Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

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Philosophy Now
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Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by Philosophy Now »

Jimmy Alfonso Licon engages in a little Santodicy for Christmas.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/Santa_Claus_and_the_Problem_of_Evil
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

Drawing a conclusion without hard evidence is a rationalization and the answers to naysayers are also rationalizations.

Yet there is evidence for God and that evidence comes from the Bible and from testimony from believers who have had religious experiences. Then there are miracles and scientific unknowns. The rationalization is then by the atheists who seek to discredit the evidence.

I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Viveka
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by Viveka »

Why would belief in God be as ridiculous as Santa?--if that's the point of this article.
Last edited by Viveka on Thu Dec 07, 2017 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Impenitent
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by Impenitent »

Santa Claus has no problem with evil- breaking and entering as well as trespassing

-Imp
RustyBert
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by RustyBert »

jayjacobus wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:41 pm Drawing a conclusion without hard evidence is a rationalization and the answers to naysayers are also rationalizations.

Yet there is evidence for God and that evidence comes from the Bible and from testimony from believers who have had religious experiences. Then there are miracles and scientific unknowns. The rationalization is then by the atheists who seek to discredit the evidence.

I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Are you refering to non-Christians who have had religious experiences and come to the conclusion that god is not the christian god? Are those the believers you're talking about? Or about the Hindu believers whose evidence comes from the Bhagavad Gita, from which they conclude there is a god and it's Hindu. Ah those believers. And so with respect to those believers, you the atheist christian tries to discredit their evidence. Boy your atheism is so strong.
Londoner
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by Londoner »

I think the article is confused in that it equates Santa Claus with God. But Santa Claus is a saint, so he is in the ambiguous position of both being a means of intercession with God, but also a model for the way we should conduct our own lives.

Bearing that in mind, the stories of him giving gifts are not accounts of miracles, but stories that convey a message - a message about how we should behave. So the fact that the gifts to children are really provided by people is not a contradiction to the story, but a consequence of it.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

RustyBert wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:05 pm
I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Are you refering to non-Christians who have had religious experiences and come to the conclusion that god is not the christian god? Are those the believers you're talking about? Or about the Hindu believers whose evidence comes from the Bhagavad Gita, from which they conclude there is a god and it's Hindu. Ah those believers. And so with respect to those believers, you the atheist christian tries to discredit their evidence. Boy your atheism is so strong.
Religion goes beyond the simple existence of God and specifies characteristics, events and interpretations. I don't conclude that a particular interpretation is true (or false) but i don't think that a scientific interpretation leads to no God. I am not dogmatic. But it doesn't matter. Either way life is life.

I call your attention to "The emperor's new clothes" by Hans Christian Anderson. There are naked facts and there are solid facts. Both kinds of facts can be very involved and that makes them seem true. I don't know if the big bang theory is true but everybody says its true so I accept it. Evolution on the other hand is definitely true because there are many solid facts to support it. Some naked facts are rationalizations. They are not solid but they could be true. There are naked facts in most disciplines including science and religion. God is not a naked fact but the supporting facts are naked yet the conclusion could be right. I'm not sure.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

jayjacobus wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:23 pm
RustyBert wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:05 pm
I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Are you refering to non-Christians who have had religious experiences and come to the conclusion that god is not the christian god? Are those the believers you're talking about? Or about the Hindu believers whose evidence comes from the Bhagavad Gita, from which they conclude there is a god and it's Hindu. Ah those believers. And so with respect to those believers, you the atheist christian tries to discredit their evidence. Boy your atheism is so strong.
Religion goes beyond the simple existence of God and specifies characteristics, events and interpretations. I don't conclude that a particular interpretation is true (or false) but i don't think that a scientific interpretation leads to no God. I am not dogmatic. But it doesn't matter. Either way life is life.

I call your attention to "The emperor's new clothes" by Hans Christian Anderson. There are naked facts and there are solid facts. Both kinds of facts can be very involved and that makes them seem true. I don't know if the big bang theory is true but everybody says its true so I accept it. Evolution on the other hand is definitely true because there are many solid facts to support it. Some naked facts are rationalizations. They are not solid but they could be true. There are naked facts in most disciplines including science and religion. God is not a naked fact but the supporting facts are naked yet the conclusion could be right. I'm not sure.
If I discard all the naked facts, I haven't proven anything. So the question is unsolvable.
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by attofishpi »

Are we talking about Satan Claws?

