I posted the other day about wanting to explore some philosophical/metaphysical ideas. Then, I realized that I don't have any time to research to support my writing so I thought I would take a more simplified and sometimes comical approach to the subjects. In the time since, I have come up with a pretty strong and simple argument for the existence of God.
First, I'll start with a definition of Evil. Evil describes someone or something that is morally reprehensible, completely selfish, causing harm or destruction.
To find a perfect, tangible example of evil, one must only walk out his or her front door. Somewhere nearby there exists a weed. A plant whose entire existence is self serving, destructive, and reprehensible. Anyone with any experience gardening would have a hard time arguing in behalf of any redeeming qualities of weeds.
From here it is easy. We have tangible and irrefutable evidence of the existence of evil. Evil can not exist without good, just as darkness cannot exist without light. Else what is darkness? The ultimate goal of evil things is to administer pain and misery to our existence. Good seeks
to uplift and bring joy to our existence.
Here's where the discussion kicks in. Is it enough at this point in the argument to say that God exists? We've established tangible physical evidence that evil exists, therefore can we deduce that tangible physical good must exist? Does this argument require an "earthy" example of something that is completely good in opposition to the complete evil that weeds represent, or can we argue that God is the tangible, ultimate good?
14 comments:
Great thoughts Jesse. I know you didn't learn any of that from Robson though...or did you? Ha!
hmmm. i like your approach but i disagree that weeds are evil. they produce oxygen so that other life forms can continue to live. They have a purpose (a quite altruistic purpose it seems) Do they not?
I like it Dusty. It is an interesting point. However, I wonder about weeds serving an altruistic purpose. Is our breathing altruistic because the CO2 we exhale helps plants grow?
I think we could probably survive without weeds, but their oxygen emission does weaken the argument a bit. At the same time, they tend to take over and choke non-weed oxygen producers. So part of their existence can benefit us, but at what cost? Some weeds are pretty to look at, but it is a deception. Does the oxygen weeds produce make them not evil?
Great thought Dusty.
Any believer in God would tell you that God created Earth and everything in it. So we've just established the evil-ness of weeds, which God created...I think we need to dive deeper. This is a decent argument, but simply establishing that there is good based on the fact that there is evil does not (in my mind) prove the existence of a God.
In defense of weeds
I think weeds can be the misunderstood red-headed step child of botany. What makes it a weed anyway? mostly the fact that it is not useful to us, or it's just the wrong plant at the wrong place at the wrong time. I like your idea that, given evil exists, good exists. And therefore there must be an ultimate source for good or evil. Or maybe evil is to good as cold is to heat, the one is only the absence of the latter. anyway, I think if we want to find examples of evil, we can find it even closer than our backyards, its quite visible in ourselves and others.
disclaimer: i might be taking this too seriously, Relax Nerd! but i'm going to anyway, i think this is interesting.
Though I agree with your general argument that because there is evil, there must also be good, I also have to agree with others that weeds do not necessarily illustrate the natural occurrence of evil on earth. Say there were a bunch of houses on a hill, all of the natural foliage (or weeds) of which had been taken out. After a few years, weather and time would erode the soil. And without a network of weed roots to keep it stable, the houses go tumbling down the hill. I guess you could plant a bunch of trees and flowers to serve the same purpose, but to me, the fact that something (weeds and naturally growing plants) was organized on earth to keep order in nature proves to me that someone with a lot better and more thorough organizational ideas than myself conceived it in the first place. (i.e., God)
To convince someone who is not as amazed at the power of weeds that God exists, using your argument, I think you have to prove the natural existence of something equally awesome in its evilness as a God would be in His supreme goodness--something like, I don't know, poisonous snake-men who feed on little children and puppies.
I like where you're going and don't let anyone confuse the issue. Weeds are most definitely evil. And Isaiah told us that there would be those who would call evil good and good, evil.
Now as for the existence of good, I think you simply follow the logic of your argument. I have stood in some places on this planet that are so incredibly beautiful that people become quiet and still (or in other words, reverent) when they arrive there. There is an inherent sacredness in such beautiful places. Why? I believe it is because in the presence of such beauty, one cannot help but feel the love and power of the Creator of that beauty.
"all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it."
Josh, God didn't create weeds. Weeds were another unfortunate result of the fall of Adam. The Earth itself fell from its paradise Terrestrial state (sans weeds) to it's current Telestial and weedy state. God being purely good couldn't create an Earth with evil on it. In order for his children to develop, he needed to create a situation where they could make decisions between good and evil, hence the tree of knowledge of good an evil. Adam's transgression opened the door for evil to exist on the earth.
Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks for clearing that up. I had sort of confused myself. And now that you bring that up, I think that your argument makes perfect sense. There is a root of all evil and a root of all good. And the root of all good must be God. It makes sense.
Wow. Good discussion. I'd love to see more of this!
Have you read "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis? He was an athiest, but converted himself by logical thinking, because when you get down to it, Christianity is the only option that makes sense. I'm still reading and pondering, so I'm not going to say anything. Just read it and see what you think. It's very, very interesting.
Jesse, lets not forget that God is all powerful and can create anything Good or Evil (weeds). Plus, everything on this earth was created by God even Satan. We should not put constraints on God.
This is a great discussion; a good definition of a weed is: A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-made settings such as gardens, lawns or agricultural areas, but also in parks, woods and other natural areas. More specifically, the term is often used to describe native or nonnative plants that grow and reproduce aggressively.[1] Generally, a weed is a plant in an undesired place.
Thanks for the interesting post.
I'm not so sure about God creating Satan. He created a being who had free will just like any of us. Satan chose to rebel and as a result became evil, but he was just as pure and innocent as any of us were to begin with.
I thought you were trying to be funny.
Satan created weeds. God created Round-Up.
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