Looking for answers to my questions

[Compassionist]

Thank you for reading my post. I am looking for reliable answers to the following questions:

1. How can we know that anything is true?
2. What is the best method to know something is true?
3. If God is real and good, why didn't God prevent all suffering, unfairness and deaths by making all living things equally all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful?
4. If God is real and good, why is the Bible full of God's atrocities? https://www.evilbible.com/ and http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/
5. How do I know that you and all other living things except me are not philosophical zombies? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie
6. How do I know solipsism is true or false? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism
7. How do I know that I am or am not living in a simulation? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis
8. How can living things have free will given the determining effects of our genes, environments, nutrients and experiences?
9. Are all of the choices made by living things the inevitable outcome of the unique interactions between their genes, environments, nutrients and experiences?
10. If all our choices are inevitable, then, how can we be responsible for making them?
11. How can it be right to reward or punish an organism for making inevitable choices?
12. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, does that make God omniculpable?
13. If God is omniculpable, how should God punish God?
14. The Bible claims God predestined our lives https://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination If that is true, then, how is it fair of God to send some to Heaven and some to Hell?
15. Christians believe that humans are immortal souls who go to either Heaven or Hell depending on whether we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour or not. How do we know that we are immortal souls?
16. Are non-human organisms immortal souls also?
17. How do we know which organisms are immortal souls and which are not?
18. According to Hinduism, the world of our sensory perception is an illusion. How can we know if this is true or false?
19. C. S. Lewis claimed in "Mere Christianity" that Jesus is either a liar or a lunatic or the Lord. There is a fourth option - Jesus is a fictional character. How can I prove that Jesus was what the Bible claims?
20. Who wrote each of the books of the Bible?
21. How do we know who wrote each of the books of the Bible?
22. When were each of the books of the Bible written?
23. How do we know when each of the books of the Bible was written?
24. Why does the Catholic Bible differ from the Protestant Bible?
25. According to Jainism, there is no Creator God. Jains believe in not harming sentient beings and are therefore either strict vegetarian or vegan. Jainism is much more peaceful than Christianity. Jains have never colonised and enslaved and mass murdered and forcibly mass converted many people the way Christians and Muslims did. How can anyone defend Christianity or Islam to be more ethical than Jainism?
26. I want all living things to exist without consuming anything. As I am not all-powerful, I can't make this happen. Why would a good God create living things that kill and consume other sentient and non-sentient living things?
27. Scientists estimate that 99.9% of all the species to evolve so far on Earth are already extinct. Why didn't God save all these species?
28. Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." - John 14:12, The Bible (New International Verson). If the Bible is true, then Christians should be resurrecting the dead, turning water to wine, calming storms, healing the sick, etc. Why don't Christians do even greater works than Jesus?
29. Why hasn't Jesus returned yet?
30. Why doesn't God directly communicate with all of us publicly and incontrovertibly? This would prevent all the conflicts between the followers of different denominations and different religions in terms of establishing the existence and nature and wishes of God so I don't understand why God doesn't do it all the time.
31. Hinduism claims that living things are immortal souls that reincarnate based on karma earned through actions and inactions in a past life. How do I know if this is true or false?
32. Do non-human sentient organisms go to Heaven or Hell?
33. Do non-human non-sentient organisms go to Heaven or Hell?
34. What determines who goes to Heaven or Hell?
35. How do we know that Heaven and Hell exist?
36. How can I trust the Bible given all the inaccuracies and contradictions?
37. Different countries have different laws. How do I know which laws are ethical and which are unethical?
38. How do I know what is morally right and what is morally wrong?

[Compassionist]

God = evil (imaginary or real).

Assuming by "God" you are referring to any being which created this Universe, what evidence have you offered which supports this claim? Is it simply that you think of the Universe as evil, therefore any being which created it must also be evil?

According to the Bible, God created the reality we live in. Given how horrific and unjust this reality is, if God made it, God must be evil. Also, the Bible is full of God's evil deeds and evil commands. Please see https://www.evilbible.com If the Bible is true, then God is evil and real. If the Bible is false, then God is evil and imaginary. The universe itself does not appear to be conscious - if it is not conscious, it can't be evil. Although, panpsychism claims that everything is conscious. I am not convinced that panpsychism is true. It is impossible to prove or disprove panpsychism with our current technology. Please see

[William]

[Replying to Compassionist in post #52]

According to the Bible,...

That is not what I was asking you.
Specifically my own position on that matter can be read in this recent post I wrote.

What I was specifically asking you was "What makes you think that IF the universe was created, THEN why would this have you conclude that The Creator must therefore be evil?

The universe itself does not appear to be conscious - if it is not conscious, it can't be evil. Although, panpsychism claims that everything is conscious. I am not convinced that panpsychism is true. It is impossible to prove or disprove panpsychism with our current technology.

So using your same criteria regarding Christians and the Bible, IF Panpsychism were true, THEN would you still consider that the Universe is evil?

