Can God make mistakes?

[Frodo]

Bro, I am unable to debate with a logic that says God is all powerful, and made man, and when man does something wrong, it is not God's fault.

However, while Christian thought says that God made man, I can say that in actuality, man made God. Or gods, depending on where one comes from.

Cheers!

You can't fault the logic because there is nothing illogical to find fault with! If you choose to do something wrong, how can you blame another to be responsible for what you did? If your logic holds, then no one can ever be guilty of anything in the court of law! So if you can construct a valid and sound argument for blaming God, please feel free to do so.

When God gave man free will (think how powerful God is to be able to grant his creation free will while man's best creation is just a programmed robot with artificial intelligence!) it meant that man can choose to follow or reject God.

You can of course choose to say man made God. You can say whatever you like. But if you wish to be taken seriously then you need to go beyond saying just what you like, but start to give good reasons/evidence to support your claim.

 

[Agoraphobic]

Ok then. Man created god. Or gods. In our early years, we were not knowledgeable about the physical laws and nature, and attributed that the gods are angry with us and caused bad weather, storms and such. To appease them, we held rituals, sacrifices to make them happy. Later on, we even concocted ideas that we should not break other laws that determine human "morals" or we shall face retribution in our after-life. Powerful peoples then formed social organizations we made societies think that they have the mandate of the heavens to rule over others in society, and collect taxes. That is how religion came into our societies. We started out with many gods, then we simplified it to one god. And now, as we advance in our knowledge of things around us, we even dare say we'd do without god.

Cheers!

You can't fault the logic because there is nothing illogical to find fault with! If you choose to do something wrong, how can you blame another to be responsible for what you did? If your logic holds, then no one can ever be guilty of anything in the court of law! So if you can construct a valid and sound argument for blaming God, please feel free to do so.

When God gave man free will (think how powerful God is to be able to grant his creation free will while man's best creation is just a programmed robot with artificial intelligence!) it meant that man can choose to follow or reject God.

You can of course choose to say man made God. You can say whatever you like. But if you wish to be taken seriously then you need to go beyond saying just what you like, but start to give good reasons/evidence to support your claim.

 

[Frodo]

Ok then. Man created god. Or gods. In our early years, we were not knowledgeable about the physical laws and nature, and attributed that the gods are angry with us and caused bad weather, storms and such. To appease them, we held rituals, sacrifices to make them happy. Later on, we even concocted ideas that we should not break other laws that determine human "morals" or we shall face retribution in our after-life. Powerful peoples then formed social organizations we made societies think that they have the mandate of the heavens to rule over others in society, and collect taxes. That is how religion came into our societies. We started out with many gods, then we simplified it to one god. And now, as we advance in our knowledge of things around us, we even dare say we'd do without god.

Cheers!

So you have a story to tell. One that is supposedly illustrated this way as though there is a chronological direction. This is not borne out from what we know in history. Neither did you provide any historical research or facts to support this story. So it is nothing more than a CSB, repeated ad nauseam by many.

Atheism -> Polytheism -> Monotheism -> Atheism

My account is different, it is this way which shows that what started out as monotheism later was corrupted into other forms, though monotheism still remains a dominant belief. This is what we observe today. This is also documented in this book http://jwwartick.com/2014/03/31/ibg-wc/

Monotheism -> Polytheism/Atheism/Pantheism/Monotheism

But even if we agree that man in recorded history has invented gods and worshipped such man-made goods (and this is even mentioned in the Bible so no surprise here), it does not mean there God did not create man. You may have made the point that man did invent gods and deities to worship but you did have not shown that God did not create man. Not only that, you also did not explain or account for man's religiousity. Again research shows that man is hardwired for religious beliefs. Could it be that we designed and made that way? I believe we are, and evidence points in this direction. Everywhere we go we see religion. There are even atheists into spirituality! And also atheists who set up "churches" to imitate what the Christian churches are doing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-hardwired-believe-God-imaginary-friends.html

 

[Agoraphobic]

Bro, I don't think I said that god (or something else) created man, or did not - I just said that we do not know for sure, but are still looking. We are on our own. We have created societies, and laws that derived from earlier laws and traditions based on religion because our earlier ancestors did not understand the forces of nature and made up stories of god(s) to explain the forces around us. Before we knew of bacteria and germs, we attributed diseases to bad spirits and other ominous phenomena, It is only in relatively recent history that we started to understand biology, chemistry and physics that has advanced us. We are less dependant on the divine mercy of God to protect us. But the imprint religion has left on our civilizations forces our mindset to still relate to issues of our lives to "divine" teachings. Just because we have not found the answers to our questions doesn't mean we look for them in the story book of truths.

