God

Zai wrote:God mighta sounded a bit like the adults in Charlie Brown, for all they knew. =P

"Mwawawawawa, wawawa."

"Yes, sir."

XD Charlie Brown. Gotta love it.

In my opinion, I find that the Christian God has too many human qualities. Envy, and jealousy over false idols for example? Anger to the extent of wrathful revenge?

Well, for one thing, we were made in God's image, so that's not that surprising.

However, jealousy and anger are good for the right reasons (true worship, exclusive devotion, abstaining from idol worship, etc.). For the wrong reasons, well, that's a whole other story.

AcelandineKestrel wrote:Well, for one thing, we were made in God's image, so that's not that surprising.

However, jealousy and anger are good for the right reasons (true worship, exclusive devotion, abstaining from idol worship, etc.). For the wrong reasons, well, that's a whole other story.

His cruelty just smells of sadist to me. The only thing I find more obnoxious than a soap-box evangelist is an obnoxious atheist, so I hesitate to get heated, however, if God supposedly knows better than all of us and loves us, then it simply sounds like: "I hit (murder) you because I love you."

You make it sound like a wife beater with a conscience.

That's about the size of it.

Well, discipline isn't usually perceived as a positive thing, but it's extremely important.

Hebrews 12:5, 6 - "5 but YOU have entirely forgotten the exhortation which addresses YOU as sons: “My son, do not belittle [the] discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by him; 6 for whom Jehovah loves he disciplines; in fact, he scourges every one whom he receives as a son.” "

and then, verse 11 gives a reason why,

"11 True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness."

Now, think of it in this sense. A father disciplines his child, and may even spank the child. This, however, does not mean that the father hates his child or wishes to inflict injury on him/her. A father who loves his child disciplines him/her because it is a necessary thing. Children who are not given discipline are shown, through actual studies, to have problems later on in their life.

"By administering loving discipline, a parent seeks to correct faults that if they were to become deeply rooted, would cause the child much misery in adult life. Truly, withholding such discipline amounts to hate; administering it is an act of love."

So, with that thought in mind, Jehovah does the same thing, disciplining out of love. If you feel he is hateful or contradictory, well, that's your own opinion, and you're entitled to it. But, I, on the other hand, continue to view him as a loving parent. Discipline isn't fun, but it yields good results, and that is something you can't really disagree with, the importance of discipline. (Well you could disagree with that too, but then you'd start to look a tad unreasonable. o-o)

Perhaps it is my idealism or feelings towards things have happened to myself, but I can never believe that causing pain solves anything. The same towards teaching.

Yeah, I agree about the pain thing. Discipline doesn't always have to be physical. More often than not, it doesn't have to be, and I'd prefer it that way. But, some people do spank their kids, and well, that's their decision. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but not altogether a pleasant thing either, so I'd not recommend it to anyone.

Discipline is more about kindly correcting someone (usually through reasoning with them and helping them to look carefully at a situation) and showing them why certain choices/actions are good or not good.

My youthfulness despises the idea of being told what is right and what is wrong. I wish to discern those things for myself. If the deaths of non-believers is "good", then how could I ever agree with the Christian God?

As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think that I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because, when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods.
B. Russell

And, cue Bertrand Russell. o-o

Alright I'll clarify things. Anything after this post is struggles of a dying breed: the believer.
Don't get me wrong - I think everyone has the right to do what they want and believe what they want but I just think it's ridiculous to continue to pursue antiquated methods to immortal moral philosophies.

The bible was written by man, for man, in order to establish a moral code for the region based on the teachings of philosophers, zealots and thoughtful (though at times insane) men who came before. Though the east had already had a set of teachings for centuries (Lao Tze's Tao De Jing for example, written in the 6th century B.C.), the Mediterranean region was mostly still running on polytheistic gods, whose morals were vague and uncivilized. The bible laid out a clear guideline on how to behave and get along like nice little followers, and so it became popular and spread, overtaking the entirety of Europe and then some thanks to the Romans for spreading Catholicism along with war (funny how those two go together so often, eh?). Enter the Crusades, the first being in 1097 and another about a century later. More bloodshed over a book and a fabricated god. This image of god continued to plague humanity for centuries with the Inquisition, Church of England, and countless wars in between.
ANYWAY, the point is that we don't need the figment of god anymore, but since the thought of an afterlife and a benevolent force watching over us at all time is comforting (though unrealistic) we continue to keep the churches around.
On the plus side, Christianity HAS spawned some wonderful artwork through the ages.