Did Christopher Hitchens get cancer as a punishment from God?
Christopher Hitchens had a wonderful response to this. He received a fair amount of hate mail rejoicing in his illness. One such missive suggested that Hitchens’ cancer was divine punishment for all his atheistic “hate speech.”To which Hitchens replied (I’m paraphrasing): “I have cancer of the esophagus, not the larynx. Surely an omnipotent being would have better aim.”
If God really did exist why do churches have lightning rods?
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."- *Proverbs 1:7
Is this a logical argument for atheists to believe in God? Why, or why not?
Is this a logical argument for atheists to believe in God?No, it isn't - and I can say that without even seeing the video.There are entire groups out there who spend significant amounts of time trying to persuade others to believe in their deity, a veritable industry of proselytisation.As atheists, we're generally a rational lot, if there were any convincing argument to be had then I'd already have heard it by now, and I'd have heard of numerous atheists converting.Yet I haven't heard of this happening; because if there was a single logical, convincing argument out there, demonstrated to be effective in persuading atheists, then you can bet your cotton socks* that the world's proselytisers would already be using it.It would be spread far and on billboards, cinema trailers, TV adverts, glossy magazine spreads, so on and so forth. Heavily funded by the deep (and tax-free) pockets of multiple churches. It wouldn't get sidelined and tucked away into a low quality video mentioned by an obscure post on Quora.I'm also willing to bet, again without seeing the video (but based on past experience), that what it claims to prove is some generic supernatural creator - which is still a far cry from arguing for the existence of any specific named "God".*definitely cotton socks, poly-cotton is a mixed fibre, and thus forbidden in the bible. Plus cotton is more comfortable.
How specifically does Scientology benefit mankind?
Help YourselfA core tenant of Scientology is the Doctrine of Exchange. The doctrine specifies "anytime a person receives something, he must pay something back". Thus, for religious reasons, the Church of Scientology avoids acting as a charity and causing people to be “out-exchange”, a state of spiritual degradation. This is partially why the church doesn’t get tax breaks in some, but not all countries where the exemption is granted only to organizations considered socially beneficial.Help HumanityScientologists(TM) know the best way to benefit humankind is to get as many non-Scientologist as possible to purchase Scientology products. The bulk of a Scientologist’s humanitarian efforts is supporting Scientology’s expansion programs around the world such as the “Volunteer Ministers” (VMs) outreach organization.VMs can perform out-exchange charitable acts for non-Scientologists as long as there’s an overall benefit for the church. Typically, this means the VMs purchase and distribute church literature, keep psychiatrists away from non-Scientologists, introduce the general public and movers-and-shakers to church programs, and the church pays no expenses and receives positive PR.Help the ChurchAFAIK, Narconon is a profit center for Scientology, never acts as a charity, and charges what the market will bear for its services.AFAIK, Criminon provides its services at no cost to prisoners. Criminon seems to meet Scientology’s goals of spreading its anti-psychiatry message, encouraging prisoners to stop taking their psychiatric drugs, and acting as a gateway to Scientology.