Cheers!

So you have a story to tell. One that is supposedly illustrated this way as though there is a chronological direction. This is not borne out from what we know in history. Neither did you provide any historical research or facts to support this story. So it is nothing more than a CSB, repeated ad nauseam by many.

Atheism -> Polytheism -> Monotheism -> Atheism

My account is different, it is this way which shows that what started out as monotheism later was corrupted into other forms, though monotheism still remains a dominant belief. This is what we observe today. This is also documented in this book http://jwwartick.com/2014/03/31/ibg-wc/

Monotheism -> Polytheism/Atheism/Pantheism/Monotheism

But even if we agree that man in recorded history has invented gods and worshipped such man-made goods (and this is even mentioned in the Bible so no surprise here), it does not mean there God did not create man. You may have made the point that man did invent gods and deities to worship but you did have not shown that God did not create man. Not only that, you also did not explain or account for man's religiousity. Again research shows that man is hardwired for religious beliefs. Could it be that we designed and made that way? I believe we are, and evidence points in this direction. Everywhere we go we see religion. There are even atheists into spirituality! And also atheists who set up "churches" to imitate what the Christian churches are doing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-hardwired-believe-God-imaginary-friends.html

 

[Frodo]

Bro, I don't think I said that god (or something else) created man, or did not - I just said that we do not know for sure, but are still looking. We are on our own. We have created societies, and laws that derived from earlier laws and traditions based on religion because our earlier ancestors did not understand the forces of nature and made up stories of god(s) to explain the forces around us. Before we knew of bacteria and germs, we attributed diseases to bad spirits and other ominous phenomena, It is only in relatively recent history that we started to understand biology, chemistry and physics that has advanced us. We are less dependant on the divine mercy of God to protect us. But the imprint religion has left on our civilizations forces our mindset to still relate to issues of our lives to "divine" teachings. Just because we have not found the answers to our questions doesn't mean we look for them in the story book of truths.

Cheers!

I believe your answer is that we do not know for sure, and even if someone said it, you will then say we can never really know!

I am not sure whether you have seriously compared the teachings of the Bible with other religions. I strongly suspect you never bothered but simply lumped them altogether to be summarily dismissed as fictitious. Again just because you have a theory of how things go, it does not mean it therefore accurately applies to the Bible. You have to demonstrate that, not just assert that. Here's another book that shows the Bible to have contributed much to civilisation, though just an excerpt http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/_images/nsd/orl/excerpts/the_book_that_made_your_world.pdf

 

[kryonlight]

And now, as we advance in our knowledge of things around us, we even dare say we'd do without god.

Ignorance is the cause of suffering. The more we know about ourselves and the world, the less ignorant we become. The idea of God is so toxic that it had caused untold miseries far more than the good it had done, even till today. We don't need a God to tell us what is right and what is wrong, because each one of us is a God upon ourselves. Our God is our very own mind. When we develop the mind to gravitate towards good thoughts, we become a good God. When we develop the mind to gravitate towards evil thoughts, we become an evil God. Good thoughts brightens and expands consciousness while evil thoughts darkens and shrinks consciousness.

The mind is God.

 

[Agoraphobic]

The development (and acceptance) of religion(s) goes in line with our times, our knowledge, and is intertwined with social history and politics. Before Christianity became so widespread, we believed in our animistic spirits, Nordic, Hellenistic, Hindu gods, etc. W even erected monuments to worship these gods. Christianity is more suited to recent times, and as we advance even more and understand the universe and micro sciences, we are starting to discard the all-powerful god - because we simply do not need him (again a fault - always a male figure) much longer. We are more in control of our lives and able to adapt the environment around us. Although still far from able to accomplish everything, we keep striving. Our species (at least the more advance nations) have stopped seeing god as an entity from a human viewpoint with human tendencies and emotions, and associate him (or it) with more spiritual aspects. I believe many of us are treading this path.

