if god was real would god really be so horrible?

[orleans]

i went to catholic school for two years when i was a kid. my dad was catholic, my mom was indifferent.

i learned about the concepts of heaven & hell. sins. etc, etc.

but my impression of god was that he (yeah, there was gender to it) was all loving, ever kind, embracing the human spirit, all forgiving and forever understanding of our faults and weaknesses. he wasn't a vengeful god--he was the epitimy of compassion and love, wonderment and gentleness and goodness. perfection.

that was my child's eyes seeing god in this light.

as an adult (and decades beyond that "magical thinking" point), and not having "believed" in god since i was eleven or twelve, i still feel that if god did exist s/he would be more like my child's version rather then the fire & brimstone psycho god these crazed bible thumpers perport.

i also realize that my childhood idea of god had the qualities that i eventually began to think people should stive to find & develop within themselves: kindness, love, goodness, forgivness and understanding.

(just thought i'd share this)

[Discord]

1. Thanks for sharing. Just a question though

Do you consider yourself Athiest Agnostic, or other?

Just curious. Thanks.

[orleans]

11. in answer to your question

my direct answer is: i consider myself an atheist.

according to dictionary.com, an agnostic is:
"1. a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something."
(dat's not me)

and an atheist:
"One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods."
(dat would be me)

i was just thinking (out loud or on my keyboard) when i wrote that initial post. i've always believed man created god in his own image. if i was going to create a god it would be a kind one rather than one with so many wicked qualities that apparently has become so very popular lately.

i'm a firm believer in evolution and would take my child out of public school if they ever started teaching this creationist crap that they've been talking about. i would be irate if her school started putting up posters of "in god we trust" like they might do in Pennsylvania.

i found a couple zappa quotes on positiveatheism.org that said: "Children are naïve -- they trust everyone. School is bad enough, but, if you put a child anywhere in the vicinity of a church, you're asking for trouble.
-- Frank Zappa"

and

"My best advice to anyone who wants to raise a happy, mentally healthy child is: Keep him or her as far away from a church as you can.
-- Frank Zappa"
(i've always liked frank zappa but i've only recently found those quotes by him. and that is how i always felt about children, religion and the concept of brainwashing)

my daughter is seventeen years old now and has been inside a church all of two times (each occasion was for a wedding).

my specific answer is: i consider myself multi-faceted; naturalistic, humanistic & atheistic

[GOPFighter]

2. Interesting question

The God you describe sounds more like the perfect parent than a God. A good God, in my opinion, would be one that monitors what's going on in the world, but doesn't meddle. He (for convenience) would protect us from the Hitlers, the slave traders, pedophile priests, and religious zealots like the Falwells and Robertsons. He would make his will known frequently, publicly, and unambiguously. And he would require respect, not worship.

In fact this is what I want to be when I grow up. :hippie:

[Discord]

3. If he were real...

He scrap the whole damn thing and try again...

[GOPFighter]

4. Agreed.

Time for a new "Big Bang"!

[Discord]

5. Yup, that about sums that up. lol

[progressoid]

7. Wasn't that what the flood was all about?

You'd think that with all of the crap that is going on today we be under 50 feet of water now. Apparently we haven't sufficiently pissed off God enough.

[Discord]

9. They're still working on it.

No being an Athiest... I am sure that Ma Nature is a bit ticked off. Been noticing a definate increase in natural disasters, bigger storms, and some nasty weather trends.

Thats the Armageddon I worry about... the Environmental Revenge.

I bet mine happens before theirs.

:evilgrin:

[onager]

6. All loving...ever kind...

Did you ever wonder where the "crazed bible thumpers" got their idea of that "psycho god?"

A couple of the many examples you can find in Gawd's Big Instruction Manual For Running The World:

Numbers 31:7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

31:9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. They took the women and children captives, and burnt all their cities.

31:10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

2 Deuteronomy 2:33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

2:34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

2:35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

[Bill McBlueState]

8. good post!

Thanks for pointing this out. I always wonder which Bible people have been reading when they say things like "It's all about love and forgiveness." It's certainly not *all* about anything like that.

[Gelliebeans]

12. that link

is great and my husband and I have had a good laugh at the book of mormon on that site as he was raised by mormons (he left the church at 15)and never looked back but is reminded often from his mother that he is doomed:scared:
lol:evilgrin:

[EvolveOrConvolve]

13. I grew up Mormon also

It's definitely a strange, cult-like offshoot of christianity. The magic underwear, Book of Mormon, and other oddities seem crazy to me now, but were perfectly plausible when I was a six year old kid who didn't know better.

The funniest mormon teaching occured during the early years of the mormon church when some of the leaders taught that 6 foot tall quakers lived on the moon, and one day the mormons would send missionaries to convert them. You won't find a modern day mormon who believes that, but it was actually talked about early on.

I can thank mormonism for forcing me to read, reread, and memorize parts of the bible. I know it better than 99% of "christians", and can use it in almost any debate.

[RevolutionaryActs]

10. The song "What if God Was One of Us" just popped in my head.

If God had a name, what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with him in all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in jesus and the saints and all the prophets

And yeah yeah god is great yeah yeah god is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if god was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

- Joan Osborne.


Sorry, what were you talking about? :silly:

[AndyP]

14. I always thought

that if God really was real (and I'm wrong and going to hell). I don't think he cares, or isn't even alive. If God is what all the religious books say he is then there is no way in the world he would let happen all the horrible things that do happen.