Is God Evil?

[Muffled]

The Qur'an supports many sections of the Bible. This includes all the genocides committed by God and the Jews. For example, he drowned the entire world in a flood. Would a loving father drown his disobedient children? Furthermore, he commands the Jews to "take wives" of the virgins of conquered lands. I'm pretty sure they didn't all go willingly.

Much of the Qur'an is about how God purposely blinds people so they can't see the (supposed) truth of Islam and that he is going to send the majority of people to burn forever in hell simply because they're not Muslims. Every few verses is filled with how nonbelievers, Christians, and Jews are going to hell. This is more unjust than anything else. How can you punish someone for their beliefs? Especially when they're blinded and have no chance of believing correctly (according to Muslims)?

This is evil.

If the beliefs are evil, he is worthy of punishment.

Everyone in this world will have heard the Gospel at least once. People are not blind or deaf; they just refuse to see or hear. It is always going to come down to a question of will. Is a person willing to accept God's goodness or not.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

After reading much of the Bible and the Qur'an, I've concluded that if there is a God then he must be evil and should therefore be unworthy of our worship. He either directly commits or commands others to commit genocide, war, murder, slavery, rape, and ritual human sacrifice. For anyone who doubts any of these claims, I can provide direct scriptural evidence to support them upon request.

I guess whether or not God is evil all depends on your views of justice. Does might make right? In which case, what someone has the power to do they have the right to do. Since God is all-powerful, he has the right to do whatever he wants. Or does justice depend on concepts of equality, liberty, and fairness? In which case, God is guilty of many unjust acts.

I am a maltheist. I believe that God is evil.

I would read more than these two sources, and add some more personal reflection into the mixture...

I often suggest that God is a reflection, and if he is reflecting the human condition, then some evil ought to show. And, hopefully, some growth and development as well.

 

[it's_sam]

You've also never seen evidence that god is real.
thats what brings me back to saying the Pink Unicorn goddess is real.
God isnt good, he is malevolent.
If he was god he would be omnipresent omnipotent and omniscient.
Which brings me back to in the garden of eden he knew that the serpent was in the process of tricking eve, he knew that she was taking a bite of that fruit he knew adam was about to get tricked. Hell when he thought them up he would have known their future and known they'd disobey and cause them to have suffering and pain.

most of us have found him in our selves and need no further proof then this. But this hasnt stopped me from trying, and frankly theres alot more proof then there is of unicorns. I posted theoretical evidence on a seperate thread. http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/general-religious-debates/101048-our-existance.html

 

[Akshara Dasa]

After reading much of the Bible and the Qur'an, I've concluded that if there is a God then he must be evil and should therefore be unworthy of our worship. He either directly commits or commands others to commit genocide, war, murder, slavery, rape, and ritual human sacrifice. For anyone who doubts any of these claims, I can provide direct scriptural evidence to support them upon request.

I guess whether or not God is evil all depends on your views of justice. Does might make right? In which case, what someone has the power to do they have the right to do. Since God is all-powerful, he has the right to do whatever he wants. Or does justice depend on concepts of equality, liberty, and fairness? In which case, God is guilty of many unjust acts.

I am a maltheist. I believe that God is evil.

Many people say the samething you do, but they just base it off of the Quran and Bible. Have you thought that maybe there is more out there then Allah/Jehovah? there are the Vedas, Dhammapada, Guru Granth Sahib, and other theologies. And yet you look at the Quran and Bible and and conclude that God is evil. This shows that you have a very limited view on the subject of God and therefore your opinion cant really even be seen as valid.

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

I disagree to an extent. I think the claim of perfection increases the absurdity of the overall claim, but not the whole picture.

I wouldn't call a genocidal, tribalistic, jealous, wrathful warlord "ordinary" in our time. It might be more common when it was written but even then I'd imagine that it'd be toward the bottom of the barrel in terms of human morality.

I apologize. I got to writing fast and didn't elaborate.

When I meant ordinary, I meant ordinary for its day and ordinary when compared to other deities of the time.

You take what the Abrahamic god did, then put him next to... say, Zeus and he isn't much different.

 

[gnostic]

First, you need to study human history. Human brutalty was common in human history. The Egyptians killed children of the Jews rampantly on sight just because the Jews were getting over-populated.

Other than the Exodus, there were no Egyptian records that there were large population of Hebrew slaves, let alone a massive slavery and exodus out of Egypt. No record of an Israelite being a governor of Egypt.

The Hyksos? No, they were not Israelites.

Why? Though they were of Semitic race and spoke one of the Semitic languages, they were never monotheistic people.

