Why are we afraid of God?

We all have a fear lurking within us, the fear of the unknown. We are afraid to commit sins for fear of heaven or for fear that it instigates the wrath of God. We, whether we are theists or atheists, have some fear all the while.

Nobody is certain about what happens next. Even if we live in a big cemented building in a mega city with all kinds of security we are not immune from fear. We may imagine that bombs can be dropped from above anytime. There are stories of tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes.

Man therefore lives under a veil of fear. As such he wants protection. It is written in religious texts that he can be saved if he prays.

We all are conditioned from the time of childhood that we should be afraid of God and obey. We all are told about the consequences of disobeying God.

Do we really need to fear God?

I am unsure. In fact if God is a father figure or very bivalent and merciful he regards us as his own children and children are vulnerable beings and parents forgive them.
Moreover, God is said to be almighty and can do the unthinkable. As such even if his children are vulnerable to sins or fall he can protect them from doing evils.

But the fact is that there is no justice in this world. Even if people commit crimes they advance and those who are really hardworking, honest fail in life.

I doubt there is universal justice.

Not all religious fear the unknown-no-they fear what they know too well but cannot prove-that is the problem!!!!!!!!!!

Hindus have saying that they should kill. This explain the evil that Hindus do.

Buddhists have saying that if they see Buddha on the road they should kill him. This explain the evil that Buddhists do.

Pagans have saying that justice is decreed by Nature. This explains the evil that pagans do.

Christians have saying that they are above Law. This explains the evil that Christians do.

Muslims have saying that fear is a sin. This explains the evil that Muslims do.

Religion doesnt kill-people do.

For the above poster, where are you getting this from? Please, a little footnotage, lest one should think you bigoted.

Oh dont let me forget the Jews-their God told them to kill too.

You people very funny. You need be whaked with big book hitting you on heads every Sunday morning.

My religion does not allow me to offer an explanation but if you really want to know do a search on Google.

In other words, you offend the majority of the world (most people fall into Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism to some degree) but are not allowed to explain, or at least remotely justify your actions. If you cannot come up with the direct quote from scripture supporting these claims, then perhaps it is you who are funny, being that what you say would have to be nothing but a joke, though a very offensive one.

As for me, I will tell you plainly that I am an atheist. But that gives me no right to say all religions are bad. The Dawkins type sophists who are rabid these days will preach that religion is terrible and whatnot, but none of them really know the truth about religion.

The Islamic religion historically was far more progressive than Christianity. Perhaps today there are quite a few extreme forms of it (I personally am rather critical of the treatment of women in Islamic countries) though I would not go on to say it is a bad religion. The core of the religion is quite beautiful, and the works in the Islamic tradition, specifically the Sufi tradition, are of the highest caliber in the world. The output of art, culture, science, and thought from almost every region of the Middle East, and into Africa is of superb quality.

As for Buddhism, I was never taught they are are told to kill by their religion. As I heard it, it is not technically even possible to kill humans, as they will be reincarnated. Their output on thought and art is unmistakable. Buddhism today seems as rooted in truth as any philosophy, and its practitioners are hardly bad people.

As for Christianity, I tend to have a focused mind set. When one says Christianity, one must always think which branch, and at one time. But it is clear some excellent things stemmed out of the religion. The Mosaic law code was highly revolutionary for its time. The Christian ethics in the bible are quite progressive in context. The art of the Bible itself, and even onto later influences is unmistakably of the highest sort. There is nothing wrong with belief in such a thing.

I think the fallacy here is that people mistake believing in the truth for always being better. The question really isn't if god exists, in any of his forms, but rather, if believing in him is worth it. As for that answer, I do not have it. But I am certain, that the war in the middle east, which seems to be the focus on all these religious debates these days, has nothing really to do with religion, and more to do with economics. I am scared more by Bush, and his followers sitting on a nuke-mine than I am with any extremist regimes.

My God will punish you as he sees fit. Goodnight!