Good afternoon, RaSBeY.
In Message #185 you say, "My definition [of evil] would call the meteorites that destroyed so many species, before men were around, evil, with or without the presence of a God to see His creation destroyed, or an evil angel dragging the meteorite into our orbit."
Okay:
1) I was under the impression that you would've thought God to have been present at all times. Is this not the case? If you are not of the opinion that God is present at all times past, present, and future, then most all of what you have posted in this topic and others would appear to me to be void of foundation.
2) Let me look at your statement differently, or let me edit it this way: You say "My definition would call the meteorites that destroyed so many species... evil ... with or without the presence of a God ..." Are you saying that from your point of view, one can assign the quality of evil to an inanimate object (not endowed with life or spirit) with or without the existence of God and his definition of evil?
3) Wouldn't assigning the quality of evil to a rock make that rock an animate object from the point of view that it possesses a 'spirit' or 'consciousness?' Is this really a Judeo/Christian concept, or isn't this kind of theology rather pagan, animistic, voodoo, or whatever?
4) So, is it your view that a meteor is something other than an inanimate rock flying through space? Or are you setting up some kind of trick question deal ... like the meteor becomes or assumes evil when it becomes a meteorite that destroys species ... otherwise it is just an inanimate rock flying through space?
5) Now, back to the part of your statement regarding God's presence to see a part of Creation destroyed ... if God has been present at all times, including from the beginning thence forward in time, would he not have been present to witness the destruction of species due to a large meterorite striking Earth? Come on, Stephen, you're the dude who claims to have active conversations with God. As a scientist, did it never occur to you to ask him how the species became extinct and whether he was there to witness it?
(I'm beginning to suspect that you were one of those professors who gets his rocks off dreaming up trick questions for mid-term exams.)
6) And speaking of your former profession, and your role in developing the theory of trophic cascade, how can an inanimate rock's collision with Earth and the resulting physical and ecological devastation be characterized as evil when it was the destruction that created the niche for the development of humans (whom you characterize as "the favorite lambs" on whose behalf all natural predation is not evil)?
Now as to your next statement, "Evil is live spelled backwards, so anything that reverses the flow of life, including diversity in life, is evil" ... have you been out drinking with Buz?
The fact that IN MODERN ENGLISH, evil spelled backwards coincidentally renders L-I-V-E is totally irrelevant to your supposition that the flow of life can even be reversed. It's like your trying to say that the flow of life actually can be reversed and it's proven by the fact that live spelled backwards is evil.
Vita spelled backwards is Ativ. What the hell is ativ? Dog spelled backwards is god. Does that mean that God is a dog turned inside out, or that a dog running backwards would prove anything metaphysical?
I guess I'll wind up for today with a comment on your suggestion that an evil angel would drag a meteor into the path of the Earth to cause a collision. Man oh man! Now we not only have demons riding inside people (voodooism), demons residing inside meteors (animism), but angels physically dragging meteors into the path of an oncoming planet (space gholem tractor-beamism)! Oh, wait a minute, I just realized, angel spelled incorrectly is angle, and that proves that angels can alter the course of meteors.
Stephen, I guess my question would be, "If God so loved the world, wouldn't he take the time to set the meteor back on a non-collision course?"
Peace from ground zero.
[This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-15-2004]
[This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-15-2004]
[This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-15-2004]