In a separate diary (When Pro-Lifers Kill Their Children, Legally) Art4D8 included this parenthetic:
And, by the way, if God “hates” abortion so much then why does God cause so many of them? Because miscarriage = spontaneous abortion = act of God.
[I started to comment to that diary… but I got so far off the subject that I thought it better to break it out.] My reaction:
Well, you see, spontaneous abortions (e.g., miscarriages) occur because sometimes the embryo/fetus is not viable — something occurred at fertilization (or before that, at the genesis of the ovum or sperm; or after that, in the process of cell division/differentiation) that rendered the embryo/fetus non-viable. God is essentially just disposing of a “mistake.”
But… God doesn’t make mistakes!? So where does the “mistake” embryo come from? God is not responsible for the creation of new life in the womb — only for weeding out the mistakes? But only some of the mistakes (e.g., many infants are born with birth defects, genetic abnormalities, etc.)? God’s job is to weed out the mistakes — but his attention span is spotty? Or he just decides that some parents “deserve” or “need” a special burden?
The dude is omniscient and omnipotent. He’s outside time, so he already knows the future. But if this is all true, he’s either sadistic or just plain evil.
… and don’t give me “Satan” as an explanation. God is omniscient, omnipotent, and aware of the future. God created Satan (Lucifer) — but if he’s omniscient, he knew, when he created Satan, that Satan would rebel and infest the world with evil… but he did it anyway?
God created man, stuck him in the Garden… knowing full well that his creation, Satan, was waiting there, knowing full well that man would be tempted, and would fall… and then God acted surprised and disappointed when man fell? WTF? WT ever-loving F?
We’re supposed to worship this son of a bitch? Oh, and fear him, as well — because he’s a vengeful, sadistic bastard who will obliterate us if we don’t kiss his ass?
I find it just unfathomable that people believe all this; it just doesn’t hang together. If this God is omniscient and omnipotent, then he is responsible for what he has created — and that includes fallen angels (Satan and demons) that he created in the full knowledge that they would turn on him. So he’s either incompetent (which contradicts omniscient and omnipotent) or malevolent (but he’s “benevolent” and “good” as well, per the Bible).
If the Bible were not deemed “holy scripture,” and were just seen as a major literary work, people would have a field day with its contradictions and inconsistencies. As literature, it has its moments. As history… it’s myth. As “the word of God”… it’s rubbish.