Thinking about the nature of God

[miyako73]

I've been thinking lately that if I were a or the god, I would not let bad and sad things happen. The god I know and believe in must be an incompetent one for letting those things happen over and over and again and again. What's the use of his omnipotence? Maybe he really does not exist; that's why we still have these unattended, unsolved recurring problems.

[E.A Rumfield]

I've been thinking lately that if I were a or the god, I would not let bad and sad things happen. The god I know and believe in must be an incompetent one for letting those things happen over and over and again and again. What's the use of his omnipotence? Maybe he really does not exist; that's why we still have these unattended, unsolved recurring problems.

Or you can look at it like this: God is a being doomed to live forever, everyone, everything he knows and grows to love will die after experiencing that for a few hundred years or a thousand years wouldn't you grow cold to suffering as well?

[miyako73]

I would grow cold to suffering because, well, I'm not like him, a god. Do we need a god who has no emotional dexterity? What's up with his omnipotence then?

[E.A Rumfield]

I would grow cold to suffering because, well, I'm not like him, a god. Do we need a god that/who has no emotional dexterity? what's up with the omnipotence then?

We don't need any kind of God. Animals operate just find and the idea of God never popped into their heads. What omnipotence? It has never been proved nor is it reasonable to assume their is a God or that he would know all. I think God is a symptom of human self-importance. God has always represented different things. The Greeks and Jews thought of God much as I spoke of. The Greek gods were just people squared, with all the jealously and ugliness etc. amplified. The Hebrew God was a jealous and vengeful God. So is God in the Muslim faith. Even Jesus in the New Testament says something like "Let all those who do not believe in me burn in hell" that is a rough quote. Thu Hindus used religion to put people in their place. God has always been portrayed as very human which makes sense since God is a human creation. Some scientists believe religion began with the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs and I think the idea of God comes from the fear of the ultimate trip. What happens when you know you are going to die and you have to face everything you did and did not do. Did you know the story of Jesus has been told many many times long before Jesus. The Egyptian story of Horus- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus-it's the same idea just with little details changed but this is a very popular type of story told again and again in ancient times in all cultures.

It is in my humble opinion that if their is a God he despises us. The Christian/Muslim/Hebrew beliefs are becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of Armageddon and God is watching it all go down like we watch the UFC or violent porn with morbid curiosity.

[Calidore]

Most of the suffering, etc. I see happening is created by humans, not God. Perhaps he wants us to learn to clean up our own messes. Children controlled and bailed out by their parents their entire lives will never grow up.

[E.A Rumfield]

Most of the suffering, etc. I see happening is created by humans, not God. Perhaps he wants us to learn to clean up our own messes. Children controlled and bailed out by their parents their entire lives will never grow up.

What about the atrocities committed in the name of God? What about the destruction cause by people that follow their chosen religion to the letter? If these are works created by thru God by men how can they influence wars etc. The answer as I see it is that the Bible and whatever else were just created by men just like me and you.

[miyako73]

Most of the suffering, etc. I see happening is created by humans, not God. Perhaps he wants us to learn to clean up our own messes. Children controlled and bailed out by their parents their entire lives will never grow up.

Why would I need a god like that? A set of parents I have who does the same thing is enough.

[miyako73]

I do believe in the historical Jesus. If there is intertextuality involved, it is no different to the life and struggle of St. Sebastian, a martyr, happening to a Christian missionary in Afghanistan.

I like this though:

"It is in my humble opinion that if their is a God he despises us."

[YesNo]

What about the atrocities committed in the name of God? What about the destruction cause by people that follow their chosen religion to the letter? If these are works created by thru God by men how can they influence wars etc. The answer as I see it is that the Bible and whatever else were just created by men just like me and you.

Atrocities can be committed in the name of anything and excused by flimsy lies. We have some freedom and sometimes we use that freedom incorrectly. That's mainly what is involved whether the person committing the atrocity believes in some God or claims to be an atheist.

I think you are right, however, that religions were created by people just like us. They are metaphors and lead to various cultural expressions that some of us believe in. Just because these beliefs can be rooted in cultures, doesn't mean that they are completely wrong. If there is a God of some sort, and I think there is way more out there and within us than we consciously are aware of, we would probably find that such reality, unfiltered by metaphor, would be unbelievable anyway.

[ShadowsCool]

You are not going to get the answer about God from humans. How could the created understand the maker?
Or better put; how can something lower understand something higher? It's impossible. We are specks of brain dust
not able to comprehend something so grand. The only thing we do understand is our ego.

[Cioran]

Most of the suffering, etc. I see happening is created by humans, not God. Perhaps he wants us to learn to clean up our own messes. Children controlled and bailed out by their parents their entire lives will never grow up.

You mean like when Goddy allows a tsunami to crash into Japan, wiping out lives and whole cities and causing a nuclear reactor meltdown?


Like when Goddy allows some guy with a gun to mow down elementary school students? What -- God wanted the elementary students and the Japanese in the fishing villages in the tsunami's path to clean up their act, or ... ?


God belief is phenomenally dumb. If there is anything like a God he is either a monster or, most likely, beyond good and evil and cares not a whit for humans. God did not create humans. Humans created God. Just like a human created Superman.

