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think about this, a genuine $1 bill is made by the U.S. Mint, and can't be made by anyone, or anything else. God, in theory, could make an atom-for-atom copy of a one dollar bill, but it wouldn't be genuine being that it isn't made by the U.S. Mint. Therefore, God is NOT omnipotent
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ReplyDeleteKeith Olbermann uses some pretty powerful rhetoric here, using appeals to both ethos and pathos. Unfortunately, there are many against gay rights who see this issue as a question of the morality of homosexuality.
ReplyDeleteI myself am pro gay marriage, but I have argued at length with those who are against it.
A friend of mine who is a devout catholic once explained to me why he felt compelled to oppose homosexuality from a religious standpoint:
1) God is all-powerful and defines right and wrong in the universe.
2) The Pope speaks with the guidance of God, and his interpretation of God's word (especially ex cathedra) is the closest man can come to knowing truth.
3) The Bible and the Pope's interpretation of the Word of God proclaims homosexual acts immoral
There are many who believe the first two of these to be absolutely true. Given that, it is hard for them to go against what they see as "divine truth." There are many protestants and those of non-Christian faiths who cite the Bible or other religious text as evidence against homosexuality.
Oh and in response to the genuine $1 bill comment. That argument is actually pretty easy to counter. Theoretically God is all-powerful so he could do any of the following things to create a genuine $1 bill:
1) Since God is supposedly omnipresent, the U.S. Mint IS a part of God. Thus, any money it creates is created by God (for if it were not his will for this to happen, he could prevent it)
2) God could, through his influence, cause the U.S. mint to create a $1 bill with no need to exert his power directly.
3) God could redefine what the word "genuine" means, or even the concept of "genuineness." 4) God could even remove the concept of authenticity from our culture or the human race as a whole (the same way the concept of "0" in mathematics only existed in certain ancient cultures but not others).
These are just some of a nigh-infinite list of loopholes in that argument given that God is all-powerful. Oh, and if you want to start without the premise that God is all-powerful, you can't. This is because part of the definition (if there can be such a thing) of God is that He is all-powerful. Why we have such a definition is beyond me; he could easily have finite power that merely exceeds all ability to comprehend, yet we humans tend to just slap "all-powerful" onto the concept of a monotheistic God.
Finally, Keith Olbermann stole his catch phrase "good night, and good luck" from Edward R. Murrow, although arguably it was a homage rather than a theft.
Great Find Geoff. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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