Cheers!

I believe your answer is that we do not know for sure, and even if someone said it, you will then say we can never really know!

I am not sure whether you have seriously compared the teachings of the Bible with other religions. I strongly suspect you never bothered but simply lumped them altogether to be summarily dismissed as fictitious. Again just because you have a theory of how things go, it does not mean it therefore accurately applies to the Bible. You have to demonstrate that, not just assert that. Here's another book that shows the Bible to have contributed much to civilisation, though just an excerpt http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/_images/nsd/orl/excerpts/the_book_that_made_your_world.pdf

 

[Agoraphobic]

I agree with this. We are evolving (or developing) to reach greater heights. Of knowledge, of compassion, of care and concern. In some ways, religion is holding us back.

Cheers!

................... because each one of us is a God upon ourselves. Our God is our very own mind. .....................

 

[Frodo]

The development (and acceptance) of religion(s) goes in line with our times, our knowledge, and is intertwined with social history and politics. Before Christianity became so widespread, we believed in our animistic spirits, Nordic, Hellenistic, Hindu gods, etc. W even erected monuments to worship these gods. Christianity is more suited to recent times, and as we advance even more and understand the universe and micro sciences, we are starting to discard the all-powerful god - because we simply do not need him (again a fault - always a male figure) much longer. We are more in control of our lives and able to adapt the environment around us. Although still far from able to accomplish everything, we keep striving. Our species (at least the more advance nations) have stopped seeing god as an entity from a human viewpoint with human tendencies and emotions, and associate him (or it) with more spiritual aspects. I believe many of us are treading this path.

Cheers!

On the contrary, the more we discover in science, the more it becomes obvious that the universe could not be a result of a random fluke event as atheism implies. Consider the cell. 150 byrs ago Darwin thought it was simple. But with the microscope we can now peer into the world of the cell and see that it is anything but simple. It's a complex factory that begs an adequate cause. To say that it can just exist by chance processes is rather absurd. Or consider DNA, coded instructions for life. Atheism has no clue to explain its existence. So they just cheat by assuming that there is this single cell right there from the start, it must have been there or else nothing can evolve, even though it violates the law of nature. The path of atheism is fraught with logical impossibilities and absurdities.

 

[Frodo]

Ignorance is the cause of suffering. The more we know about ourselves and the world, the less ignorant we become. The idea of God is so toxic that it had caused untold miseries far more than the good it had done, even till today. We don't need a God to tell us what is right and what is wrong, because each one of us is a God upon ourselves. Our God is our very own mind. When we develop the mind to gravitate towards good thoughts, we become a good God. When we develop the mind to gravitate towards evil thoughts, we become an evil God. Good thoughts brightens and expands consciousness while evil thoughts darkens and shrinks consciousness.

The mind is God.

Who says ignorance is the cause of suffering? If you say we now know more, has suffering decrease proportionately? You know that is not so. So your belief has no basis in the real world at all. Which means it is false, or you need to tweak it.

 

[Agoraphobic]

It's been said that the more we discover, the more we find out how little we know. We know that the universe is growing, which means what we can discover is still growing. At the time of Darwin's works, we did not find the answer, we only realized that earlier established thought were wrong. I agree, we still do not know, we still are discovering. More people are leaning towards the side of "intelligent design." And we are still figuring out who, or what this intelligent designer is. A race of advanced beings? For those of you who wish to make it easy and call it God, that is acceptable, but others wish to find out more about it. I agree that to say God made these things, and we could stop expanding our efforts to explore more, but our species is not like that. We will keep looking.

Cheers!

On the contrary, the more we discover in science, the more it becomes obvious that the universe could not be a result of a random fluke event as atheism implies. Consider the cell. 150 byrs ago Darwin thought it was simple. But with the microscope we can now peer into the world of the cell and see that it is anything but simple. It's a complex factory that begs an adequate cause. To say that it can just exist by chance processes is rather absurd. Or consider DNA, coded instructions for life. Atheism has no clue to explain its existence. So they just cheat by assuming that there is this single cell right there from the start, it must have been there or else nothing can evolve, even though it violates the law of nature. The path of atheism is fraught with logical impossibilities and absurdities.

