The Problem of Divine Miscommunication Revisited
In chapter 7 of The Christian Delusion I had written on what I call The Problem of Divine Miscommunication and I dismantled all "solutions." Here is a Meme I recently posted to my FB Wall that powerfully states it. Then some guy named John Beckman wrote a common but ignorant reply: "Wouldn't have been different at all. We would have done whatever we wanted just like now. That's the whole point. Give a command. You break it. Proves you need salvation." This "solution" highlights exactly what I mean when saying faith deadens the brain since it's the mother of all cognitive biases. While I dealt with such an objection in my book, there's more to say in response to it.
There are people alive today, maybe millions of them, who would be dead if there were no laws against murder, and every society has them including other religious cultures and largely non-theist ones. There are women who have not been raped, maybe millions of them, because of anti-rape laws. There are children who have not been molested, maybe millions of them, because of laws against molesting. There are people who have not been robbed, maybe millions of them, because of laws against theft. The reason is because of the fear of punishment. Laws have teeth to them. If caught the pervert or thief will suffer for doing such deeds. Fear of punishment keeps potential criminals in check, and from what I can tell, without this fear many of us do such deeds (anyone who ever contemplated killing someone knows this).
Now would someone please offer a good explanation why any intelligent person would try to solve the problem of divine miscommunication like this, apart from the need to believe no matter what the cost? This particular case clearly highlights a deluded mind. If you can clearly see it here you get a glimpse of why they are also poor ones. None of them work. At all. For similar reasons. As Graham Lyons said on FB: "I just can't imagine how a religious Christian or Jew can make a coherent reply to that.
There are people alive today, maybe millions of them, who would be dead if there were no laws against murder, and every society has them including other religious cultures and largely non-theist ones. There are women who have not been raped, maybe millions of them, because of anti-rape laws. There are children who have not been molested, maybe millions of them, because of laws against molesting. There are people who have not been robbed, maybe millions of them, because of laws against theft. The reason is because of the fear of punishment. Laws have teeth to them. If caught the pervert or thief will suffer for doing such deeds. Fear of punishment keeps potential criminals in check, and from what I can tell, without this fear many of us do such deeds (anyone who ever contemplated killing someone knows this).
Now would someone please offer a good explanation why any intelligent person would try to solve the problem of divine miscommunication like this, apart from the need to believe no matter what the cost? This particular case clearly highlights a deluded mind. If you can clearly see it here you get a glimpse of why they are also poor ones. None of them work. At all. For similar reasons. As Graham Lyons said on FB: "I just can't imagine how a religious Christian or Jew can make a coherent reply to that.