of those who have never heard of Jesus. And my full response to the problem of religious pluralism. These are all from the index of Christian arguments and rebuttals.

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News

Reports on Stephen Meyer’s intelligent design lecture at Oklahoma University

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Post with links is here on Evolution News.

Excerpt:

Well, the news out of Oklahoma about Stephen Meyer’s intelligent design presentation at the University last night is quite encouraging. Over three hundred people reportedly turned out for the lecture and discussion following. For all the potty-mouthed bluster that local Darwin activists offered up ahead of time, almost everyone in attendance, whether for or against ID, was civil and respectful during the presentation and discussion last night.

The local daily paper, The Norman Transcript, has two stories today, one about the event last night and one about the screening of Darwin’s Dilemma this evening.

[…]Over at the OU IDEA Club’s website last night club president Josh Malone live-blogged his notes and thoughts about the event and gave a brief rundown of the Q&A session that followed. The photo here was sent in by him.

I’m pretty happy because I just received a free DVD of “Darwin’s Dilemma” in the mail from the Discovery Institute. I donate to DI to support scholars, like Stephen Meyer, in their research, speaking, and debating. Yesterday, I received a debate featuring William Lane Craig that he asked me to transcribe for his web site. (I transcribed a previous debate for him). There are lots of little ways a layman can help out the really smart guys and gals!

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News

How Democrats vote on illegal immigration, abortion, marriage and corporations

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Here’s a little round-up of stories (mostly from ECM) that will help you to understand what it is that Democrats really stand for. The best way to know what they stand for is NOT to listen to speeches or media bias. The best way to know what they stand for is to look at how they vote.

Democrats want Americans to pay for health care for illegal immigrants

Story here from The Hill.

Excerpt:

Senate Finance Committee Democrats rejected a proposed a requirement that immigrants prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for federal healthcare programs.

Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that current law and the healthcare bill under consideration are too lax and leave the door open to illegal immigrants defrauding the government using false or stolen identities to obtain benefits.

Grassley’s amendment was beaten back 10-13 on a party-line vote.

Democrats want to destroy traditional marriage

Story here from The Hill.

Excerpt:

A House Democrat will introduce a bill on Tuesday to repeal the infamous Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but he will not have the support of one of the law’s biggest critics.

The latest effort to revise federal marriage guidelines comes from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House’s subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, which oversees DOMA. His proposal, which he will unveil at a press conference next week, will include a provision to allow same-sex couples in one state to marry elsewhere, return home and still receive federal benefits.

Nadler has already secured the support of two congressmen — Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who will co-sponsor his effort.

Democrats want to fund abortion in their health care bill

Story from Life Site News.

Excerpt:

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) proposed to amend the “America’s Health Future Act of 2009” under consideration by the Finance Committee led by Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). His amendments would have codified current conscience protections for health-care providers with moral objections to abortion and also made permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from paying for abortions.

Hatch instead proposed that women could purchase additional coverage for abortions through “riders” that would not be subsidized by the government.

However, the amendments were rejected by the Committee by votes of 13 – 10. In both amendments, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) joined committee Republicans in support of the measures, while pro-abortion Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) joined Baucus’ committee Democrats to vote against the bill.

Democrats support taxpayer subsidies for big corporations that help them get elected

Story from Green Hell Blog.

Excerpt:

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s climate bill set to be released today contains a provision that will compensate General Electric quite nicely for its lobbying and media efforts promoting climate legislation.

[…]So the Boxer bill would compel airlines and the military, when purchasing new aircraft and new aircraft engines, to purchase more expensive “green” engines made by GE, according to standards set by the current and GE-lobbied Obama administration.

Keep in mind that GE CEO Jeff Immelt is member of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Council.

This is what people who voted for Obama voted for, knowingly or unknowingly. They are still responsible for these policies.

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