 

[Frodo]

It's been said that the more we discover, the more we find out how little we know. We know that the universe is growing, which means what we can discover is still growing. At the time of Darwin's works, we did not find the answer, we only realized that earlier established thought were wrong. I agree, we still do not know, we still are discovering. More people are leaning towards the side of "intelligent design." And we are still figuring out who, or what this intelligent designer is. A race of advanced beings? For those of you who wish to make it easy and call it God, that is acceptable, but others wish to find out more about it. I agree that to say God made these things, and we could stop expanding our efforts to explore more, but our species is not like that. We will keep looking.

Cheers!

If you want to think that life on earth is caused by aliens or advanced beings, you are still caught with a problem, these advanced alien beings are part of this universe. But we are talking about the cause of the universe. Whatever or WHO this cause is, it must be everything that this universe is not. BTW, history shows that you are wrong. Modern science progressed on the shoulders of those who believed there is a God of order and intelligence. If you bother to check out where and why science flourished you would end up with one answer: theism.

 

[Agoraphobic]

Hmm, I guess we do not know eh? If I were to chance upon ET, I'd ask it whether they believe in God(s) or not, just to see how they view things. If I am not wrong, things started to really progress with the introduction of the printing press which made reading material available to the masses. And the first thing printed was the bible. This also led later to Martin Luther's writings against the papal authority and the start of the Reformation which in turn caused the intellects in European society questioning and challenging authority and eventually to the Age of Reason and Enlightenment which opened the doors to the Age of Industrialization. Back then, you either believed in god, or you were a heretic, people didn't have much choices, so everyone believed in god as taught by the bible (at least in western civilization). Here in the east, it was between Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, and possibly others. Christianity only came much later, and as of today, it may have already seen its time.

Cheers!

If you want to think that life on earth is caused by aliens or advanced beings, you are still caught with a problem, these advanced alien beings are part of this universe. But we are talking about the cause of the universe. Whatever or WHO this cause is, it must be everything that this universe is not. BTW, history shows that you are wrong. Modern science progressed on the shoulders of those who believed there is a God of order and intelligence. If you bother to check out where and why science flourished you would end up with one answer: theism.

 

[Frodo]

Hmm, I guess we do not know eh? If I were to chance upon ET, I'd ask it whether they believe in God(s) or not, just to see how they view things. If I am not wrong, things started to really progress with the introduction of the printing press which made reading material available to the masses. And the first thing printed was the bible. This also led later to Martin Luther's writings against the papal authority and the start of the Reformation which in turn caused the intellects in European society questioning and challenging authority and eventually to the Age of Reason and Enlightenment which opened the doors to the Age of Industrialization. Back then, you either believed in god, or you were a heretic, people didn't have much choices, so everyone believed in god as taught by the bible (at least in western civilization). Here in the east, it was between Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, and possibly others. Christianity only came much later, and as of today, it may have already seen its time.

Cheers!

We do not know, or you do not know?

Believing in advanced alien beings is IMO a complete waste of time. For one, the person who believes that life on earth is caused by advanced beings is already conceding the debate about origins, which is that life is designed. That should put hardcore evolutionists out of business. '

The first printing press was ironically in the house of Voltaire who onced swore that the Bible would soon disappear from the face of the earth. But really, the invention of the printing press was also spurred by love for the Bible, to promote the Bible. Gutenberg's first work was the Bible if I am not wrong.

You gave a very simplistic and wrong view of why people believed in God, either believe or be damned a heretic. In short, you invoked the genetic fallacy. You completely overlooked the fact that there were good reasons for believing in God. Anyway, Christianity is growing wild in China and many parts of Asia as of now, though I do not conclude that the popularity of a belief is proof of its truth.

 

[Agoraphobic]

Me, I am eager to know, that's all. There is speculation about ETs because of unexplained artifacts here on earth, and it is somewhat unimaginable that the universe being so immense does not contain any other life supporting planet other than earth, but we have yet to have solid conclusive evidence. So, we're still looking, SETI is an example.

I gave what you call a simplistic view of how people believe in god, because it is simple - either one believes, one doesn't, or one is unsure. You seem to wish to make it more complicated. If one believes in god because it brings comfort and solace, so be it, why make it difficult and hard to fathom? There are many people who do not have anything worthwhile to look forward to in life and only hold on to their religion in hope that there is something worth living for, so why make it complicated? Me, I do not believe in the truth of religion, but I do not see anything wrong with the people who live in its goodness and peace it brings to them.

