IS EVIL "NATURAL"
Posted on July 19, 2010 with 0 comments
Some scientists and atheists wishes to claim that God does not exist because he does not stop evil in the world. However, the concept of evil is a value judgment and the definition can shift around a lot. What is evil in one situation may not be as evil in another. We will debate a long time about whether killing thousands of Japanese with an atomic bomb to save thousands of American soldiers lives was evil or not.
We might all agree that malaria is a curse. However, if you have it you probably live in very poor circumstances and you are almost for sure going to be protected from some forms of hepatitis. And you can live productively with only occasional outbreaks. So is Malaria evil in those circumstances?
The things that we commonly call evil are disease, suffering and death. yet these are not only natural, they are necessary part of nature. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of energy in the Universe is finite, and new energy is not created or destroyed. The second law states that energy can change forms, for example from electrical to mechanical, or from heat to electrical, and so forth. However, it also states that whenever energy is changed the process is never completely efficient and some energy is lost in some other form (usually heat).
This leads to the concept of entropy, or disorder, in the Universe. Everything in the Universe is becoming less organized and energy disseminated. Whenever we find organization, such as in living systems, we know that there must be an energy source for that system to become and remain organized.
On our planet that necessary energy comes from the sun. Without the constant input of energy from the sun, all life would cease to exist. Anything that interrupts the flow of energy will weaken the living thing. These weaknesses are routinely called death and disease! So death and disease are a necessary part of the natural cycle, but seen by mankind as the ultimate evil.
Further the earth has a finite space. There is only so much surface area to be occupied. Space for life is already at a premium and has been for perhaps millions of years. That is why many living things live on other living things. In fact, every life form we have investigated has at least one unique life form that lives exclusively on it, as well as sharing several other life forms that live on it, and some other plants or animals. We call these things that live on other things parasites and disease agents, and they are the most prominent form of life on earth. So living things must die in order to make space for new living things and recycle some of the components and energy flow. That is not evil. That is a neutral, scientific fact of nature and material.
So what atheists want to blame God for not stopping is an essential part of living and proves nothing about God. It is especially odd when scientists use this argument since they are the first to claim that there is no room in science for value judgments, only materialism and natural law. If death and disease are natural, they cannot be evil. If they are evil, then science is not divorced of value judgments.
Science deals with materials and nature and these cannot have values. Science claims that it is the only way of knowing about our world and the existence of God, yet does not allow the study of, or acceptance of judgment and values except in the sense of material and nature. In other words, it defines nature without God, and then claims there is no God.
We might all agree that malaria is a curse. However, if you have it you probably live in very poor circumstances and you are almost for sure going to be protected from some forms of hepatitis. And you can live productively with only occasional outbreaks. So is Malaria evil in those circumstances?
The things that we commonly call evil are disease, suffering and death. yet these are not only natural, they are necessary part of nature. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of energy in the Universe is finite, and new energy is not created or destroyed. The second law states that energy can change forms, for example from electrical to mechanical, or from heat to electrical, and so forth. However, it also states that whenever energy is changed the process is never completely efficient and some energy is lost in some other form (usually heat).
This leads to the concept of entropy, or disorder, in the Universe. Everything in the Universe is becoming less organized and energy disseminated. Whenever we find organization, such as in living systems, we know that there must be an energy source for that system to become and remain organized.
On our planet that necessary energy comes from the sun. Without the constant input of energy from the sun, all life would cease to exist. Anything that interrupts the flow of energy will weaken the living thing. These weaknesses are routinely called death and disease! So death and disease are a necessary part of the natural cycle, but seen by mankind as the ultimate evil.
Further the earth has a finite space. There is only so much surface area to be occupied. Space for life is already at a premium and has been for perhaps millions of years. That is why many living things live on other living things. In fact, every life form we have investigated has at least one unique life form that lives exclusively on it, as well as sharing several other life forms that live on it, and some other plants or animals. We call these things that live on other things parasites and disease agents, and they are the most prominent form of life on earth. So living things must die in order to make space for new living things and recycle some of the components and energy flow. That is not evil. That is a neutral, scientific fact of nature and material.
So what atheists want to blame God for not stopping is an essential part of living and proves nothing about God. It is especially odd when scientists use this argument since they are the first to claim that there is no room in science for value judgments, only materialism and natural law. If death and disease are natural, they cannot be evil. If they are evil, then science is not divorced of value judgments.
Science deals with materials and nature and these cannot have values. Science claims that it is the only way of knowing about our world and the existence of God, yet does not allow the study of, or acceptance of judgment and values except in the sense of material and nature. In other words, it defines nature without God, and then claims there is no God.