Consider Zeus. I can honestly report that I neither love nor hate Olympian Zeus. Zeus has aspects that I admire, such as his high regard for the virtue of hospitality. However, I neither love nor hate Zeus because I don’t believe in Zeus. So, how about Lucifer, the fallen angel who rules over Hell? Again, I neither love nor hate Lucifer because I simply do not believe in Lucifer. At this point one might wonder whether there are any bounds to my skepticism about spiritual beings generally. I would prefer to withhold judgment, i.e. claiming neither to believe nor to disbelieve. But what about the God of monotheism? I actually love the idea of an omniscient, omnibenevolent being. As a philosopher I can argue both His existence and nonexistence. But to answer the initial question, I cannot honestly report that I either love or hate the being others call God.
Kenneth
Essays by Month
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Recent Essays
- Polygamy versus Polyandry
- The Essences of Prayer
- Questioning Salvation
- A Minority View
- Most Assuredly a Curse
- All Are Okay
- It Depends
- Policies Should Evolve
- Reincarnation
- Too Much Money
- Both Are Vital
- Godless Items
- My Heresies
- A Gift
- The Defenseless Theist
- Nothing is Unforgivable
- Contemporary Prophets
- Enhance Social Involvement
- Learn From It!
- A Truly Nasty Person
- A Bird in the Hand …
- A Dark Vision
- Life’s Intrinsic Values
- Imminent Death
- The Argument From Design
- The Young Jesus
- Self-Knowledge
- No More War
- No Single Role
- God’s Pick
- A Mistaken Assumption
- Two Queries
- Fear Not Death
- The Cult of the Market
- Variable Religious Responsibility
- Inappropriate Gratitude
- A Thirst For Religious Knowledge
- Try Something New
- Secular Meditation
- Consider the Evidence
- The Sources of Life Satisfaction
- Prayer & Meditation
- God Talk
- Some Religions Promotes Wealth
- Harry Confronts Evil
- A Phony Choice
- A False Dichotomy
- Joyful Engagement
- No Love & No Hate
- No Taxes = No Politics
- “God will provide”
- The Occult Reported
- Multiple Possible Causes
- It Depends …
- God Is Both
- Lost Serenity
- The Religious Poor
- Violent Sects
- Secular Virtues?
- Unmarried Sex
- Blessed Silence
- False Religions
- Language Askew
- A Dubious Generality
- A Faulty Assumption
- Holy Foods
- Secular Trends
- Absolutely Not!
- Religious Flux
- Rules Rule
- Tough Choices
- Justified Fear
- Tears of Joy?
- Yes & No
- Conditions on Friendship?
- The Stillness of Meditation
- Parsing Piety
- Hell Yes
- Spiritual Alzheimers
- A Vexed Issue
- Deist or Theist
- It Is Neither
- An Open Question
- Parental Influence
- Mercy: No Cure All
- Confusions About Neutrality
- The Eye of the Needle
- The Relativity of Kindness
- Distinct Divinities
- Why We Err
- An Agnostic’s Position
- A Ban Achieves Little
- Approaching Death
- Pro Education about Religion
- An Open Question
- Avoid the Doctrinaire
- Conflicting Beliefs
- Goodbye, Joe
- Hell Denied
- Time’s Puzzle
- Veiled Liberty
- Literal Texts
- My Unhappiness
- Sin Requires a Deity
- Spiritual Irritants
- Religion Not a Panacea
- Who Knows?
- A Middling Sin
- Divine Law in Flux
- Views of Jesus
- No Necessary Standards
- Universal Liberty
- Complicated Desires
- Denying Evil
- Assuredly Imperfect
- Divine Dress Codes
- Naked Is Good
- Spiritual Alzheimers
- The Perplexity of Death
- Religion Won’t Matter
- Elusive Truth
- Parsing Pornography
- A Religious Dilemma
- No Programmed Belief
- A Scary Prospect
- Intellectual Sloth
- Religion In Flux
- The Puzzle of Miracles
- Water Rites
- Names & Their Power
- Is God Listening?
- Don’t do it!
- It Depends
- Parental Challenges
- Time’s Perplexities
- Religion, Gender & Surveys
- Unfree Speech
- Religious Fanaticism
- “Dukkha” & the Grim Reaper
- A Philosopher’s Resolution
- The Blame for Ebola
- Critiques of the Curia
- A Cultural Lag
- Unethical Bankers?
- A God Beyond Belief
- Not God’s Doing
- Evil Is Real
- A Vexing Question
- An Uncaring God
- Dropouts