Cheers!

We do not know, or you do not know?

Believing in advanced alien beings is IMO a complete waste of time. For one, the person who believes that life on earth is caused by advanced beings is already conceding the debate about origins, which is that life is designed. That should put hardcore evolutionists out of business. '

The first printing press was ironically in the house of Voltaire who onced swore that the Bible would soon disappear from the face of the earth. But really, the invention of the printing press was also spurred by love for the Bible, to promote the Bible. Gutenberg's first work was the Bible if I am not wrong.

You gave a very simplistic and wrong view of why people believed in God, either believe or be damned a heretic. In short, you invoked the genetic fallacy. You completely overlooked the fact that there were good reasons for believing in God. Anyway, Christianity is growing wild in China and many parts of Asia as of now, though I do not conclude that the popularity of a belief is proof of its truth.

 

[Frodo]

Me, I am eager to know, that's all. There is speculation about ETs because of unexplained artifacts here on earth, and it is somewhat unimaginable that the universe being so immense does not contain any other life supporting planet other than earth, but we have yet to have solid conclusive evidence. So, we're still looking, SETI is an example.

I gave what you call a simplistic view of how people believe in god, because it is simple - either one believes, one doesn't, or one is unsure. You seem to wish to make it more complicated. If one believes in god because it brings comfort and solace, so be it, why make it difficult and hard to fathom? There are many people who do not have anything worthwhile to look forward to in life and only hold on to their religion in hope that there is something worth living for, so why make it complicated? Me, I do not believe in the truth of religion, but I do not see anything wrong with the people who live in its goodness and peace it brings to them.

Cheers!

You cannot IMAGINE a universe so vast yet not having life out there, so there has got to be alien life out there? Yet there is no evidence for life out there. How would it not be wishful thinking to believe that? We do not have alien-originated artifacts to be explained. So called advanced technology are not because of aliens, but because man was already intelligent to begin with, as the Bible says. Adam lived more than 900 years. People lived hundreds of years before the Flood. So you can imagine the vast amount of wisdom and knowledge accumulated. This no doubt was also knowledge that Noah and his family had, and this was transmitted to their descendants. At the Tower of Babel, people were scattered so they brought that knowledge with them. This explains the similarity of beliefs and also some things like pyramids or similar structure all over. It is evolution belief that leads to people thinking that ancient man was dumb, and so there have to be aliens out there, and wasting billions of dollars and time on SETI looking for life out there.

I don't quite understand your accusation. How have I made things complicated for people to believe in God? Either God exists or He doesn't. Being unsure reflects your personal attitude to the question, and has no bearing on whether God exists or not. Whether you choose to believe in the truth claims of religion or not, the fact of the matter is that religions are making truth claims, claims that are either true or false. You can of course choose to be indifferent, but your indifference has no bearing on what is true or false.

 

[Agoraphobic]

Our perception is confined to what our eyes can see, and to a larger extent, to what our minds can imagine, but the physical size of the universe is indeed humongous. Even reaching our closest planetary neighbour, the moon - is an immense feat. In this (space travel), our species has only just begun. There are billions of planets in star systems to be explored. It is arrogant to say that life does not exist elsewhere. In the first place, we only know of carbon based lifeforms because that's the way things are on earth. How can we discount other forms?

And there is already proof that homo sapiens (your Adam) came from homo erectus, which came from Australopithecus, which came from some ape-like primate, so will you stop using Adam to describe our ancestors? It may sound more civil to you, but our early ancestors were foragers, gatherers, and scavengers. This may be proven wrong in future, but at this time, it is the scientific norm and acceptance. You are a believer of the book, but don't expect others to accept it as logical. Man is intelligent (that's what we like to think!) because we have evolved this intelligence, our instincts to survive has garnered these skills and knowledge. And improved over the years. There is no god to provide all these things. We have to do it ourselves. Human migration resulted because of numerous other reasons - competition for space, climatic changes, conflicts, food/water sources, not some Tower of Babel. BTW, where is this tower located?

Cheers!

