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Why does God care? The Moral Problem

Hypersonic

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I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.
 
Our brains are too puny to fully conceptualize God and His limitless imagination and infinite creativity. I'll refer you to Pope's Essay on Man:

What can we reason, but from what we know?
Of man what see we, but his station here,
From which to reason, or to which refer?
Through worlds unnumber'd though the God be known,
'Tis ours to trace him only in our own.

An Essay on Man: Epistle I by Alexander Pope : The Poetry Foundation
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

Who cares why God cares?? If you (or anyone) needs a deity to be a decent human being, you're lost in any event. If there is one, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. If there isn't one? Well, what difference does it make? You're a Grade A #1 Asshole.
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

If God exists in the means people say he does, I imagine caring about everyone and everything takes little effort.

However, I don't believe that - I don't actually believe he exists like everyone else seems to believe in him, and I don't believe he actually gives a care.
 
I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

What makes you assume that God would have to care to exist? Can't really say the Old Testament account of God is that touchy feely.......
 
I believe that God is love, and if that's the case, then God cares because that's what love does.
 
Our brains are too puny to fully conceptualize God and His limitless imagination and infinite creativity. I'll refer you to Pope's Essay on Man:

What can we reason, but from what we know?
Of man what see we, but his station here,
From which to reason, or to which refer?
Through worlds unnumber'd though the God be known,
'Tis ours to trace him only in our own.

An Essay on Man: Epistle I by Alexander Pope : The Poetry Foundation


If this is true, why do we bind humans to religious morality by saying "God wills it?" If God is unknown to us in the physical sense why are laws in essence, known to us? It's almost like saying I don't know God, but I know what God commands.
 
Who cares why God cares?? If you (or anyone) needs a deity to be a decent human being, you're lost in any event. If there is one, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. If there isn't one? Well, what difference does it make? You're a Grade A #1 Asshole.

If you've come to be hostile why come in this thread?
 
If God exists in the means people say he does, I imagine caring about everyone and everything takes little effort.

However, I don't believe that - I don't actually believe he exists like everyone else seems to believe in him, and I don't believe he actually gives a care.

Well I pose the question because it poses a problem of personal significance.
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

Strip away our religious beliefs? You might as well tell us to remove our own skins.

You approach the question from the wrong perspective, so it is impossible for you to understand. First open your heart. Better yet, ask God to open your heart. Then you might be able to understand.

God's nature is mostly a mystery to us. That He has informed us through many sayings and acts that He loves us and has concern for us is enough.
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.



How, exactly, do you expect me to answer a question about God while setting aside all religious beliefs?


The Bible says God knows every sparrow that falls. How much more then does he regard a person?

A being of limited intellect, limited time and attention probably would not care about any individual human's actions, IF they had a whole universe to play with and divert their attention.

An omniscient, omnipresent God would by definition have no problem (no shortage of bandwidth, to use a computer analogy) in paying attention to one human being while simultaneously paying attention to the whole universe.


To put it another way, if you had five children does that mean you love each child less than if you had only two? No.
 
Strip away our religious beliefs? You might as well tell us to remove our own skins.

You approach the question from the wrong perspective, so it is impossible for you to understand. First open your heart. Better yet, ask God to open your heart. Then you might be able to understand.

God's nature is mostly a mystery to us. That He has informed us through many sayings and acts that He loves us and has concern for us is enough.

Ok so tell me in the midst of your faith what if your beliefs are incompatible with an ancient race who exist in Andromeda? What if they say their moral code is superior and that God truly doesn't care? Would it matter that a species far more advanced would effect theology and morality?
 
How, exactly, do you expect me to answer a question about God while setting aside all religious beliefs?


The Bible says God knows every sparrow that falls. How much more then does he regard a person?

A being of limited intellect, limited time and attention probably would not care about any individual human's actions, IF they had a whole universe to play with and divert their attention.

An omniscient, omnipresent God would by definition have no problem (no shortage of bandwidth, to use a computer analogy) in paying attention to one human being while simultaneously paying attention to the whole universe.


To put it another way, if you had five children does that mean you love each child less than if you had only two? No.

First off, last sentence was a bad example, for one, I am not biologically related to God, if that were so, that would make God coporeal. Second to care, is to evoke emotion and to be emotional, is to have a human sense of feelings. It's problematic. The Biblical God is problematic because he (God) cannot get morality right. Vengence, anger, condemnation are all human elements of behavior. It is thus a moral problem
 
First off, last sentence was a bad example, for one, I am not biologically related to God, if that were so, that would make God coporeal. Second to care, is to evoke emotion and to be emotional, is to have a human sense of feelings. It's problematic. The Biblical God is problematic because he (God) cannot get morality right. Vengence, anger, condemnation are all human elements of behavior. It is thus a moral problem


As you wish.
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care?

I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

First off, it's tenets, not tenants. ;)

My personal view on the matter is that God isn't something which is outside of, and apart from, ourselves, and that we are essentially expressions of it. That being the case, I don't believe that there is a separate God out there somewhere which involves itself in human affairs. I do believe that individuals choose to either let their Godliness show, or deny that it exists, and that for most of us, it's a mixed bag. To me, God is something that I am not separated from, but is rather something that I am a part of. I also believe that nothing happens outside of the will of God, eventhough we may not understand the why's of it. I think that we are all heading in the same direction, but by different paths, and that whatever we get, is what we need in order to facilitate our growth.
 