[Cioran]

This "God is a parent and we are his children, and he wants us to make our own mistakes and grow up and clean up our own messes" is standard-issue theistic apologetics BS.

Yes, parents cut their kids some slack and want them to grow and learn from their mistakes, to gradually take responsibility. However, if a parent saw a car barreling down at his child because the child had foolishly crossed against the light, are you telling me the parent would let the children get hit by the car and get killed? Would do nothing to try to prevent this catastrophe?

Yet -- alas! -- our Great (and imaginary, thank God!) God in the sky lets stuff like that happen all the time. If he exists, his morality is inferior to that of an ant.

[Calidore]

The thread's about the nature of God, not the existence of God--that would be a separate conversation.

I'll simply point out that non-interference doesn't mean not caring. I've heard nature documentarians lament nature's cruelty and wish they could intercede, but actually affecting things would be a violation of their mission.

Cioran, I think your comment about God being above good and evil is probably the closest to the truth. He may care or not, he may not even be looking at any given time (so many worlds, so many more with life?), but he clearly has a non-interference policy of his own. We have a beautiful, exciting world to do with as we will; what we choose to do with it is up to us.

[cacian]

After few deliberation I thought this: Is Christianity more of a religion then reality? In other words god and religions are just fictional because when it comes to reality there is nothing compared to it. The bible remains a book and everything else around pure speculation. Religion is really just a story we put to practice when on goes to church . A kind of a performance act/play we stage in order to prove we are as humble as Jesus was. When all is finished is done we all go back to reality.

So and to go back to the OP in the nature of thing, as nature intended, it is not natural for men to worship another men let alone something he or she does not see.
Faith needs to rethought and reshaped me think.

[Bleeding Pawn]

I've been thinking lately that if I were a or the god, I would not let bad and sad things happen. Maybe he really does not exist; that's why we still have these unattended, unsolved recurring problems.

To Err is human. Man, as of today, even struggles against the very temptations of the worldly powers handed upon him by his fellow beings, Wont it be considered going against the very fibre of human existence? Did the existence of any being or thing depended upon the visual limitations of our mind and or intelligence?



I would grow cold to suffering because, well, I'm not like him, a god. Do we need a god who has no emotional dexterity? What's up with his omnipotence then?


After the very first blood-shed of man committed on Earth (by man himself),humanity has gone from worse to worse down the history by committing heinous acts against his own brethren, but it does not suggest that these ruthless and insensitive humans must cease to exist.



Some scientists believe religion began with the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs and I think the idea of God comes from the fear of the ultimate trip.


So the conception of the origin of The Divine Being is a process of hypnosis and hallucination. Does it mean that the belief of the faithful is an after- effect of certain drugs consumed by their ancestors way back in time and exist because He is a figment of their imagination? How hypothetical can that statement be.



Why would I need a god like that? A set of parents I have who does the same thing is enough.


Good point, but if parents are enough for instilling discipline in their wards, pray,do tell me why do we need the academia for character development, or, for that matter why do we need laws to govern us, are not we civilized and educated enough to not be let rot in prisons?




What about the atrocities committed in the name of God? What about the destruction cause by people that follow their chosen religion to the letter?


"We should only be concerned with the doctrines of the religions as it appears in their original sources NOT as practised by their millions of followers".



Like when Goddy allows some guy with a gun to mow down elementary school students? What -- God wanted the elementary students and the Japanese in the fishing villages in the tsunami's path to clean up their act, or ... ? This "God is a parent and we are his children, and he wants us to make our own mistakes and grow up and clean up our own messes" is standard-issue theistic apologetics BS.Yet -- alas! -- our Great (and imaginary, thank God!) God in the sky lets stuff like that happen all the time. If he exists, his morality is inferior to that of an ant.

So it is suggested that it is the hand of GOD who always pulls the triggers behind ever gun-toting maniac committing massacre upon massacre? How much will it be beneficial for the hit and run driver if he was to present in his alibi that all of this was pre-destined by GOD and it was HE not him steering the car and he is innocent? it would seem callous even for the subconscious mind to believe that.



After few deliberation I thought this: Is Christianity more of a religion then reality? In other words god and religions are just fictional because when it comes to reality there is nothing compared to it. The bible remains a book and everything else around pure speculation. Religion is really just a story we put to practice when on goes to church . A kind of a performance act/play we stage in order to prove we are as humble as Jesus was. When all is finished is done we all go back to reality.


every now and then we always play the blame-game targeting HIM, as the scapegoat, and never making up our mind to come up to a factual conclusion.



"A good portion of our life is spent wondering, about the manner of the things that defy understanding. Most of the time it is even difficult to determine where to begin looking for answers. It is not easy to search for and find answers to these difficult questions. the first difficulty is that one has to be fair and objective or, at least, that one does ones`s utmost to be so.

Our problem today is not that we do not read, but that we are proud and unjustifiably sure of ourselves that we are prone to become judgmental and find excuses.We usually have a strong tendency to attribute man-made disaster to the emotional instability of GOD.

Why is it that we reproach and hold HIM liable for every shortcomings of our own?



When will we ever hold ourselves accountable?"