And more importantly, the Hyksos were the ones who brought the polytheistic Canaanite/Syrian religion in the Second Intermediate Period (15th and 16th dynasties). Baal, Astrate, Anat and Qadesh remained very popular in Egypt, right up to the Ptolmaic dynasty. Some of their deities remained popular even after the expulsion of the Hyksos.

Another thing, the Hyksos were warlike race, not peaceful shepherds as portrayed in the Genesis; they introduced chariots and composite bows that didn't exist prior to their arrival. Manetho never linked the Hyksos with the Israelites; the link was provided by Flavius Josephus. The Hyksos actually ruled much of northern Egypt for a hundred years, in 2 different dynasties. The Hyksos were master of the Nile Delta, not slaves. The Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, not made slaves by the rulers of 18th dynasty.

And lastly no mention of crippling famine were ever reported in the Nile Delta (or the northern Egypt). Famine did exist in Upper Egypt in the 13th and 14th dynasties.

Don't you find that all of these are strange, when you compare the history of Egypt with the Bible and they don't match?

 

[AnnaTheBeast]

First, you need to study human history. Human brutalty was common in human history. The Egyptians killed children of the Jews rampantly on sight just because the Jews were getting over-populated. Even as late in history as 70 years after Jesus, the Romans killed the Jews rampantly on sight after taking down Jerusalam. And Hitler killed the Jews rampantly too.

The Jews were just as brutal as their enemies, or else they wouldn't have survived the history. And only after receiving the Mosaic Law and entering Canaan they were educated gradually to be the upholders of God's Law.

And God allows evil to exist (for awhile) outside His Kingdom of Heaven, and unfortunately planet earth is somehow and in a sense, not of His Kingdom in Heaven.

isnt it against rule to be returning evil for evil?

which counts for the jews doing what ever bad they have done because they were treated bad.

There isnt any part of that that said, Hey, btw, if you might not survive commence the evil doing.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Whether god is evil or not, is as unanswerable as whether something even exists which could be labeled "god." However, god, and religion, have often been used as a powerful tool of rationalization for people to feel righteous about committing evil.

 

[Straw Dog]

If the beliefs are evil, he is worthy of punishment.

Everyone in this world will have heard the Gospel at least once. People are not blind or deaf; they just refuse to see or hear. It is always going to come down to a question of will. Is a person willing to accept God's goodness or not.

Hmm...interesting. What would count as evil beliefs? Does believing that there's no god an evil belief? Does believing in any other religion other than Christianity also evil? Is it evil to be liberal?

I don't think it is a question of will. I don't really choose not to believe in God's goodness, I just look at the evidence objectively and conclude that if there is a God then he must not be good. How can I choose to believing in something that's completely against my observations and experience?

 

[Rakhel]

Being Jewish myself, can I use "I'm just following orders?"

 

[Penumbra]

I believe that God is Good. IMO a person who views God as evil is really in love with evil and considers it good and by that standard since God is opposed to evil He can be viewed as evil.

The posession of power does not establish whether it is used for good or evil. Since God is all powerful it is most fortunate for those who believe in good that God is good.

I have never seen any evidence that God isn't just. However is justice then highest form of goodnes or is love higher?

If the beliefs are evil, he is worthy of punishment.

Everyone in this world will have heard the Gospel at least once. People are not blind or deaf; they just refuse to see or hear. It is always going to come down to a question of will. Is a person willing to accept God's goodness or not.

When people have read the Bible, and yet have stated that they haven't seen any evidence that the character of Yahweh isn't just, then something is terribly wrong.

For this to occur, one would have to lump genocide, torture, killing of children, killing for odd rules like doing work on the wrong day, and killing to take land under the term of "just".

-Lyn

 

[Nadia Faiazova]

Hi! God is love (James 4:8), and also "God is light and there is no darkness at all in union with him" (1 John 1:5). Those things that you listed are done by people, but not by our loving Creator. Jehovah will bring all of this about at just the right time. We can be glad that he has not acted sooner, for his patience has given us the opportunity to learn the truth and to serve him. (2*Peter 3:9,*10)

 

[PansarBlack]

After reading much of the Bible and the Qur'an, I've concluded that if there is a God then he must be evil and should therefore be unworthy of our worship. He either directly commits or commands others to commit genocide, war, murder, slavery, rape, and ritual human sacrifice. For anyone who doubts any of these claims, I can provide direct scriptural evidence to support them upon request.

And what makes you think that if there is a god it is the god that is portried in the Bible/Qur'an? Or for that matter that there is only one of them? Really you are only basing this on a very limated resource. But yes I would agree the Bible God is evil.