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The last kid's question reminds me of a child defending the existence of his invisible friend by insisting in various ways that every other rule of reality should be thrown out for *just this one* instance.
IMO, an interesting starting place for a debate is to assume that there really was an intelligent Creator (something I don't agree with, but follow me here). For sake of argument I'll agree that there was. But then someone needs to explain why I (or anyone else) should believe that He/She/It is benevolent as opposed to malevolent or even relatively indifferent toward man, the earth, the universe, etc.
I'm MUCH more willing to accept the idea of a *relatively* indifferent or at least non-benevolent Creator. In fact, if there IS any sort of evidence that a creator exists, IMO that evidence points to anything but a super friendly entity. Why? Because of all the pain and suffering obviously.
Yes, this is where someone chimes in and says "it's a test" or "God works in mysterious ways" but I find those arguments to be incredibly unsatisfying, convenient and ultimately ridiculous. As if God couldn't have put a cap on human suffering. I mean really, consider the idea for a moment.
What if God put a cap on human suffering so that torture, rape, molestation (and disease) would be things no human would ever even think of doing (the thought simply wouldn't exist and so it would never happen). Quick murder, suicide, accidental death, death by old age, etc. would all still exist. People could still have awful family and personal relationships, could still be depressed, angry, heartbroken, grief-stricken, etc.
Does anyone HONESTLY think that with this cap on suffering that people would be deprived of the "privilege" of MORE suffering? Does having torture, rape and molestation exist somehow give us a great gift we should appreciate because we value "free will"? No thanks. If I designed a living being I'd allow for plenty of free will *within reason*. Anything more would prove me to be a sadist or a poor creator IMO.
PS---No Parent would make their kids suffer for enternity, *regardless of the circumstances*. At least no *good* parent would.
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