I agree with you regarding Stephen Fry's right to say whatever he feels. I totally agree with free speech regardless of what anyone has to say on any particular issue but I have to say I don't agree with his assessment that God is responsible for all of the misery and suffering that is taking place in the world. I don't pretend to understand the reasons why some things happen but I also don't think it's fair to say that because we have been sold a God that is all powerful and all merciful whilst living in a world that seems to be filled with destruction and suffering that that necessarily means there can be no God. Scientists will argue that when humans do not understand something their natural response is to bestow upon it a supernatural explanation (God) but in actual fact it can be explained scientifically once we have the tools to do so. Atheists will make the case that if there is a God he must be a harsh and merciless God otherwise why would he allow these things to happen in the first place yet we know there are measurable scientific reasons for these natural disasters. They won't accept the answer that this is our home and we alone bare responsibility for it and that perhaps there is a God who simply got things started and lets us make of it what we will. Perhaps the centuries of mining for natural resources, deforestation and pillaging of animal and plant life have some bearing on the condition of our home and its instability. We have no idea what damage we are doing to the earth with our blase consumption of its natural life blood and in general we take no personal responsibility for it either. I reserve the right to be mistaken and always open to new information but I always look for other explanations other than the ones that are being presented to me .Good post! thank you!
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Great answer. I used to have very similar view to you. I don't anymore but the great thing is that we can have the discussion.
thank you and perhaps given more time and more thought and more evidence you may decide that your initial view was correct after all and that you find yourself agreeing with me once more.:) And perhaps you then find that I have come across some new information which I have given some more thought over some more time and now you find that I am still at odds with your view. I also used to have a very similar view of the world as you present in your post i.e., an atheistic view so we both have the same experience in reverse. Perhaps the truth is we simply choose the belief system that makes us feel comfortable and may fit best with the personal choices we make for ourselves in our lives. Again. I reserve the right to be wrong and it is a great thing when two men or women are able to control their emotional responses long enough to disagree with each other in polite, respectful conversation, so thank you again.