The Selfish Giant By Albert Einstein

John Hick argues in this writing that the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Christian god is compatible with an abundance of suffering. He offers solutions to the problem of suffering which relies heavily upon a tripartite foundation. Hick divides evil into two: Moral Evil = the evil that human being cause - either to themselves or to each other. And Non-Moral Evil = the evil that is not caused by human activity - natural disasters, etc. He tries to explain that a world without pain and suffering, moral traits such as courage, patience and sympathy would not be developed.

Florence, reading your thread was most enjoyable, because you displayed in your writing on the topic of “The Problem with Evil,” a compassion for God’s people. With that being said, the problem of evil has and always will be a debatable subject between a believer of Christ and a non-believer because of the depth of its interpretation. Erickson submits, “…the problem of evil arises to varying degrees for different theologies; in addition, it takes differing forms.”1 He also adds, “John Feinberg has observed that the problem of evil must be considered within the context of a given theology and what such concepts as evil, good, and freedom mean within that system.”2 However, when there is a catastrophic disaster that has taken place in the world

From the vantage point of the present, it is easy to look back at the tenure of any great leader and draw conclusions about just what it was that made him/her great. We can examine the circumstances under which their leadership flourished; piece together what we know of their character and personality traits; delve into the factors that may have driven them; and dissect their leadership style all in an effort to pinpoint the source of their success. The ‘Great Man’ theory, popular in the 19th century and now thoroughly debunked, held that leaders are born, not made; suggesting that men like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill were born with the innate capacity to change the world (Landis,

In the world of sex, drugs, and baby cloning you are going to be in many situations where you feel like the world we live in should be different. In the story Brave New World, they had sex with multiple partners along with a very bad use of drugs.

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth and all was good. God told Adam and Eve that they can eat from all the trees in the Garden of Eden except for one, The Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil. God was and is compassionate enough to give the beings he created freedom of choice. Nobody wants someone who is forced into love. God also does not want us to be made to love Him but wants us to do so out of our own free will. That free will that God gives us is the source of evil. Just as Adam and Eve used the free will God gave them to be disobedient and sin, human beings evil because of their freedom to do so. In addition to free will God allows evil to exist because without it, the beings he created could not develop ethically. The Problem of Evil states that God cannot be all loving, all good, all powerful and everywhere because evil exists. Philosopher, John Hicks states that evil is necessary for soul and moral development. How would humans know that is good without it counterpart for comparison? In situations like the Charleston church shooting, where loved ones lives are violently taken by evil, the families of the victims are made to develop morally. When confronted with evil, violence, and grief, they either exhibit patience, love, courage, forgiveness, acceptance, and/or faith. Otherwise they conform or give into evil and become timid, weak, angry, or even become violent themselves. Without evil our world would be blissful.

Evil can take different forms in different context. How evil is responded to depend on which form it takes. God responds to evil by overcoming it, and turning it into something virtuous. Why or when he chooses to overcome it, is something that is unknown. Humans can be agents or victims of evil. They can be the reason evil takes place, or they can affected by someone else’s evil. Evil done by humans is not malicious, but it has a negative effect on humanity. The world is a victim because it’s inability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil. The world is a victim of humankind’s evil actions. Evil is responded to in different ways, because evil has not one definite shape, but an infinite amount.

It will then be replaced with a more Godly mindset and you will be able to gaze at the world and be able to see God’s creation in the world and its entirety. The Christian worldview has more of an affirmative outlook on life’s events. When life throws interesting or “evil’ twists into your life, you can rely on God to help you through your situations, and the lessons you take away from your situations will strengthen the relationship that you have with God. This is a reason that evil is influential in one's relationship with God [and others.] Contrary to Emerson’s statement that “All evil is so much death or nonentity” when verbalizing a Christian’s relationship, evil plays a key role in the intimacy that one has with God (105).

This idea that evil is an illusion of the human mind is what contemporary Christian scientists would use to explain all the evil that was witnessed. But Hick argues that this explanation is impossible with the “stark realism of the bible” (129). The bible records sorrows and suffering that all of humanity has experienced. The apex of the bible story is based on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Obviously evil is not just a mere fictional thing in the mind of a human but rather reality.

