Problem of Evil?

re: Philosophy of Religion
This morning I read this book which dealt with natural religion. I stumbled upon this section concerning the problem of evil and helped me look at it in a new way (not solve it).

J.L. Mackie in The Miracle of Theism (Oxford, 1982) writes:

"If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful god could not exist. Some other god or no god may exist, but not the traditional God."

We have this natural expectation that this world should be fair and good. We have a tendency to think that people ought not to suffer, be excluded, die of hunger or oppression. Where did we get such a sense that the world ought to be like that? If we think about natural selection, death, violence of the strong against the weak, and destruction are all natural occurrences. How then does one begin to accuse this world of being unfair or unjust? A non-believer does not seem to have a good basis for being outraged with injustice: the reason for the initial objection. "If you are sure that this natural world is unjust and filled with evil, you are assuming the reality of some extra-natural (or supernatural) standard by which to make your judgment." (Timothy Keller).
Once someone says that there's evil in the world, they presuppose that it should be a certain way. Who ever got the idea that the universe ought to be that way? It seems like the universe solely does not align with our preference. Oh well.

For me, anyways, it appears to be both a problem for atheists and theists. It's just a thought.

Good Night.

Here's a story about the possible powers of a joint of weed:
I found out today was 420 or Pot day. I received a text from my friend which read: "hear it's cannabis day today. try not to enjoy too much." I was a little surprised when I initially received it. I was thinking: "Whoa, does she think I smoke up?"
I've tried it a few of times and have had really bad experiences with it. I wonder why people still smoke up so frequently. The first time I actually got high was in my freshman year with a few friends from college. I had attempted blazing a couple of times prior this incident yet there was never a conjunction between the the cause of smoking and the effect of feeling high. Consequently, I thought that trying it this time would not make a difference. This try made a big difference...
...It was getting quite dark at night and some of the guys thought that it would be fun to get baked prior to our intramural basketball game. Since it was raining, we went to the college after it closed and smoked under this arch thing. As the joint was being passed, I didn't feel anything until I took a few hits. I can only remember a few instances of that night; here's a few things that happened:

I sat in a puddle ergo my pants were soaked. I also remember crossing the street to a grassy area where I began running in circles. After a few minutes, I heard one of the guys say that the game was going to start soon. Everyone began walking towards our friend's apartment to get changed. Afraid that I was going to be left behind, I ran after them and collided head-first into a tree; I ended up passing out under that tree and I was carried by two guys up to my friend's apartment. I remember blacking out several times as I was being dragged; every time I collapsed I crashed on my knee caps ... they basically tore open. As I drove home, there was a couple of times that I saw leaves blow across the street and thought that they were giant beetles. That was quite scary. I have no idea how I drove home safely that evening but someone up the stairs took care of me.
Maybe I didn't outline the evening to capture its full effect. It's the best I can describe for now. Yes, it was quite an experience. No need to ever try it again.

Sheesh ya'll!

Yes, by Zeus, Socrates!

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."


"Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depends on simplicity."


"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

- Plato

btw, happy birthday, in a few hours, to a good friend of mine