You cannot IMAGINE a universe so vast yet not having life out there, so there has got to be alien life out there? Yet there is no evidence for life out there. How would it not be wishful thinking to believe that? We do not have alien-originated artifacts to be explained. So called advanced technology are not because of aliens, but because man was already intelligent to begin with, as the Bible says. Adam lived more than 900 years. People lived hundreds of years before the Flood. So you can imagine the vast amount of wisdom and knowledge accumulated. This no doubt was also knowledge that Noah and his family had, and this was transmitted to their descendants. At the Tower of Babel, people were scattered so they brought that knowledge with them. This explains the similarity of beliefs and also some things like pyramids or similar structure all over. It is evolution belief that leads to people thinking that ancient man was dumb, and so there have to be aliens out there, and wasting billions of dollars and time on SETI looking for life out there.

I don't quite understand your accusation. How have I made things complicated for people to believe in God? Either God exists or He doesn't. Being unsure reflects your personal attitude to the question, and has no bearing on whether God exists or not. Whether you choose to believe in the truth claims of religion or not, the fact of the matter is that religions are making truth claims, claims that are either true or false. You can of course choose to be indifferent, but your indifference has no bearing on what is true or false.

 

[kryonlight]

Who says ignorance is the cause of suffering? If you say we now know more, has suffering decrease proportionately? You know that is not so. So your belief has no basis in the real world at all. Which means it is false, or you need to tweak it.

Hey retard Frodo, you need to tweak your brains!

World Becoming Less Violent: Despite Global Conflict, Statistics Show Violence In Steady Decline

Pinker says one of the main reasons for the drop in violence is that we are smarter. IQ tests show that the average teenager is smarter with each generation. The tests are constantly adjusted to keep average at 100, and a teenager who now would score a 100 would have scored a 118 in 1950 and a 130 in 1910. So this year's average kid would have been a near-genius a century ago. And that increase in intelligence translates into a kinder, gentler world, Pinker says.

"As we get smarter, we try to think up better ways of getting everyone to turn their swords into plowshares at the same time," Pinker said in an interview. "Human life has become more precious than it used to be."

Pinker argued his case in a commentary this past week in the scientific journal Nature. He has plenty of charts and graphs to back up his claims, including evidence beyond wartime deaths – evidence that our everyday lives are also less violent:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904106704576583203589408180

WHY THE WORLD IS GETTING MORE PEACEFUL

 

[kryonlight]

You cannot IMAGINE a universe so vast yet not having life out there, so there has got to be alien life out there? Yet there is no evidence for life out there.

Just to share a personal experience. I believe there are alien life on the Moon. I once saw this bright spot of light (there was no trail) traveling towards the Moon on a full Moon night. I thought it was an aircraft that was flying BELOW the moon. What surprised me was that this bright spot of light went BEHIND the Moon and it never came out of it. That was a revelation.

I now believe NASA never went back to the Moon again because those aliens basically told them to fuck off from the Moon. Ever wonder why all the hype on Mars which is so much farther away? Or why do we even bother to build a crappy ISS when we could just shoot straight for the Moon?

 

[Frodo]

Hey retard Frodo, you need to tweak your brains!

World Becoming Less Violent: Despite Global Conflict, Statistics Show Violence In Steady Decline

Pinker says one of the main reasons for the drop in violence is that we are smarter. IQ tests show that the average teenager is smarter with each generation. The tests are constantly adjusted to keep average at 100, and a teenager who now would score a 100 would have scored a 118 in 1950 and a 130 in 1910. So this year's average kid would have been a near-genius a century ago. And that increase in intelligence translates into a kinder, gentler world, Pinker says.

"As we get smarter, we try to think up better ways of getting everyone to turn their swords into plowshares at the same time," Pinker said in an interview. "Human life has become more precious than it used to be."

Pinker argued his case in a commentary this past week in the scientific journal Nature. He has plenty of charts and graphs to back up his claims, including evidence beyond wartime deaths – evidence that our everyday lives are also less violent:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904106704576583203589408180

WHY THE WORLD IS GETTING MORE PEACEFUL

Calling me a retard does not mean you are right. In any case, you failed to hear the other side.

http://www.trust.org/item/20130612043712-i4k3n/
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/john-gray-steven-pinker-violence-review