Part 9 of 10: The Problem of Suffering: the 7 Supernatural Answers vs. the 1 Naturalistic

Overview of entire series:

Part 1: Overview of the supernatural vs. naturalistic explanations for the existence of suffering.

Part 2 discusses explanation #1--that suffering is punishment (from the Western angle that suffering is due to personal sin and/or "original sin").

Part 3 concludes the discussion of explanation #1--that suffering is punishment (from the Eastern angle that suffering is due to due to karma: sins in this life or a previous life).

Part 4 discusses explanation #2--that suffering benefits us--and explanation #3: that suffering must exist for the greater good of Free Will.

Part 5 discusses explanation #4--that the reason for suffering is beyond our finite understanding--and explanation #5: that the perceived world is just an illusion, hence suffering, too, is just an illusion.

Part 6 discusses explanation #6--that the Divine is not All-Powerful. This video focuses on the presentation of this argument as found in Harold S. Kushner's famous book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

Part 7 concludes the discussion of explanation #6 (that the Divine is not All-Powerful), and highlights the weaknesses and incoherencies in the philosophy found in "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

Part 8 discusses explanation #7--that the Divine is not All-Good (includes the views of skeptics, such as Richard Dawkins, who see no trouble reconciling the existence suffering with the fictional character known as the "jealous God" of the Old Testament).

Part 9 concludes the discussion of explanation #7--that the Divine is not All-Good (includes perspective of dualistic and polytheistic religions).

Part 10 discusses explanation #8--that the natural world is indifferent to creature suffering (that it may be part of "nature" for individuals to minimize their own suffering, but there is no overarching supernatural force to either dole out pain or send protection from pain).

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This series is a video adaptation of Endnote 32 from "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer" (a dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a Socratic skeptic).

For free PDF sample chapters from "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer," see http://www.booklocker.com. (This link will bring you right to the page where you can find the PDF file--just scroll down to #5: http://search.booklocker.com/search-bl.cgi?q=dialogue+with+a+christian+prosel... )

For customer reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1601450893/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_enc...

The text of this video can be found on the blog site "Clashing Culture" - http://clashingculture.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/the-problem-of-suffering-the-...

My four YouTube channels:

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddGates - my musician channel

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddAllenGates - where I discuss the ideas in my book "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer" (a dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a Socratic skeptic)

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddAllenGates2 - where I discuss the ideas in my book "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" (such as "Why do we have to work?" and "Why do we have to use money?" and "How should we define 'success'?")

- http://youtube.com/user/BlasphemyPiano - where I play the background piano accompaniment for songs in Nick Gisburne's book of lyrics "Blasphemy! Anthems for Atheists."

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[RattyRandnums]

Nice videos. Thought provoking and interesting.

And holy hell I love Reel Big Fish but I never thought about "My Imaginary Friend" in religious terms, I'd always just sort of skimmed over it as one of the better songs in what was ultimately a lack luster addition to their library. But looking at the lyrics it's clearly about discovering ones atheism. That is so awesome! Automatically raises that whole album in my esteem.

[ToddAllenGates]

@RattyRandnums

> Nice videos. Thought provoking and interesting.

Thanks!

> I love Reel Big Fish but I never thought about "My Imaginary Friend" in religious terms ... But looking at the lyrics it's clearly about discovering one's atheism ... Automatically raises that whole album in my esteem

Yes, agreed!

[ceezmad1]

one god? two gods? 3?

If there are any gods out there they must be at least 52!

[RabidApe]

votemeat is good

[RabidApe]

votemeat is good

[natewheatshelf]

Votebots are bad.

[RabidAp3]

comment

[ToddGates]

> it must be painful to have to argue such basic ideas

Too bad it's necessary - but it is, especially here in America, where the majority of people manage to convince themselves that there's no significant contradiction between their religious beliefs, and all of nature's built-in suffering.

> good job. very nice series

Thanks!

[senorspiegel]

it must be painful to have to argue such basic ideas, but good job. very nice series

[ToddAllenGates2]

3 of 3:

And *especially* when we consider all the natural disasters that have struck the earth prior to the arrival of humans, such as the asteroid that wiped out so much of the earth's life some 65 million years ago. (The work of a demon with a bad sense of timing? Or maybe one that just hated dinosaurs?)