Darwin loss of faith

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Nowis
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Darwin loss of faith

Postby Nowis » Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:38 am

I read that Charles DARWIN lost his Christian faith partly as a result of learning about the ichoumonidae wasp, whose eggs are laid in a live host caterpillar, and then hatch and eat the host alive. Apparently he could not accept a God that could invent something so cruel. Are such issues addressed in the writings ? I know Abdul Baha talks about mosquitoes being better than us because at least the mosquitoe only sucks blood whereas we kill and eat the whole animal, but that isn't quite the same thing.

brettz9
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Re: Darwin loss of faith

Postby brettz9 » Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:12 am

I can't think of something from the Writings, besides maybe considering the Fire Tablet, and how an extremes can make us appreciate its antithesis.

I also heard of a man I believe whose arm or something had been bitten by a lion, and he actually came to believe in God after this because what he expected to be unimaginable horror was mitigated by the body responding to cut off what would otherwise have been such severe pain. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_control_theory for this pain "gate control" mechanism.

Of course, these potential built-in protections do not mean that we cannot experience (or that God is incapable of stopping) the deliberate torture of human beings by one another which stops shy of these mechanisms but can be even more agonizing, but even here too, the best we can do, I think, is take hope in a recompense in the next world when it is not found in this world. Even the Baha'i Writings admit though:

"...the trials of the innocent are indeed heartrending and constitute a mystery that the mind of man cannot fathom."

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-86, no. 425.2, p. 661)

See also http://bahai9.com/wiki/Suffering_of_the_innocent .

Best wishes,
Brett

Nowis
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:43 pm

Re: Darwin loss of faith

Postby Nowis » Thu Mar 10, 2016 6:12 am

thanks brett

MontanaDon
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Re: Darwin loss of faith

Postby MontanaDon » Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:15 pm

I think there's a pilgrim's note that is more specific, but this has a similar idea, fm Paris Talks - - -
I hope you are all happy and well. I am not happy, but very sad. The news of the Battle of Benghazi grieves my heart. I wonder at the human savagery that still exists in the world! How is it possible for men to fight from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellow-men: And for what object? To gain possession of a part of the earth! Even the animals, when they fight, have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their attacks! How terrible it is that men, who are of the higher kingdom, can descend to slaying and bringing misery to their fellow-beings, for the possession of a tract of land!
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Understood properly, all man's problems are essentially spiritual in nature.


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