Sunday, June 17, 2012

Conversation Between The Philosopher & The Theist III

Philosopher: If god had asked you to kill your only child (as he does in the bible many times) would you do that?

Theist: Something is not quite right there. God also commands "Thou shalt not kill".

P: Indeed, so how do you explain such contradictions?

T: The Lord comandeth and the Lord can also take away rules.

P: And how do you know that is god even giving or taking rules? Could it be a devil instead?

T: Simple, it is faith.

P: Not quite. You have to use your own judgment. When I asked you would kill your child on the command of god you had to use your own judgment to determine whether you thought this was a command worth following or not. And then when I asked if you knew for certain whether this was indeed god or the devil commanding such a thing you had to use your own judgment.

T: But God is more powerful than man's judgment!

P: Is he now? There is no such thing as an authority, even your supposed god, that can override your judgment. You can use your own judgment to determine whether killing your kid is a good idea or not, but not even a supposed command from a supposed omnipotent being can override your own judgment.

But you still have not done what your god commanded because you had to use your own judgment to appraise the demand on you. So could it be possible that a mere mortal such as yourself can refuse to do what an all-powerful authority like god commands?

T: Then what of my faith in god and his command?

P: Faith is using your own judgment to believe in something despite the lack of evidence or even counter evidence.

T: And if I killed my child having faith that God had told me to do so?

P: I would conclude that you used your own judgment to determine that such an idea of killing your child as something to pursue, and that you were a maniac.

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