I ask, because it appears that what you are saying is that anything conscious, must be evil - when you wrote;

The universe itself does not appear to be conscious - if it is not conscious, it can't be evil.

[William]

Please see

I tell you what I can do. The subject matter of the video you have asked me to watch is something I am keenly interested in, and have much to say regarding it. [in relation to my own subjective experience of it.]

However, it is over three hours long...the first minute into it we are asked "Where does thought come from?"
That is a subject all unto itself, which would require significant discussion between you and I.

So - I am happy to start a specific thread where you and I can take time and effort to discuss each point which comes up in the video you linked, one point at a time - starting with that question.

I agree that Panpsychism as a possible truth, should be on the table and of interest to anyone who seriously wants to get the right answers to this mysterious question of life as we experience it.

Otherwise you will have to explain what in the video renders the theory of Panpsychism something not worth considering.

[Compassionist]

[Replying to Compassionist in post #52]

According to the Bible,...

That is not what I was asking you.
Specifically my own position on that matter can be read in this recent post I wrote.

What I was specifically asking you was "What makes you think that IF the universe was created, THEN why would this have you conclude that The Creator must therefore be evil?

The universe itself does not appear to be conscious - if it is not conscious, it can't be evil. Although, panpsychism claims that everything is conscious. I am not convinced that panpsychism is true. It is impossible to prove or disprove panpsychism with our current technology.

So using your same criteria regarding Christians and the Bible, IF Panpsychism were true, THEN would you still consider that the Universe is evil?

I ask, because it appears that what you are saying is that anything conscious, must be evil - when you wrote;

The universe itself does not appear to be conscious - if it is not conscious, it can't be evil.

Let me clarify what I meant. An evil being must be two things: 1. Conscious and 2. Deliberately harmful. For example, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, etc. were conscious and deliberately harmful. Therefore, they were evil. According to the Bible, God made the universe, God is conscious and God harmed lots of sentient organisms deliberately. So, if the Bible is true, then God is evil and real. If the Bible is false, God is evil and imaginary. Voldemort is an imaginary and evil character from the Harry Potter books and movies. The Biblical God is much worse than Voldemort. If the universe is conscious and causes deliberate harm then it is indeed evil. I see no evidence to support the claim that the universe is conscious.

[Compassionist]

Please see

I tell you what I can do. The subject matter of the video you have asked me to watch is something I am keenly interested in, and have much to say regarding it. [in relation to my own subjective experience of it.]

However, it is over three hours long...the first minute into it we are asked "Where does thought come from?"
That is a subject all unto itself, which would require significant discussion between you and I.

So - I am happy to start a specific thread where you and I can take time and effort to discuss each point which comes up in the video you linked, one point at a time - starting with that question.

I agree that Panpsychism as a possible truth, should be on the table and of interest to anyone who seriously wants to get the right answers to this mysterious question of life as we experience it.

Otherwise you will have to explain what in the video renders the theory of Panpsychism something not worth considering.

Do you want to create the "Where does thought come from?" thread or should I? The problem is that I don't know where thoughts come from. They just appear ex nihilo. It's possible that thoughts are produced as a result of brain activities. Sam Harris does not disprove panpsychism in the video. Here is an interesting video about panpsychism

[William]

[Replying to Compassionist in post #55]

If the universe is conscious and causes deliberate harm then it is indeed evil.

It may be that the harm which is caused is unavoidable. One has to take into account that the Universe is - if not in its embryonic stage, then but a baby in relation to the estimated amount of time it still has to unfold completely...the harm in that sense might be 'deliberate' but acceptable in relation to the 'end game'.

[William]

[Replying to Compassionist in post #56]

Do you want to create the "Where does thought come from?" thread or should I?

I will PM you about that.

The problem is that I don't know where thoughts come from. They just appear ex nihilo.

We can discuss that in more detail in an appropriate thread.

[1213]

...Nature has always been hard and painful and something to endure......All the evidence [as recorded in the strata] points to that being the case...

Please tell, what exactly proves that to be the case and not just your belief? If the strata is really evidence for something, it tells that there was once a time when no strata had yet been formed. Why that could not be the beginning when everything was good?

[William]

[Replying to 1213 in post #59]

The strata is made of Earth. Are you saying that there was once upon a time a good place which was not made of Earth?

If so - then you deviate from the subject matter altogether. Perhaps - rather than clutch at straws - you think seriously about what is being revealed here, even if it means having to question your beliefs about what you have been told is 'the truth', by Christianity. The truth shall set you free from such unsupported tales of creation...

[Compassionist]

[Replying to Compassionist in post #55]

If the universe is conscious and causes deliberate harm then it is indeed evil.

It may be that the harm which is caused is unavoidable. One has to take into account that the Universe is - if not in its embryonic stage, then but a baby in relation to the estimated amount of time it still has to unfold completely...the harm in that sense might be 'deliberate' but acceptable in relation to the 'end game'.

I am not convinced that the universe is conscious and has any goal. If you can prove the universe is conscious and has goals please feel free to do so.