What are the attributes of a worthy God?

[Link]

That's very similar to the Ronald Raygun SDI (Starwars) project. It protects against nuclear missiles by shooting them down with either lasers or particle weapons (assuming, of course, they they don't have a way of shielding or reflecting the beams).

That is a cool analogy.

 

[joe1776]

I stopped believing in God after I was finally honest with myself and accepted the painful truth that my faith in a loving, merciful God wasn't compatible with the reality that I had suffered abuse while I was growing up, and I've had to deal with the traumatic emotional effects of that abuse ever since. I believed in God when I was growing up because that's what I was indoctrinated to believe, despite being abused by my adopted mother, who's a Christian. My adopted father and my adopted extended family, who are also Christians, always looked the other way. And in spite of being abused and bullied, I became a Christian myself when I was 17, and I was a devout Christian for thirty years. I can honestly say that being a Christian was an absolutely miserable and depressing experience for me.

There was no peace and joy in my life, as was promised in the Bible to those who accepted Jesus as their lord and savior. Despite my faith in God and my sincere devotion to him, I was an empty shell, going through the motions. Long story short, I no longer believe in God, and I've renounced my Christian faith. I chose to share my story of being abused as a child (click here) in the hopes that my story will help other survivors of childhood abuse, and my story of childhood abuse is intertwined with my decision to renounce my faith (click here). I share my story of leaving Christianity in the hopes that it might inspire others who are thinking of leaving Christianity, or perhaps inspire people who have already left and need reassurance. I can honestly say that letting go of my belief and faith in God is the best decision that I've ever made for myself and for my mental health. My only regret is that I should have done this years ago.

I'm sorry to hear that you were dealt a bad hand in life. But it's encouraging to read that you want to help others suffering the same fate. In the end, if there's a judgment of some kind --- and if it's fair -- we won't be judged on the hand we were dealt but on how well we played it.

 

[osgart]

Putting in an obvious appearance now and then might be useful, if such a God truly expects to be worshipped, and plenty of religious beliefs apparently see this as a requirement. Lacking such, why would anyone take one religious belief over another? Given that the 'with God on our side' and 'it was God's will' is rather open to interpretation, and where the non-believers are as likely to be correct as to no God influencing or affecting human lives than any particular religion claiming such for themselves.

I edited my first post.

What would make a God worthy of admiration, or worship and praise?

 

[Mock Turtle]

I edited my first post.

What would make a God worthy of admiration, or worship and praise?

Not sure why any God would want such. Has God any peers so as to present any achievements and expect praise from them, given that us, being rather dependent upon God (if existing etc.), can hardly do anything of our own, so why the expectations? If God does exist I don't know for what any praise should be bestowed - the universe being so large after all, and the timescales involved, but we exist presently in a very small fraction of all this. Would God expect praise for this small bit? And we don't really know about the larger part of existence.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Even if God didn't appear, or make his influence known, shouldn't God at least save cancer victims from pain, stop wars, etc?

Not an issue for me, since we might have been created and left to our own devices - but the alternatives make more sense, as in no God.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I'm sorry to hear that you were dealt a bad hand in life. But it's encouraging to read that you want to help others suffering the same fate. In the end, if there's a judgment of some kind --- and if it's fair -- we won't be judged on the hand we were dealt but on how well we played it.

After believing in and having faith in God for the majority of my life, I've come to the realization that my hope in God was seriously misguided, and that continuing to hold on to it was a terrible mistake on my part. I was raised to believe in God without question, and it was very difficult for me to break free from my emotional dependence on God. Honestly, if I've learned anything from this painful experience, it's to be compassionate toward others who are also trying to break free from Christianity or another religion. I also have empathy for people who are trying to break free from a specific Christian sect like the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (see here).

To be honest, it was such a deep relief for me when I finally let go of the fearmongering beliefs of Christianity: the fear of God, the shame of disobeying God, the constant fear that I'd lose my salvation if I sinned against God and then died, and the persistent fear of going to hell even though I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior (Matthew 7:21-23). It was difficult for me at first to accept the fact that I don't need God in my life to be happy or to be a good person. My personal experience of breaking free from my devoted faith and belief in God is the reason why I like this Penn Jillette quote so much. It's a solemn reminder that I don't need God in my life.

