Originally posted by @mchill
I see you're struggling with this. The fact is I'm not here to 2nd guess what GOD had in mind when he created the universe, but please don't try to use logic or reason to figure it out. It doesn't work that way.
I'M struggling? did you actually read my whole argument? Where the evidence clearly shows your "GOD" WANTS the crap in the world to be as it is. You don't want to pull the 'so now you know the mind of god' card but you cannot seem to grasp the absolute fact that some humans are WAY more intelligent than average and can use that intelligence to attract followers and it has happened on Earth literally thousands of times, generating thousands of religions. You make some guesses (back say 3000 years ago) say ten guesses, ONE comes true, "SEE, I told you GOD told me personally'.
We talk about intelligence in terms of IQ, and of course it is MUCH more complex than a mere IQ rating, but when we find people with IQ's in the 99.999 % tile, one in one hundred thousand, then there are 80,000 such individuals on Earth. You don't figure people with that level of intelligence can dupe the average person with bullshyte arguments that SOUNDS valid?
You cannot seem to understand the difference in intelligence of those top level folks and the average bunch like us.
THAT is one of the biggest problems I have with the religious crowd, the ABSOLUTE inability to understand just how much more intelligent those folks are. And don't forget, there are one in a million such folks too, and there would be 8000 of them on the planet as we speak.
Do you honestly think you can understand their intelligence level?
With high intelligence goes automatically the ability to dupe the average crowd.
Do you doubt that statement?
Suppose the world population 10,000 years ago was 10 million, just a guess, even with that low a population, there would be ten people with one in a million intelligence level.
You do not seem to be able to comprehend just how powerful that level of intelligence actually is, where people would be hanging on his or her every word and all that person has to do is say, 'this did not come from me, I am just a dumb person like everyone else, no it was given to me directly by GOD so believe me when I say those things'
Try to think about the implications of such a level of intelligence.
Maybe then you can see why there are in absolute fact thousands of extant religions on Earth and not a unified religion given by a real god.
You also cannot seem to understand the word omniscient.
It would be for such an individual, child's play for it to say to every human on Earth at the exact same time 'ok folks, I am your god, here is how it is going to play out' in each of the thousands of languages on Earth since such a being is 'omniscient' they could be speaking in a million languages and it would STILL remain child's play for that omniscient being.
And, these super intelligent people get around that objection by just saying 'GOD gives us free will' and people fall for that one hook line and sinker.
But the average intelligent person would and in fact ARE duped by people of high intelligence.
If you don't believe that can happen, look at the history of Scientology, a bullshyte religion and CLEARLY man made by L Ron Hubbard, a physicist and sci fi writer who, at a party where the discussion ranged into religion and Hubbard announced, some time around 1949 ish, "I can start a religion'' and he did, and now it is a multi-billion dollar business and a cold one at that.
Try then to see the possibility the same thing happened 5000 years ago with the beginnings of Jewish faith.
So that morphed into Christianity, even though for instance, the 7 day creation tale was lifted from a much earlier Egyptian version, updated for the mind of the early Jews.
And now a LOT of people take the 7 day creation tale as ABSOLUTE fact even though the entire tale was lifted from another culture.
CLEAR indication of the power of high intelligence to dupe the average level of intelligence in ANY given population which explains why there are SO many religions.
That would be because every country or tribe has its people of extreme intelligence, it's not THAT rare especially when the population grows so large and there are literally thousands of languages where one extreme intelligent person in some language, say Hindi or Sanscript, can start writing thousands of pages of pithy sayings and advice and that will be taken as a sign all that came from a god.
I think you can agree the ancient Sanscript religions came from individuals not from a god, but you INSIST YOUR religion is not one of those like Scientology but in absolute fact, from a god.
Think about it. PLEASE.