Why did God create parasites???

[inquisitor888]

I have been wondering this for quite some time now. Why is it that God created parasites?

First lets define a parasite: An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host (and in some cases its pressense is counter productive to the survival of the host)

To the best of my knowledge, most of these parasitic organisms due not even have predators that feed off of them. They appear to me to be nothing more than opportunistic forms of life that ultimately take from the ecology and due not give anything in return...except perhaps suffering and death. The only intrinsic value to these creature that I can logically conclude is destruction. So why?

 

[intricatic]

Because he foresaw the need for a creature in the animal kingdom to compare lawyers to.

I'm no biologist, I apologize if I have no suitable answer to this question.

 

[shinbits]

Parasites, when combined with everything else we learn about science, shows how complex and intergrated all of creation is, and that it must have been designed by God. Parasites are just one piece of the puzzle that point to a complexity that someone who's truly honest with themselves, would admit shows that the universe must have been designed.

 

[inquisitor888]

Parasites, when combined with everything else we learn about science, shows how complex and intergrated all of creation is, and that it must have been designed by God. Parasites are just one piece of the puzzle that point to a complexity that someone who's truly honest with themselves, would admit shows that the universe must have been designed.

Let me understand you here...because I am a little perplexed by your logic. I am going to accept the exsistence of divinity here for the sake of this discussion...and when I say divinity I am going to be exceedingly liberal of the definition of that term.

So are you stating that God could have possibly created parasites to add to the complexity of the universe regardless that they serve no ecological purpose besides destruction? What would be the logic of this? Is it that in his omniscience that he forsaw the evolution vs creation debate and therefore decided to add this 'monkey wrench' of the existance of parasitic organisms in there for future political reasons? If that is the case...then why not do so with something that serves some ecological significance besides destruction? And besides...I feel the atheistic evolution view can more easily answer the question of: 'why parasites.' (And please do not misunderstand me...I wish for this discussion to be theological/philosophical...so I am not supporting or opposing such a view).

I still can not understand the logic behind the existance of parasites. Why did God create them?

 

[inquisitor888]

Because he foresaw the need for a creature in the animal kingdom to compare lawyers to.

I'm no biologist, I apologize if I have no suitable answer to this question.

Why not? I am not a biologist...I am not going to say something offensive and asinine like 'You are not a biologist, what do you know'. You are a person...you have a mind...some measure of capacity for logical thought. I just want to understand the reasoning behind the issue...the logic for the existance of parasites.

 

[Angelwarrioress]

Sin ? Will be investigating this subject and get back to you !

 

[shinbits]

So are you stating that God could have possibly created parasites to add to the complexity of the universe regardless that they serve no ecological purpose besides destruction? What would be the logic of this? Is it that in his omniscience that he forsaw the evolution vs creation debate and therefore decided to add this 'monkey wrench' of the existance of parasitic organisms in there for future political reasons? If that is the case...then why not do so with something that serves some ecological significance besides destruction?

You must remember, that there are people like you all over the world, and always have been throughout time. There have always been people who willingly doubt God's existence, and don't want to acknowledge Him. When God judges the world, the Bible says that all will be without excuse, because the knowledge of God, either through science or conscience, will be something that all people have.

Looking at the whole of creation, you have no excuse to deny that God exists. You can either accept God, or continue to deny, and create ways of complaining about Him. In either case, you have no excuse.

 

[inquisitor888]

shinbits...please do not misunderstand me. I have this question and I want a logical answer. Do you not think that I know the traditional, dogmatic points on debating for or against theism? I promise you I do...I have no interest in playing out a discussion that I already know the outcome to.

This is something that I have seriously been pondering...something that I can not find a moral or logical answer to. I am here to see if this community can give me an answer. It is really that simple.

On a personal note, please do not assume that I am like these 'people like you all over the world'. I personally will not force you into some shallow dichotomy...I do not assume just because you are a christian I can judge your character on one simple attribute...your religion.

I already stated that I am assuming the God does exist for this discussion. I am not out to disprove God...maybe to explore the logical character of divinity.

 

[inquisitor888]

Sin ? Will be investigating this subject and get back to you !

I have already considered the sin perspective to this discussion. I am not sure of its validity.

Parasites destroy without discretion...therefore without any cognitive knowledge of if something is sinful or not. And if it is stated that the parasites are preforming the will of God by destroying the sinful...I don't think a pattern will emerge from studying history that will support that claim. Parasites destroy regardless...good...evil...sinful...holy...anything that is flesh is subject to their wrath.

 

[shinbits]

shinbits...please do not misunderstand me. I have this question and I want a logical answer. Do you not think that I know the traditional, dogmatic points on debating for or against theism? I promise you I do...I have no interest in playing out a discussion that I already know the outcome to.

This is something that I have seriously been pondering...something that I can not find a moral or logical answer to. I am here to see if this community can give me an answer. It is really that simple.

On a personal note, please do not assume that I am like these 'people like you all over the world'. I personally will not force you into some shallow dichotomy...I do not assume just because you are a christian I can judge your character on one simple attribute...your religion.

okay. understood.

there seems to be no real fuction or reason for parasites to be on earth. this is a complete mystery.

 

[Zerikin]

I have no scriptures ect. handy but I would say that they came about after the fall as a result of sin. Before the fall there would have been no carnivorous animals either. I cannot explain how this would have come about but many "bad" things happened after the fall of man, our world was corrupted along with us.

