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Permalink Reply by eric stone on March 30, 2011 at 10:55am

There is a simple reason why they continue to pray to the deity.  Because they know in their hearts that he caused the disasters and if they don't kiss his ass, he's gonna target them.  They really know he is a badass.

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Permalink Reply by David Anam on March 30, 2011 at 11:18am

Well, I can tell you what they'll probably say: God is doing this for good reasons. Same reason I can join the army and kill hundreds, but I'm not a murderer. The argument would be that not fighting that war would have led to an even worse outcome, therefore the deaths were worth it.

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Permalink Reply by paul babcock on March 31, 2011 at 7:18am

Jim Grossman is right on this.

From Victor Stinger, among others, I understand that one of the defining charactoristics differentiating the "new atheists" from all those that came before is that many older atheists came to atheism thru that very question. How could a benevolent god allow such suffering."New atheists" come to their position due to science. Also "new atheists don't feel obligated to make nice w theists"

I have to say I am a new atheist on both counts. Back when I was a theist I totaly and unquestionably accepted the stock answer that it was all part of gods will, and that his ways were beyond us. In fact here is an anecdote I remember from Sunday school. Everyone in Ann Franks room at her concentration camp found the level of flea infestation insufferable. Soon enuf tho, they learned that the fleas kept the guards out. So they decided the fleas were a blessing.

I was never a terribly enthusiastic believer even when I was a theist, yet I never thought to question this at all really. And I have to figure this is not that uncommon as all my co-congregationalists showed no signs of questioning it either.

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