By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Play or download podcast of this post We are bewildered and indignant at the widespread extent of apparently arbitrary and undeserved suffering in the world. And many ask the reason why the universal power of love and justice doesn’t stop suffering. In the world of religion, this is known as the theodicy … Continue reading Providence – A new understanding
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Play or download podcast of this post If there really were a power of love behind the universe, why doesn’t it stop widespread suffering in the world? The struggle to find a compelling argument for the existence of both pain and disease and a loving powerful God puts many people off religion. … Continue reading Power of love – No control over suffering?
This is the fourth script in a series of 6 podcasts on what is in store for us if we survive death. So far I have introduced the topic of death survival, focused on Swedenborg’s account of life after death, and considered the implications of our inner character being revealed to others. You may be … Continue reading Selfish character – A valid idea?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Science and religion sometimes have one thing in common – blindness! There are people who have a blind faith in their religion. Like the fundamental Christians who believe in creationism, saying that the earth was made in just seven days. A point of view held in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to … Continue reading Science and religion – Compatible?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. There are lots of cultural and individual differences between people, but do humans have something innately in common? According to philosopher John Locke, there is no such thing as human nature. In his view, the mind is at birth a “blank slate” without rules, so data are added, and rules for processing … Continue reading Human nature – Does it exist?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Question – How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer – one, but the light bulb has got to want to change. According to award winning professor of psychiatry Irvin Yalom, this idea of free choice (also called free-will) presents a problem to many psychological therapists. Their goal … Continue reading Free choice – An illusion?
After the terrorist explosion at Maalbeek Metro station in Brussels in March 2016, one person said he was going to stop using the underground railway and walk to work instead. However, others think in terms of fate. ‘What is meant to be, will be’. ‘My time will come when it comes.’ Do you think that things … Continue reading Fate – Can I Escape It?
You may wonder that if memories are chemically and electrically stored in the way neuroscience describes, does this mean that your brain is the be-all and end-all of your memory and that without your brain you would remember nothing after death?
We hear of thousands of ordinary people who have lost their lives or been severely traumatised by civil war, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, invasion, slavery and so on. Where is the meaning of life in this innocent suffering? If humankind has a humane spirit of care, generosity and goodwill that respects the rights of others, where does social coercion and violent aggression come from? If there is an all-powerful divine force within the universe, why are tyrants and suicide bombers allowed to cause such misery?
Similar questions arise in connection with natural events. Some people in the world, through no fault of their own, have experienced devastating earthquake, like the one in Haiti, not to mention volcanic eruption, tsunami, hurricane, flood, or famine. These events can result in much suffering and many casualties. And then there is disease. Which of us, during the course of our lives, will have to endure serious injury, congenital disability, or progressive, mental or terminal illness?
The creator seems careless about creation. If there is a perfect force that made the natural world, why are there imperfections in nature?