Even if god is a fictional character, you should know what and who you are worshipping. the people who say "how can a loving and kind god (put random tragic happening here)" don't know who god is.
The judeo christian god has Balls. He has the guts to kill those who defy him and get in his children's way. Its not like loving and kind is the only thing god is.
God is like a father, in more ways than one. In the same way benevolent a father loves a baby and loves everyone, he's also there with the shotgun when the burglar comes to call.
God made our natures to reflect his own. Male's warlike and violent nature represent our wish to defend and to conquer. Not necessarily evil, except when turned against our human brothers for malicious reasons.
So the answer is, to the particular question is "if god is so kind and loving how can he send someone to hell?" God is kind and loving, but he also has the balls to make what needs to happen happen, and if there was no reward/detriment for sin, what is the motivation to follow him and not sin?
the answer is, none. If god loves everyone so much that they all get to go to heaven, we all just kill and rape and murder each other, because we don't care.
This draws a distinction between God's children and the rest of humanity. Isn't everyone god's child?
Interestingly, warfare and conquest can be directly traced to the rise of agriculture. With the advent of sedentary lifestyles that allowed for clearly marked barriers warfare as we know it was free to appear. Before the agricultural revolution there was, of course, inter-tribal conflict, but it was sporadic and rarely ended in genocide/total destruction the way modern warfare does.
I hate to re-use this point, but if it weren't for god you would just go out and rape/murder the hell out of people? If your only motivation for civil behavior is a fear of retribution I have to question your discipline. It is a lot easier not to do something because of fear than to decide not to do something because it just isn't a good decision. I, for instance, wouldn't go rob a bank/rape/murder someone even if I wouldn't get caught. I can say this because I feel that the negative effects to society from this reaction outweigh the beneficial results for me. I don't need a bogeyman threatening me with eternal torment.
Arbitrary rules: depends one what you think he was trying to prove.
Immoral rules: depends on how you take the Euthythro dilemma.
Can judge a fictional character: yeah wonderful posts you guys responded to that but, as I said originally of course you can judge him as a fictional character...so really there was no need for you to point that out...
Oh and on the "impact of the jesus" thing I didn't mean that the OT was necessarily a point for point historical precursor, just that the OT provides a context for where Christianity came from...its like an Xmen spin off comic that occasionally harps back to the original main series...you know, to give it a bit of grounding...
Says a finite being with an exceptionally minuscule mind and the faintest understanding of the universe compared to the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent creator of said universe.
And the opinions of these measley creatures would mean nothing. The human creator's reasons and purpose would be far beyond anything their computer brains could possibly comprehend. Including petty one-word conlcusions like he's a dick.
Gender: Unspecified Location: With Cinderella and the 9 Dwarves
That is but an assumption. Our concepts might very well apply to his motives.
Kinda like how all religion is just a very, very random assumption though, so I guess it's alright. Anyways, "maybe there's another reason", is something that applies to everything, and doesn't help a discussion in the least. To create people just to make them suffer and then kill them is by our best bet just plain mean...your "but maybe he had a deeper reason we don't understand that makes it not mean", doesn't mean anything, scepticism applies to everything...
I agree. A parent didn't create its child from nothing or non-living matter. A parent has a fallible and limited brain. The parent and the child are both members of the same species that eat, breathe and are subjected all other kinds of scientific laws.
Ok, don't bring in your "your god, my god stuff" my god is the one depicted by the bible, nothing more, nothing less. As for the children of god, the ones who are obedient and innocent are the ones god will chose to defend over those who are sinful.
Also, your actions depend greatly on your outlook. no matter what you do, you are going to do it differently depending on your outlook, sure you won't rape and murder, but the fact remains that you will still make different decisions that would be more beneficial to you than the people around you, obviously.
God did not create man from nothing, but from existent matter. God has fallible human qualities. God created man in His own image. God is subject to right and wrong.
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FER TEA!!
Dec 15th, 2008 12:39 AM
