If God exists, is there a problem with offerings to other gods?

[thomas t]

My challenge here is why anyone would feel that it's any of their business what the neighbours do. Of course there are valid reasons like a tree about to fall into your yard, noisy barking dogs, but a shrine? Wow.

under the premise of an existing real Bible God, it's like wasting good food ( or energy, or other resources).
Here in Germany, there is so much food thrown into the dumpster. Something tells me this is not nice.
My neighbors are nice people though.

 

[stvdv]

Nope. Thats not relevant.

Provide some scholarship on the Bible where YHWH allows making offerings to other Gods/

Again, Provide some scholarship on the Bible where YHWH allows making offerings to other Gods.

I see totally no need to dance according to your whims and demands
There is no obligation on RF to defend ones opinion, as I have told you before
(You are free to try to get me in your game, but I don't bite (today))

 

[VoidCat]

you cannot serve two masters
you will love one and hate the other

if God be......God

who do you serve?
the Greater God?
or the lesser one?

I never had a problem with hating any of my deities...only deity I've honestly hated in the past was the Abrahamic God and I am over that now. I know you are quoting a verse but it seems inaccurate in my experience.

 

[thomas t]

If a man were to beat his wife bloody because she decided that she wanted to be with another person after spending 30 years living with him, is it a justifiable defense of his behavior that he had "invested huge quantities of energy" in that marriage, so she got what she deserved? Is that behavior fine, and not actually childish? I don't see it that way at all.

Let's dig a bit into the comparison.
Even if God beats the wife, he still lets the sun shine over her. So it's both. Hardship and sun shine. A beating husband sometimes is just beating her, and that's all. No sun shine stemming from him at the same time.

 

[VoidCat]

Let's dig a bit into the comparison.
Even if God beats the wife, he still lets the sun shine over her. So it's both. Hardship and sun shine. A beating husband sometimes is just beating her, and that's all. No sun shine stemming from him at the same time.

Umm...no Ray don't get into manipulation tactics regarding love bombing narcissism and abuse...youll be here all day and it's not really on topic... Anyway...to Thomas...ooof...I just I cant right now get into it. I just winced at that remark. Good luck with that route

 

[Windwalker]

Let's dig a bit into the comparison.
Even if God beats the wife, he still lets the sun shine over her. So it's both. Hardship and sun shine. A beating husband sometimes is just beating her, and that's all. No sun shine stemming from him at the same time.

"Your honor, I have provided for my wife working two jobs for 30 years, and now I have a earned the right to beat her when she doesn't obey me, or if I am upset with her choices. I have given so much good to her, she has no right to complain to the police when I punch in the face for not being honest with me about who she was out with the other night. Your honor, any good husband has the right to punish their wives, or children, as they see fit, be that with a fist, an iron rod from the garage, a baseball bat, kicking, or even stabbing them. I rest my case. May I please have the courts blessing to discipline my wife in the ways I see fit, as the main source of sunshine in her life?"

Surely, you can see that's not really love?

 

[thomas t]

"Your honor, I have provided for my wife working two jobs for 30 years, and now I have a earned the right to beat her when she doesn't obey me, or if I am upset with her choices. I have given so much good to her, she has no right to complain to the police when I punch in the face for not being honest with me about who she was out with the other night. Your honor, any good husband has the right to punish their wives, or children, as they see fit, be that with a fist, an iron rod from the garage, a baseball bat, kicking, or even stabbing them. I rest my case. May I please have the courts blessing to discipline my wife in the ways I see fit, as the main source of sunshine in her life?"

Surely, you can see that's not really love?

no husband in the world can create a wife, make it possible she lives under a wonderful sky every day... and shine his sun, I mean the real one, on her.
@RayofLight , in my opinion, noone can compare the richness of God's gifts to us... to anything a husband could potentially do.

 

[HonestJoe]

because it's normal. Jesus was normal, in my view. Why shouldn't this reflect God? I see no contradiction here.

So God is just "normal", like the rest of us, subject to things like mistakes, dishonesty and sin? If that were the case, why would he be more worthy or worship than anyone else?

 

[VoidCat]

no husband in the world can create a wife, make it possible she lives under a wonderful sky every day... and shine his sun, I mean the real one, on her.
@RayofLight , in my opinion, noone can compare the richness of God's gifts to us... to anything a husband could potentially do.

Assuming God is abusive...that would just make the gaslighting and love bombing worse...because He's capable of such gifts. I am not saying God is abusive or likely to be like a husband beating his wife and likely to hurt his creation but picturing an abusive God who love bombs is very worrying... That kind of thinking is why I left Christianity in the first place.The idea that God was abusive got stuck in my head...I no longer see Him as such but I can't believe you decided that was the route you'll take in this argument. But go ahead lets see where this goes...good luck. Ima sit out and watch. Perhaps you could persuade me to see it the way you do. I doubt it but could be wrong

 

[Windwalker]

no husband in the world can create a wife, make it possible she lives under a wonderful sky every day... and shine his sun, I mean the real one, on her.
@RayofLight , in my opinion, noone can compare the richness of God's gifts to us... to anything a husband could potentially do.

Does that matter? Is she not created with freewill? If you mean to say, God can behave in ways that we would put men in prison for, that makes us putting people in prison hypocritical. We're supposed to emulate God as good behaviors. Yet, we put people in prison for the same things? Beating is good, if you're God, but bad if you do the same thing as not-God?

