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DavidDvorkin

(19,406 posts)
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 12:55 AM Apr 2017

God Must Exist Because Nature Is So Gosh Darn Wonderful

I came across a blog post in which the writer gushes about the beauty of the world and its profound effect on her. She concludes that it must be hard work to be an atheist because atheists have to actively deny the god whose existence is revealed by all of this gosh-darned wonderfulness. This isn’t a new argument. Psalm 19 says it this way: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” The blog post, however, tried to be very down to earth, focusing on insects and plants and the loveliness of the writer’s immediate surroundings. Above all, the piece lauded the writer’s emotional reaction to all of that as proof of God’s existence.


http://eyeblister.blogspot.com/2017/04/god-must-exist-because-nature-is-so.html
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God Must Exist Because Nature Is So Gosh Darn Wonderful (Original Post) DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 OP
Ummmm, NO. PsychoBabble Apr 2017 #1
All things dull and ugly cos dem Apr 2017 #2
Now, that's gosh darn wonderful. DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #14
Oh Lord! You Are So Big! progressoid Apr 2017 #35
And Satan must exist because there are bagpipes. n/t Binkie The Clown Apr 2017 #3
And Donald Trump. The Velveteen Ocelot Apr 2017 #4
I like bagpipes! DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #6
O.K. then. How about accordions? Binkie The Clown Apr 2017 #9
Clarinets DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #10
Especially in smooth jazz! sakabatou Apr 2017 #29
I hate all jazz. DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #34
I didn't really appreciate clarinets progressoid Apr 2017 #31
Hey, Sir Clown, I used to play in a pipe band.... Although I played snare drum... pangaia Apr 2017 #26
It's easy to romanticize nature, but Sculpin Beauregard Apr 2017 #5
Exactly. DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #8
Au contraire! elleng Apr 2017 #7
This reminds me of Ray Comfort logic. beam me up scottie Apr 2017 #11
Hahaha. That's great! progressoid Apr 2017 #19
Oy! beam me up scottie Apr 2017 #21
Yes indeed... progressoid Apr 2017 #32
I've been burned by god's love before... Jokerman Apr 2017 #42
Ask her if she still thinks the modern banana was made by God sakabatou Apr 2017 #30
Oh, I wouldn't doubt that she does. progressoid Apr 2017 #33
Even though her idol had to admit it was made by humans sakabatou Apr 2017 #36
I wonder if she knows about bot flies Warpy Apr 2017 #12
I think that's the argument from ignorance fallacy TlalocW Apr 2017 #13
It's certainly the dust on the rose colored glasses fallacy Warpy Apr 2017 #16
She should ask Stephen Fry about that. Watch as he completely destroys this 'argument': beam me up scottie Apr 2017 #15
Yep. That clip is THE BEST! Duppers Apr 2017 #20
It is. He totally nailed it. I loved the exasperated reaction from the interviewer. beam me up scottie Apr 2017 #22
As an atheist, I think she is onto something. Doodley Apr 2017 #17
What kind of deity would create viruses that... Duppers Apr 2017 #18
OMG! Those brain-parasites are so cute!!! DetlefK Apr 2017 #23
Leaf through the pages... uriel1972 Apr 2017 #24
Hey, come on, he had to put a lot of godly thought into that! DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #25
Human arrogance randr Apr 2017 #27
Stephen Fry's response to the question is similar to how I feel, heaven05 Apr 2017 #28
for every blooming dogwood . . . Brainstormy Apr 2017 #37
This was posted on DU a couple of years ago. SwissTony Apr 2017 #38
I hadn't seen that before. progressoid Apr 2017 #43
so gosh darn wonderful edhopper Apr 2017 #39
Oh, that's just free will in action DavidDvorkin Apr 2017 #40
yeah edhopper Apr 2017 #41

PsychoBabble

(837 posts)
1. Ummmm, NO.
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 12:57 AM
Apr 2017

I have no need of a magical explanation for nature, or anything else.

No struggle.

... atheists (me) have to actively deny (umm, NOPE) the god (the WHAT?) whose existence is revealed (umm, nope, didn't see him) by all of this gosh-darned wonderfulness (YES!) ...

cos dem

(895 posts)
2. All things dull and ugly
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 12:59 AM
Apr 2017

All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom.
He made their horrid wings.

All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.

Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid--
Who made the spikey urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!

All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.

- Monty Python

progressoid

(49,825 posts)
31. I didn't really appreciate clarinets
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 11:59 AM
Apr 2017

But my daughter has been playing one for about 12 years. Now I get it.