 

[osgart]

Not sure why any God would want such. Has God any peers so as to present any achievements and expect praise from them, given that us, being rather dependent upon God (if existing etc.), can hardly do anything of our own, so why the expectations? If God does exist I don't know for what any praise should be bestowed - the universe being so large after all, and the timescales involved, but we exist presently in a very small fraction of all this. Would God expect praise for this small bit? And we don't really know about the larger part of existence.

Without understanding and experiencing God there is nothing to admire, praise, or worship. Without equality with God there's no admiring God.

I understand the reality of it. Life is a fleeting drop in the bucket and God is all powerful and eternal, gee whiz, thanks God. Hurry up and study all the evidences of God to gain belief and avoid eternal doom; make darn sure we get the specifics right too; make sure that existence and life is responsibly understood as well via letter, word of mouth, and later a sacred book. The intellectual exercise must be done just right with the right attitude, humility and belief or no salvation.

The God question was hypothetical. It was meant as an exercise in imagination about what would make a worthy God(s) for the non believer.

For the believer it's a question of why their God(s) is worthy.

I guess I learned that there's plenty of non believers who regard worship as useless, and never something that is worth anyone's time for anything. As a non believer I would revere that which is above me, and never anything that is beyond me. I have not found anyone above me except in my imagination. I've imagined what a God would be for me, and nothing I've experienced is anywhere near that standard I created for myself.

God for me, would have to be all loving, unconditional love, perfect justice and deserve in terms of universal salvation, and be absolutely fair in all regards, and heavily involved in the defeat of corruption, and evil. A virtual comic book character as far as reality goes.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Without understanding and experiencing God there is nothing to admire, praise, or worship. Without equality with God there's no admiring God.

I understand the reality of it. Life is a fleeting drop in the bucket and God is all powerful and eternal, gee whiz, thanks God. Hurry up and study all the evidences of God to gain belief and avoid eternal doom; make darn sure we get the specifics right too; make sure that existence and life is responsibly understood as well via letter, word of mouth, and later a sacred book. The intellectual exercise must be done just right with the right attitude, humility and belief or no salvation.

The God question was hypothetical. It was meant as an exercise in imagination about what would make a worthy God(s) for the non believer.

For the believer it's a question of why their God(s) is worthy.

I guess I learned that there's plenty of non believers who regard worship as useless, and never something that is worth anyone's time for anything. As a non believer I would revere that which is above me, and never anything that is beyond me. I have not found anyone above me except in my imagination. I've imagined what a God would be for me, and nothing I've experienced is anywhere near that standard I created for myself.

God for me, would have to be all loving, unconditional love, perfect justice and deserve in terms of universal salvation, and be absolutely fair in all regards, and heavily involved in the defeat of corruption, and evil. A virtual comic book character as far as reality goes.

For me, these are all projections on to some supposed God, and hence such as we can understand. Which, along with so many other reasons, is why I don't tend to believe in a God. I can't think of any good reason why any being that created the universe, and possibly humans even if in some roundabout way, would need anything from humans.

 

[joe1776]

After believing in and having faith in God for the majority of my life, I've come to the realization that my hope in God was seriously misguided, and that continuing to hold on to it was a terrible mistake on my part. I was raised to believe in God without question, and it was very difficult for me to break free from my emotional dependence on God. Honestly, if I've learned anything from this painful experience, it's to be compassionate toward others who are also trying to break free from Christianity or another religion. I also have empathy for people who are trying to break free from a specific Christian sect like the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (see here).

To be honest, it was such a deep relief for me when I finally let go of the fearmongering beliefs of Christianity: the fear of God, the shame of disobeying God, the constant fear that I'd lose my salvation if I sinned against God and then died, and the persistent fear of going to hell even though I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior (Matthew 7:21-23). It was difficult for me at first to accept the fact that I don't need God in my life to be happy or to be a good person. My personal experience of breaking free from my devoted faith and belief in God is the reason why I like this Penn Jillette quote so much. It's a solemn reminder that I don't need God in my life.