Isn't this like an abusive father teaching his child that abuse is what he shouldn't do? "Don't ever hit women," the father says to his son as he slaps his wife in front of him, knocking her to the floor.

 

[Vinayaka]

Maybe it's a noisy shrine?

Sometime wind chimes are part of shrines ... in a hurricane?
(A neighbour of mine has a 2 foot Ganesha out in her front yard. So far there has been no vandalism or destruction, but chances are people don't know what that statue represents.)

 

[Vinayaka]

under the premise of an existing real Bible God, it's like wasting good food ( or energy, or other resources).
Here in Germany, there is so much food thrown into the dumpster. Something tells me this is not nice.
My neighbors are nice people though.

Food offerings are never wasted by Hindus. They're considered sanctified after ritual and are eaten as holy food.

But wasting time ... some folks could say we're all wasting time and resources by being on a discussion forum, or thinking about what our ungodly neighbours are up to.

 

[firedragon]

I see totally no need to dance according to your whims and demands
There is no obligation on RF to defend ones opinion, as I have told you before
(You are free to try to get me in your game, but I don't bite (today))

Yeah. There is no need to dance at all.

But you made a false claim, so when asked to substantiate it, saying "I dont have to dance" is no good.

Cheers.

 

[Art1787]

I think there is one.

This post is under the premise that God is real - I mean the Creator God as outlined in the Bible.
God gives ressources to a population out of love. If they use it for offerings to some gods that did not provide these things, it's wasting them, which would be impolite towards the (real) creator.

This is at least my stance on the matter.

My neighbors have a shrine. I don't know what god that is, however, I see it occupies:
- 1 m² of their location
- electricity, since there is constanly some light on it
- candles or similar
- there is even fruit on it - but I guess that they still eat it themselves, though, I might be wrong here.
- time. They diligently make this shrine look beautiful.
- time, as they need to go get the ingredients for that shrine.

So these are all resources stemming from the creator getting used for venerating some other god.

I don't think it's so much of a problem by itself. At least as long as the worshiper doesn't know any better. God would prefer it if the offerings were given to the poor, however. Those are the images of God we should serve.

 

[Windwalker]

Sometime wind chimes are part of shrines ... in a hurricane?

Funny you mention that, as I thought about my own garden in the backyard, where I meditate and practice T'ai Chi. I have windchimes everywhere. But they are quite beautiful, so I don't think the neighbors mind. It's calming, even in windstorms.

 

[VoidCat]

I don't think it's so much of a problem by itself. At least as long as the worshiper doesn't know any better. God would prefer it if the offerings were given to the poor, however. Those are the images of God we should serve.

I give acts of service as offerings to the gods. Like volunteering at a homeless shelter

 

[danieldemol]

good point, however let's add something to the story.
Lets say she gives the bracelet to the other guy saying "thank you, Lord, for the braclet" - that's a lie.

Its not lying if she believes it to be true that the other guy is her Lord. You are ascribing knowledge to her in this metaphor that she does not have.

Every lie harms creation, in my opinion. His creation. Lies create disinformation and help build up misorientation.

As a general rule lies harm, however there are times when lies can even avert harm and demonstrably so.

For example a lady who suffers violence runs into a train station to avoid an attacker, the security guard sees her pass through. The attacker runs into the station and asks the security guard which way the lady went. The security guard misdirects the attacker to a different exit. This saves the attacker harming the lady or getting into an altercation with and harming the security guard.

So, since she harmed creation, what could she pay to make the damage undone - or to provide compensation?

You have not demonstrated that she lied, that her lie harmed creation, or that it harmed creation so significantly as to warrant being tossed into a lake of fire.

 

[danieldemol]

If the God of the Bible exists and is jealous, petty and vindictive then you better make sure you are doing what pleases Him.

Spoken like a true coward, however not only am I convinced that the Bible God does not exist, I am convinced that there is no guarantee it would keep its promises if it did exist.
On some petty whim such as whether grains were offered instead of meat it might condemn me.
Or it might create in me a nature that it doesn't approve of then condemn me for it.
Or I might just happen to be born a baby to the wrong parents who happened to do something to displease it and it would decide to slay me in my opinion

 

[Muffled]

I think there is one.

This post is under the premise that God is real - I mean the Creator God as outlined in the Bible.
God gives ressources to a population out of love. If they use it for offerings to some gods that did not provide these things, it's wasting them, which would be impolite towards the (real) creator.

This is at least my stance on the matter.

My neighbors have a shrine. I don't know what god that is, however, I see it occupies:
- 1 m² of their location
- electricity, since there is constanly some light on it
- candles or similar
- there is even fruit on it - but I guess that they still eat it themselves, though, I might be wrong here.
- time. They diligently make this shrine look beautiful.
- time, as they need to go get the ingredients for that shrine.

So these are all resources stemming from the creator getting used for venerating some other god.

I believe there are three things God will not allow in the worship of other gods.

1. God expects to be the primary object of worship. If the other gods get more attention He will not be pleased
2. God does not want anyone worshiping idols which are not gods anyway even though sometimes believed to be.
3. God doesn't want His laws broken in order to worship other gods and the worst of that is offering children to a god.

 

[Muffled]

If the God of the Bible exists there is a problem because it is jealous, petty and vindictive.

I believe I don't find that to be a problem. I see it as God is good all the time.