 

[inquisitor888]

Hmmm...a young earth creationist...Seven Day Adventist to be exact...very thought provoking...I see I need to have a paradigm shift from more philosophical to more theological...

Before the fall there would have been no carnivorous animals either.

I am sure you use KJV...maybe I am wrong. I checked Genesis in my KJV and could find nothing supported by scripture to suggest that there were no carnivorous animals before the fall. In fact...

1:21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

This was done on the fourth day...before the creation of man therefore before the fall of man. Whales are carnivorous and so are some birds. And I am omitting 'every living creature that moveth' because it repeats this a few more times in following verses. There is more in Genesis I could utilize to prove my point...but I just decided to pick one verse.

I am not going to say that because it is not mentioned in the opening chapters of Genesis that it did not happen therefore God could have created parasites somewhere in the Genesis account not listed. Futhermore, you may be refering to other books than Genesis (I am quite familiar with Genesis...not so much with all the books).

I agree...something awhile ago must have happened to polarize humanity's view into 'good' and 'evil/bad'...but I do not see this as the orgin of parasites...

Still on the philosophical level...I can not see the logical or moral justification for the creation of parasites.

 

[intricatic]

Why not? I am not a biologist...I am not going to say something offensive and asinine like 'You are not a biologist, what do you know'. You are a person...you have a mind...some measure of capacity for logical thought. I just want to understand the reasoning behind the issue...the logic for the existance of parasites.

Hey, all I'm saying is that this world is a horribly complex place. For all intents and purposes, one may conclude that parasites serve only one goal: the active control of animal populations, and circumstantially, human populations. Which would essentially be an ecological meaning, as animal populations can become damaging to the rest of the surrounding ecology if they get out of hand. But then, one might also ask what the reason for disease is. The answer, I should think, is the same for the existence of parasites.

But like I said, I'm not a biologist.

 

[£amb]

I have been wondering this for quite some time now. Why is it that God created parasites?

First lets define a parasite: An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host (and in some cases its pressense is counter productive to the survival of the host)

To the best of my knowledge, most of these parasitic organisms due not even have predators that feed off of them. They appear to me to be nothing more than opportunistic forms of life that ultimately take from the ecology and due not give anything in return...except perhaps suffering and death. The only intrinsic value to these creature that I can logically conclude is destruction. So why?

Leeches are parasites, yet they benefit the medical world.

 

[inquisitor888]

Leeches are parasites, yet they benefit the medical world.

In this light...so are the viruses that we create antibodies from. So there is in fact a constructive use for parasites...medicine.

Leeches are a good example to use...because unlike viral antibodies, leeches actually address ailments that they do not cause therefore not negating the purpose of their existance.

Nice...I like it...good logic...however morally it is more in the lines of Utilitarianism.

 

[inquisitor888]

. For all intents and purposes, one may conclude that parasites serve only one goal: the active control of animal populations, and circumstantially, human populations. Which would essentially be an ecological meaning, as animal populations can become damaging to the rest of the surrounding ecology if they get out of hand. But then, one might also ask what the reason for disease is. The answer, I should think, is the same for the existence of parasites.

This logic here is very similar to what I would hear from an atheistic view of the world (God being subsituted for nature or evolution). Once again I think the moral code that God is using in this scenario is more along the lines of utilitrarianism.

BTW...I include disease with parasites...

 

[Scholar in training]

I have a question about this thread's title. It's phrased as "Why did God create parasites?" instead of "Why does God allow parasites to exist?"; since it is worded that way, I take the title to mean that God "wanted" parasites to exist, that he actively decided they would. Is this what you meant, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

More broadly, would it be against a benevolent God's nature to allow things like parasites to exist if those things served a purpose?

 

[inquisitor888]

Leeches are parasites, yet they benefit the medical world.

On second thought...and maybe I was not specific enought about this in my orginal post. I am more curious about the existance of the forms of life that are parasitic and do not have predators (therefore do not contribute to the ecology in a predator/prey relationship)...

However...I think your intial point was provocative...

 

[intricatic]

This logic here is very similar to what I would hear from an atheistic view of the world (God being subsituted for nature or evolution). Once again I think the moral code that God is using in this scenario is more along the lines of utilitrarianism.

BTW...I include disease with parasites...

I dunno, would you consider viruses in terms of computers to be something that speaks towards evolution and atheism?

Just because a thing exists to fill a certain need in any given system, does not equate to moral ambiguity, imho. If there was no need, however, and they simply existed to kill off as much life as possible, then perhaps I could see it as morally ambiguous. Afterall, there is a reason that humans and animals have an immune system. Perhaps that thinking is along the same lines as evolution, perhaps not. That doesn't stand to reason that God can't use such a thing in His own creative prowess over nature, in light of a grand design by a master artist.

Anyhow, from a Christian perspective, this life is most certainly not the end of what defines reality.

I always liked this quote...

"Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself." - C.S. Lewis.

 

[intricatic]

Anyhow, to explain why I was wary, and still am, of getting too involved with this thread is that I seriously dislike approaching religion from a scientific perspective. I find that it causes too much dissent, and in effect, too much of a headache for me to deal with.

So I'm stepping out, I hope my responses have at least been thought provoking.