I haven't got time to read the article - too busy playing with the presents that Santa brought me, like these crazy socks.
RustyBert
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by RustyBert »

jayjacobus wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:23 pm
RustyBert wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:05 pm
I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Are you refering to non-Christians who have had religious experiences and come to the conclusion that god is not the christian god? Are those the believers you're talking about? Or about the Hindu believers whose evidence comes from the Bhagavad Gita, from which they conclude there is a god and it's Hindu. Ah those believers. And so with respect to those believers, you the atheist christian tries to discredit their evidence. Boy your atheism is so strong.
Religion goes beyond the simple existence of God and specifies characteristics, events and interpretations. I don't conclude that a particular interpretation is true (or false) but i don't think that a scientific interpretation leads to no God. I am not dogmatic. But it doesn't matter. Either way life is life.

I call your attention to "The emperor's new clothes" by Hans Christian Anderson. There are naked facts and there are solid facts. Both kinds of facts can be very involved and that makes them seem true. I don't know if the big bang theory is true but everybody says its true so I accept it. Evolution on the other hand is definitely true because there are many solid facts to support it. Some naked facts are rationalizations. They are not solid but they could be true. There are naked facts in most disciplines including science and religion. God is not a naked fact but the supporting facts are naked yet the conclusion could be right. I'm not sure.
Looks like you missed my point. Even in your musing about if there's a god or not, you only site the christian god, the christian bible, and christian believers. My point was that your viewpoint already presupposes what it was trying to prove. You totally rule out all the other religions/believers for whom you are the atheist.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

RustyBert wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:57 pm
jayjacobus wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:23 pm
RustyBert wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:05 pm
I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
Are you refering to non-Christians who have had religious experiences and come to the conclusion that god is not the christian god? Are those the believers you're talking about? Or about the Hindu believers whose evidence comes from the Bhagavad Gita, from which they conclude there is a god and it's Hindu. Ah those believers. And so with respect to those believers, you the atheist christian tries to discredit their evidence. Boy your atheism is so strong.
Religion goes beyond the simple existence of God and specifies characteristics, events and interpretations. I don't conclude that a particular interpretation is true (or false) but i don't think that a scientific interpretation leads to no God. I am not dogmatic. But it doesn't matter. Either way life is life.

I call your attention to "The emperor's new clothes" by Hans Christian Anderson. There are naked facts and there are solid facts. Both kinds of facts can be very involved and that makes them seem true. I don't know if the big bang theory is true but everybody says its true so I accept it. Evolution on the other hand is definitely true because there are many solid facts to support it. Some naked facts are rationalizations. They are not solid but they could be true. There are naked facts in most disciplines including science and religion. God is not a naked fact but the supporting facts are naked yet the conclusion could be right. I'm not sure.
Looks like you missed my point. Even in your musing about if there's a god or not, you only site the christian god, the christian bible, and christian believers. My point was that your viewpoint already presupposes what it was trying to prove. You totally rule out all the other religions/believers for whom you are the atheist.
You don't know my religious affiliation (if any). For all you know I am an agnostic. You said Christian, not me. My point was "don't accept something just because everyone is on board." If the facts are iffy, be skeptical.

Sorry for the late response but I missed your post.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

jayjacobus wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:41 pm Drawing a conclusion without hard evidence is a rationalization and the answers to naysayers are also rationalizations.

Yet there is evidence for God and that evidence comes from the Bible and from testimony from believers who have had religious experiences. Then there are miracles and scientific unknowns. The rationalization is then by the atheists who seek to discredit the evidence.

I don't know if there is a God or not, but let's keep an open mind.
In court if a lawyer asks a lying question, my lawyer should say “Objection: foundation”.
If he doesn’t, I will say “That’s not true. Foundation”.
I will say that so the appeals court will know I didn’t get fair trial.

In an argument over religion, the opponents are not in a court of law and there is no appeal to a higher authority.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

I'm not saying that the atheists don't want to go to court but, if they do they, should not be allowed to ask lying questions. But that rule must apply to the religious believers as well. Fair is fair. No one will say "I want to be unfair"
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

But people should not live and die by the law. People should be rational and if a dilemma comes up one should think, "What will happen to me if I break the law and what will happen to me when I follow the law." Lawyers will never suggest that you break the law even when it makes sense.
jayjacobus
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Re: Santa Claus & the Problem of Evil

Post by jayjacobus »

In a court case between a corporation and an individual, neither party should be allowed an advantage based on their wealth. If one party has enormous wealth and the other party has little wealth, something should be done to equalize the disadvantages. But I don't know what.
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