Sculpin Beauregard

(1,046 posts)
5. It's easy to romanticize nature, but
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:01 AM
Apr 2017

Nature can be brutal and ugly, too. Deformities, Ebola, dying from exposure, blights on crops, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, getting torn apart by wild animals, hurricanes and floods, arthritis, disease and death - you get the idea.

progressoid

(49,825 posts)
19. Hahaha. That's great!
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:26 AM
Apr 2017

I just saw a post on facebook by a high school classmate. She quoted some crap by Ray Comfort.

I was gobsmacked. I hadn't realized have far off the deep end she had gone. When you admire Ray Comfort, you no longer deserve my time. Unfriend.

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
21. Oy!
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:41 AM
Apr 2017

That is pretty bad, I wouldn't be able to tolerate it either.

Facebook is great for atheists though, it's like a smorgasbord of groups, videos and endless memes.

Warpy

(110,912 posts)
12. I wonder if she knows about bot flies
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:18 AM
Apr 2017

and Guinea worms. Maybe she doesn't understand that the penicillin her kids take for every earache kill living creatures that made the kids sick. Or the diseases from sand fleas and kissing bugs (more properly called shitting bugs because they shit into the bite they just made, passing infection). Or maybe mango worms. Those really love Fido.

It's not all pretty little Thomas Kinkade miniatures, lady. The natural world can be nauseatingly awful.

I'd follow the links and send her a few You Tube videos to watch but she'd probably cry and get mad and say all that stuff was from the devil religious people who want to reconcile the natural world with an all good god invented.

And I'm just impolite enough to point out that such a creature, if real, could only operate with the express permission of their all good, all powerful god.

Then again, probably not. Mostly, these idiotic people just make me tired.

TlalocW

(15,358 posts)
13. I think that's the argument from ignorance fallacy
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:19 AM
Apr 2017

I can't think of any other way for this beauty to come about except a god, therefore a god did it.

TlalocW

Warpy

(110,912 posts)
16. It's certainly the dust on the rose colored glasses fallacy
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:24 AM
Apr 2017

Obviously, science classes weren't her strong suit and she slept through them.

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
22. It is. He totally nailed it. I loved the exasperated reaction from the interviewer.
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:46 AM
Apr 2017

Here's the gist of it for those who can't watch videos but it's missing Stephen's crisp British accent and the cutting tone of his righteous indignation:

Stephen Fry brands God 'utterly utterly evil'

The newly married broadcaster was asked what he would do if he found himself at the “pearly gates” after his death.

"I'll say: bone cancer in children, what's that about?” he said.

"How dare you. How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that's not our fault? It’s not right. It's utterly, utterly evil.

"Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?"

Fry was being interviewed for an Irish television show called The Meaning of Life when he launched into an impassioned tirade about God’s existence.

Asked if he thought he would get to heaven, he replied: "No, but I wouldn't want to. I wouldn’t want to get in on his terms. They’re wrong.

He added: "The God who created this universe, if he created this universe, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish.

"We have to spend our lives on our knees thanking him. What kind of God would do that?

"Yes, the world is very splendid, but it also has in it insects whose whole life cycle is to burrow into the eyes of children and make them blind. Why? Why did you do that to us? It is simply not acceptable.

“Atheism is not just about not believing there's a god. On the assumption there is one, what kind of God is he? It’s perfectly apparent that was monstrous, utterly monstrous, and deserves no respect.”

He added: "The moment you banish him, your life becomes simpler, purer cleaner, more worth living in my opinion."

***

Gay Byrne, the interviewer, slightly taken aback by Fry's strongly worded response, said it was the longest answer he’d got to that question.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11381589/Watch-Stephen-Fry-brands-God-utterly-utterly-evil.html

Duppers

(28,094 posts)
18. What kind of deity would create viruses that...
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 01:26 AM
Apr 2017

kill innocent babies & children?


Their perspective is so one-dimensional, myopic, naive, childish, ignorant, romanticized hogwash, etc.



DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
23. OMG! Those brain-parasites are so cute!!!
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 04:47 AM
Apr 2017
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122851382


And moscitos spreading plagues? So cute.

Plants eating insects alive? So cute.

The Sun bombarding Earth with UV-radiation that can cause skin-cancer? So cute.

randr

(12,408 posts)
27. Human arrogance
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 10:42 AM
Apr 2017

The beauty around us could only be the result of a concept we create in our imagination?
The world would be as perfect without a single human to witness it, maybe even more beautiful.
The one thing we do have to contribute to the magnificence is our love.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
28. Stephen Fry's response to the question is similar to how I feel,
Thu Apr 13, 2017, 11:03 AM
Apr 2017

frequently, about god's creation here that MOST of us have to suffer through for however finite our time in this existence.

DavidDvorkin

(19,406 posts)
40. Oh, that's just free will in action
Sun Apr 16, 2017, 05:50 PM
Apr 2017

Also, I bet there were people who prayed and escaped that destruction, and that was a miracle and proof of God's beneficence.

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