For this week’s lecture we had five different readings. There were two chapters, chapter five and twelve, from “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins. The other readings were chapters five, six, and seven From “Yanomamo” by Napoleon A. Chagnon. In chapter five from “The Selfish Gene”, Dawkins discusses the idea that animals of the same species are more likely to be aggressive towards each other because they share more of the same resources. This makes a lot of sense because two animals that do not use the same resource will have no reason to fight because the others existence does not really affect their own. One could even compare this idea to reproduction and mating. Although this relates more back to biological sex and sexual preference rather

Nevertheless the existence of evil in the world is required to prove what good really is. Without evil, everything, every actions are considered good. But if good is everywhere, it becomes difficult to measure it, and we cannot compare it with other actions. To be good is to possess and display moral virtue, but how can we do that if evil does not exist ? Good has to be opposed to evil, for it to exist. It then does not distract it with God’s omnipotence. Mackie (1955) reckons that first order evil such as ‘pain and misery’ contrasts with first order good ‘pleasure and happiness’. Moreover a second order good such as ‘sympathy’ can only exist if there is a second order evil ‘suffering’, similarly with ‘heroism in facing danger’ (Mackie, 1955, p.206). But according to Mackie this claim fails, in fact the second order evil that is ‘cowardice’ or ‘cruelty’ (Mackie, 1955, p.207) is rising as much as another second order good. And if God were omnipotent and morally good he would try and eliminate those evils.

Evil and suffering are two very similar terms. Dating back to the creation of the universe, evil and suffering have influenced our existence as human being. Many factors are responsible for how humans cope with, experience, and perceive evil and suffering. Evil can be defined as a moral or natural suffering that affects human beings (Reuter, 29 August 2016). Furthermore suffering can be defined as "a response to threat to integrity of self" (McFarland, 12 September 2016). One of the greatest challenges with evil and sufferings is the differences humans share in dealing with these particular issues both from a Christian point of view and a non-Christian point of view [thesis].

The general consensus in the academic world is that knowledge is power that can solve humanity’s problems. Sometimes, it is clouded by greed, or it lights the way for a better humanity. Scientists experiment to prove new theories, artists sculpt to express emotion and theologians study to provide interpretations of biblical stories. Therein lies the problem, while society is always searching for knowledge, to date there is no singular “foolproof” method of obtaining it. In the movie “The Theory of Everything,” Stephen Hawking has a “eureka” moment when pulling a sweater over his head and seeing flames through the material. In this case, it seemed that serendipity played a role in his search for truth. This led me to wonder, to what extent is the discovery of knowledge a matter of serendipity that can then go on to solve problems? While an exploration of whether knowledge is produced only to solve problems in the Natural Sciences may be more obvious, its application to Mathematics and Indigenous Knowledge may draw some interesting observations.

The story “The Fun They Had,” by Issac Asimov relates to Oxford High School in many different ways. The story talks about a boy finding an actual paper book to read, instead of reading a book online. This relates to our school because now, in 2017, most of everything we do is online. We do assignments online, take tests online, and even read online. Margie, the young girl, was confused on why Tommy would pick out a book on school.

In other words, some people refer to evil as sin and suffering; others think of it as a separation from God while still more people personify it in the form of satan. My purpose here is not to discuss what form evil may take in an individual's life even though it may come up periodically. The central fact remains that evil, in one form or another, does exist and anyone not willing to believe in this reality quite frankly lives in a different dimension. Either that, or they simply live in a total state of denial! Keeping all this in mind, what I want to accomplish in this paper is to first explore the idea that evil is a relative term that exists within the context of each situation. Ah, yes! Even as I wrote that last sentence, I could see the wheels turning in your head. But not to worry. I will clarify soon. From this point, I will seek the wisdom of people who have tried to answer these tough questions proposed on the first page, come to some more conclusions through personal interviews and then end on a more personal note, using the help of my life experience as a Christian. This topic hits me hard at times. I often find myself in reflection, trying to formulate an answer to the evil that I see, and yes, the evil that I do. This evil will sometimes leave me feeling totally powerless and at its mercy. Yet I never give up hope for I know that just through the process of writing this paper, some new insights will be

Virtual High school is becoming more and more popular. But is it really the best option for your child? My parents are planning on sending me to a virtual high school. But I totally disagree with that Idea. Here's why. There's no doubt that online schooling can’t get you the proper education that you need, But if your alwaysways on the computer, surrounded by no one but yourself and maybe a parent. Then how is it possible that you will be able to learn any social skills. When you first think of this it may not seem like a bad thing, but when really, it’s a huge issue that will shape your lifestyle.