God is Dead

1) Great question! I had the same question when I was a Creationist, and when I got the answer, evolution finally made good sense. Let me start by saying that the idea that animals don't have morals, or that evolution has no place for morality is a bit of a fallacy. Evolution itself is a process of kill or be killed, true, but groups of very intelligent social animals (dolphins, wolves, apes, whales, elephants etc.) tend to develop rules of fairness and empathy in order to keep the herd together (I've heard this informally referred to as 'social glue' theory).Over evolutionary time, this feeling of empathy will develop into things like the Golden Rule and social contracts. Imagine if you and your friends were in a free-for-all paintball match, where the rules were 'shoot or be shot'. Wouldn't it make sense that the smartest among you would form alliances to survive longer? If you want to know more, there's a book called "Wild Justice" by professor Marc Bekoff about this very topic. 2) Life today is very complex. This would mean that life long ago was much simpler. The first form of life would have been much, much simpler than a cell - perhaps only a highly adaptable enzyme that reproduced itself before it was destroyed by the elements. After this self-replicating enzyme came into existence, it would adapt over generations to suit the needs of its environment, and there we have the beginnings of natural selection. As for why we can't see this in a lab, maybe it's because our atmosphere has changed. Because we can't observe it in a lab that means it isn't real? Don't you think that question's a little silly given the current topic? And, here's the thing: even if life was seeded here by some god or alien, why the god of the Bible? Why not Zenu or the gods of Valhalla? 3) Actually, given all available historic records, the body of Jesus was most likely fed to animals after his crucifixion. I have no doubt the Apostles really believed he was resurrected; belief can make people do crazy things. Why did all of Jonestown murder themselves? Belief. I just think it's far more likely that illiterate peasants gave in to mass hysteria than the idea that the creator of the universe would send his son (who was also himself) to be tortured to death in Bronze Age Palestine. People witnessed the miracles Buddha, Viracocha, Krishna, Mahavira, and the Catholic Saints performed. Does that make them true? 4) Are you aware that you can speak to people today who claim to have seen the Virgin Mary and Catholic Saints? Why aren't you a Catholic? If you use apparitions and miracles as proof for Protestantism, you have to apply the same rule to all religions. There are many people who claim to have seen Vishnu and Allah. They aren't as numerous because Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and western society has been shaped by Christianity. If you were reading an Egyptian or Saudi tabloid you'd hear nothing about Jesus. Why don't you think hallucinations are convincing? I'd be willing to bet the people who claim to have seen Bigfoot or a UFO is larger than those who have seen Jesus. People see what they want to see, otherwise how do you explain all the different world religions? Was Satan responsible for all of those, or is it likely that people are not infallible? Do you believe in the Miracle of the Sun in Brazil, where the sun supposedly did cartwheels in the sky in front of 10,000 people? Because if it really happened we'd all be dead. Also, how do they know it was Jesus they saw? Nobody knows what he looks like! What if it was Zeus in white robes? 5) Richard Smoley, in his book "How God Became God" has a great takedown of these prophecies. The simple truth is that many of them were written long after the actual events happened, and then ascribed to mythical prophets who never lived. The biblical narratives were oral traditions long before anyone ever wrote them down, so it's no wonder it has so much mythology. Thank you.