(Pro) The Christian God is malevolent vs benevolent (Con).

Rebuttals round threeOpponent's arguments in bold and italics. "I. ClarificationFirst off, I would to clarify that according to both my and my opponent"s definition of malevolent and benevolent, my opponent has to prove that the Christian God shows ill will towards humans, meaning God is malicious and wishes to harm humans, and I have to prove that the Christian God has a good will, meaning that God is kind." WholockAgreed."II. There is no Good Without EvilThis argument, while purely logically, is a fundamental truth. Without sadness, happiness is just a constant state of feeling; without night, day is just the fact that the sun is always out; and without injustice, justice is just reality. Without evils in the world, it is very bland as it is harder to appreciate the good things in life because they are no longer good things, just things. Therefore, by creating evil in our world, God has given life goodness and meaning, showing that God is benevolent, as it is kind to give the gift of happiness and love to humans." WholockYour argument assumes God exists in the first place. This begs the question who created God? Since a creator inherently must be more complex than the creation this leads to the problem of infinite regressions. Speaking from a purely fictional stand point, that we can judge the characters in the Harry Potter series, I think humans will always have something to struggle against. Whether it be faith, hunger, disease, hatred, etc. I have no problem with a fictional God creating the basics like disease and hunger. Yet, adding more to people's burden who are already struggling seems immoral. Let's take for example organized crime. The same argument by Wholock could be used for the mafia. That the mafia creates evil, thus they are good by giving people something to struggle against. The problem is the everyday citizen has a lot to struggle against already. There is plenty of hero's calls without organized crime. I certainty wouldn't call the mafia good by any means, nor would I call a psychopathic killer moral. In brief, I wouldn't judge a fictional God for creating Satan, I would judge a fictional God for killing more people than Satan. III. Treat everyone equally"This means that, while on Earth, God wishes that everyone is treated equally. God advocates that you love your enemy, your children, everyone. If everyone followed God"s advice, there would be no hatred, and; therefore, little to no violence. If we lived in a world where everyone loved each other, the world would be a much better place and the world would be rid of much of its evils. Therefore, God shows that God is kind by advocating for love and peace." WholockThere are three major problems with this. First, assuming God exists, without God your enemies could take advantage of you. The best example I can of having too much trust is pedophile priests. "Confessions of Priest Who Molested 17 Boys Released" [9] Second, even if God exists, it is self evident that God doesn't always intevene on the behalf of the innocent. [9] Third, there are many Bible verses that state the exact opposite. "2 Corinthians 6:14King James Version (KJV)14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" [10]"Nehemiah 13:3“Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.” " [11]"IV. The Ten Commandments" WholockI'll agree that the commandments my opponent mentioned are worth following. Yet, there is atheistic or objective morality. Rats and chickens have empathy. "Empathetic Rats Help Each Other Out" [12]"Domestic chickens display signs of empathy, the ability to 'feel another's pain' that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found. [13]Religion has stolen credit where science and philosophy should receive the credit. That humans are altruistic via evolution and can develop morals just fine without God giving out ten commandments. "ForgivenessHere, it is stated that God has forgiven much of mankind for their sins. Therefore, since God has forgiven mankind for our sins, even though God wasn't required God is kind and benevolent. In addition, God advocates the important trait of forgiveness, which leads to a more peaceful world as no one is trying to find revenge on others." WholockThe problem with forgiveness, is sometimes it is best not to forgive. That a person would repeat an immoral action until someone else intervenes. This is true of immoral self-rewarding behavior. That forgiving the person will only make the problem worse in this scenario. Otherwise, it is usually best to be forgiving. Yet, as seen in the previous section rats and chickens possess empathy, we do not need God to reiterate what we would have most likely already have done. Thank you for presenting you argument in a clean, organized, and easy to read format Wholock.Sources.9. http://abcnews.go.com...10. https://www.biblegateway.com...11. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org...12. http://www.livescience.com...13. http://www.telegraph.co.uk...