First off, it's tenets, not tenants. ;)

My personal view on the matter is that God isn't something which is outside of, and apart from, ourselves, and that we are essentially expressions of it. That being the case, I don't believe that there is a separate God out there somewhere which involves itself in human affairs. I do believe that individuals choose to either let their Godliness show, or deny that it exists, and that for most of us, it's a mixed bag. To me, God is something that I am not separated from, but is rather something that I am a part of. I also believe that nothing happens outside of the will of God, eventhough we may not understand the why's of it. I think that we are all heading in the same direction, but by different paths, and that whatever we get, is what we need in order to facilitate our growth.

Sorry work computer auto corrects so thanks in the correction, but um based on your post, define God?
 
Sorry work computer auto corrects so thanks in the correction, but um based on your post, define God?

God is, by the standards of most religious thought, unknowable. The closest thing in my mind (in simple terms) would be something like creative energy.
 
God is, by the standards of most religious thought, unknowable. The closest thing in my mind (in simple terms) would be something like creative energy.

Well God in the popular world's religions is knowable (See Judaic, Islamic, Christian--As all 3 presume the laws are from God which the claim suggests to know), to tell me, your idea is of God is "creative energy" so what is the difference between your idea of God and the "Demiurge?"
 
Well God in the popular world's religions is knowable (See Judaic, Islamic, Christian--As all 3 presume the laws are from God which the claim suggests to know), to tell me, your idea is of God is "creative energy" so what is the difference between your idea of God and the "Demiurge?"

Well, no, ir really isn't. In religious texts, you will se God referred to as several different concepts. Unknowable, the "I Am", among others. You will see it referred to as Love itself, and as The Word. There are no concrete descriptions of God itself. My idea of God is my own, and is based on my own perception and understanding, based on my own experiences.
 
If you've come to be hostile why come in this thread?

Hypersonic, my apologies. If you thought I was referring to YOU being a Grade A #1 etc., it was my careless writing style that caused you to believe that. I received an infraction for that post. Deserved because it sure came off as if the "you" I was referring to was YOU. I meant it to be "the BIG you" -- as in "People who believe this way are Grade A #1 . . . " Again, I apologize.
 
I know guys, I know, it's easy to answer this question using the basic tenants of religious text and the empirical world we see as many religionist often reminds us of our biological nature, to sustenance, to miracles. But setting all theological findings aside, why would God care? According to Astrophysicists there are about roughly 300 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, but estimates on how many galaxies show that there is roughly 100 to 200 billion galaxies. That figure to me is incomprehensible because I am so small in such a vast universe and if some creature in a vast unknown galaxy dies I wont shed a tear, not because I'm incapable of mourning for that creature or because I don't care, but because it has no effect on my life because I don't know that creature and even if I did , I haven't established enough feelings to care. I personally feel like when a human being dies in comparison to the universe it is as if a fire ant somewhere in South America has died. I personally feel no significance to this planet nor to the universe so my question is why would God care about the affairs of various beings? If you believe in aliens then this question also applies as well. It's hard to fathom why such a deity that is beyond comprehension and who, designed this universe would care about the morality of mere coporeal beings.

Why would God care whether I help an elderly lady across the street, or shoot a small child in the face? If mean if you strip the religious moral text away from this question then you come to a type of pragmatic agnosticism. I cannot fathom why or how a deity would create all these galaxies, billions of them with the possibility of life yet would hold a mere microbe called a "human being" in contempt for some moral deviance. I mean, let us assume there is intelligent life in its own peculiar form, it is impossible to know that these beings would have the same moral code as humans and if so then their set of moral standards are obviously different but seeing out moral codes may vary in the midst of all things I have to ask again why would God care?

Again strip away your religious beliefs for a moment and try to answer this question.

Because He is pure and Holy. We are made in His image, a special creation. That's why.
 
Ok so tell me in the midst of your faith what if your beliefs are incompatible with an ancient race who exist in Andromeda? What if they say their moral code is superior and that God truly doesn't care? Would it matter that a species far more advanced would effect theology and morality?

It would be interesting to meet such a people and find out what their take on the metaphysical is, but I don't know what that would have to do with my faith. There are many who do not believe as Christians do, and many of them consider themselves to be superior, that's just par for the course.
 
Probably the closest you'll get to a concession is "Why should god care about this sin more than that sin?" Religious types tend to respond with well, there is no other life out there, or at least nothing approaching humans/deity, and that god is as incomprehensibly able to care for every soul as the universe is incomprehensibly huge. What i can't conceive of is why this deity would make so many billions of galaxies, yet keep every living thing confined to this one planet, and a moral code created only a few thousand years ago.
 
Probably the closest you'll get to a concession is "Why should god care about this sin more than that sin?" Religious types tend to respond with well, there is no other life out there, or at least nothing approaching humans/deity, and that god is as incomprehensibly able to care for every soul as the universe is incomprehensibly huge. What i can't conceive of is why this deity would make so many billions of galaxies, yet keep every living thing confined to this one planet, and a moral code created only a few thousand years ago.

And this is called being logical.

+1 my friend :)
 
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