For what it's worth:

You've heard the stories people tell about feeling a loving presence within? If a Creator exists, and if it wanted us to know of its existence, we would all experience something like that. Logically then, since we don't all feel that, if a Creator exists, it doesn't want us all to know of its existence. And, if that's true, the Creator is self-confident and doesn't need to be worshipped.

If a Creator exists and wants us to have free will along with moral guidance, we would have a simple, cross-cultural moral guide to rely on. The fact that we have such a guide, the moral intuition we call "conscience" is the best evidence that a Creator might exist. The fact that we humans own a conscience is evidence that religious leaders should not be giving moral advice based on their reasoning from the Bible.

 

[LuisDantas]

What would make God worthy of admiration and praise?

Wisdom. I can't think of anything else that would make anyone, real or imaginary, worth of admiration and praise.

What would make God worthy of worship?

No idea. I don't know if worship is even a thing, let alone what would justify it.

 

[Trailblazer]

Caring, kindness, responsible, supportive, honest, moral, no jealousy, helpful, listening.

Basically all the things that the majority of god beliefs aren't

Because God is not a man.

 

[Trailblazer]

To demand worship and praise from me, I would expect that God to be my ultimate saviour with flawless character, compassion, and every fair quality one can think of.

I believe that God is just that and much more... Although I often have trouble believing that I write that of to my own shortcomings.

 

[Trailblazer]

I still would not worship or praise any god

Best you remain an atheist then.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't believe any living entity is ideal in any way, nor is anyone that far above.

Only God is that far above, no living entity is.

 

[Trailblazer]

God qualities:

1. does anything He wants

2. doesn't care about you or other insignificant beings

3. set up the universe and life to have something to do (boring otherwise). Now watches like looking at fish in a bowl.

4. doesn't have to watch if doesn't want to

5. created you, can destroy you

6. threatens you with fiery torture for eternity if you don't do exactly as he says

7. fears nothing (but any confrontation might result in some pain or loss, so maybe allows evil to have its way)

All except 2 and 6, Imo.

 

[Trailblazer]

Then why does God allow suffering? Is He powerless to stop it?

Imo, because He doesn't care if we suffer.
Why would God stop it when it was God who created the conditions that lead to our suffering?

 

[Trailblazer]

Even if God didn't appear, or make his influence known, shouldn't God at least save cancer victims from pain, stop wars, etc?

If God meddled in human lives that way where would it end?

 

[Trailblazer]

For the believer it's a question of why their God(s) is worthy.

Only if He is all He is cracked up to be.

 

[Trailblazer]

I can't think of any good reason why any being that created the universe, and possibly humans even if in some roundabout way, would need anything from humans.

God doesn't need anything from humans, humans need something from God, is what believers believe.

 

[Clara Tea]

What would make God worthy of admiration and praise?

What would make God worthy of worship?

And if you have no God, or many Gods feel free to answer.

I have nothing to debate myself, but I thought a debate forum would be the best way to explore the reasons people find a God worthy, or unworthy.

God offers a deal. . . "worship Me or burn in the lake of fire of the bottomless pit of hell for eternity."

Hence the phrase "God fearing."

On the off-chance that God exists, some people want to take no chances so they attend church.

Pastors used to do "God's work" of torturing humans. The slightest bit of blasphemy (or perceived blasphemy) and those people (usually scientists) would be tortured to death. "Meteors fell from the sky?" Get tortured until you take back every word. Rocks don't fall from God's perfect heaven.

Look in a telescope. Get your head chopped off (peering at God).

Look at a microscope. Get your head chopped off (looking for the hand of God).

Obey God, and everything that I say that God says (or else.....chop, chop, chop).

Thumb screws. Torture racks. Iron maidens. Cat-O-Nine-Tails. Merry maidens (like the kind mentioned on Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance). There are a host of torture devices, and this is what kept the Dark Ages dark (no science, no advancement), and it kept the powerful religious leaders in power.

The history of religion is a bloody one. Ah.....the good ol' days.