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What does God want from you?

Sargonski

Well-Known Member
Here's another description of what the faith-based thinker says the critical thinker needs to do - join him and become a faith-based thinker, too. Opening eyes is your choice of language, but others call the critical thinker's perspective myopic, scientism, and materialism - all meant derogatorily. They say that one must stop thinking critically (not in those words) and God appears.

As a boy, before I learned such thinking, I was an atheist. I didn't become a theist until age 18 or 19. I tried what you recommend then. No bueno. I returned to atheism, and have been grateful for that ever since. Not everybody can do it, just as many never quit smoking. I've quit both, and neither was easier than the other. The religious mems had taken root in an unseen part of my mind that had me praying to a god I no longer believed in to show me a sign if I was making a mistake - for a year. It was just like the tobacco addiction, which also nagged at me for a year when I became the tobacco equivalent of an atheist.

What makes you think that that life is appealing or desirable? Do you think that believers present an enviable state to be in for holding such ideas? How would it help me to imagine I'm hearing a god speaking again? Did you want me to follow that voice's urgings again? As I said, I've been there, and it didn't work out well. I've learned better since. Also as I said, I'm proud and grateful to have extricated myself from that.

Nor need he to reject the claim. You're quibbling over what looks like a claim of faith that gods don't exist from @blü 2. I think he used language casually there, but maybe he's a strong atheist. If so, I agree that that requires at least a small leap of faith.

The atheist need define no gods. You say that you see and hear one? Tell me what you see and hear, and I'll tell you if I believe YOUR god exists. Likewise with every other theist. Tell me about the god or gods you believe exist and I'll tell you if your argument was convincing or rejected.

I got a chuckle out of the Michael Jackson skit .. hence the like.. the rest is full of strawman fallacy .. no "Faith based thinking" going on here mate .. nor any of the other invective demonization ad hom fallacy. .. yammering on about some religious right nutters .. as if that has something to do with me ?

You blather on about "Critical thinking" "Science" -- again trying to demonize the Fundies .. but seems big log in own eye ..naught seen any of that come from your direction .. a whole lot of fallacy though. then in another place you wax on about "Antivaxers" .. something the Religious right Got right .. purely by accident I am sure ..... but even broken clock correct twice a day .. Which brings up the odious question .. what happened to your critical thinking and scientific analysis skills on that front ? The Vax is nasty nasty for healthy people .. folks not in the cirical care group .. immune compromized .. really old and really fat .. with numerous comorbidities .... all at the same time.

Thats the "Science" presented the other day on the Hill by Rand Paul .. the speaker for the Dem side .. just an absurd pack of lies.... but this all of no moment to the discussion at hand .. a wonky rabbit hole .. when you demonstrate some characteristics .. all good in the hood.

What part of - 1) "Can you not hear God Talking" and 2) make sure to give a definition of God .. was difficult to understand ?
 

Sargonski

Well-Known Member
You're going to need to be a bit more respectful if you'd like a responsive reply in the future. I'm not interested what you think about me or how you describe my posting. Address the ideas if you can.

If you think you'll succeed with this kind of language, think again. I'm very good at dealing with insolence.

You flatter yourself again. Read my posting again if you need to see how I dispatched with both of those.

There is nothing rational that you understand that would be difficult for me to understand. Your thoughts are simple to me to the extent that they are coherent, including your insults and what likely motivates them.

"A bit more Respectfull" ? .. says the fellow who has just accused me of all kinds of religious right nonsense .. lacking critical thinking skills .. adherence to Science. Now claiming you dispatched with something .. What was that ? you failed the basid test of answering the question .. adhering to the topic .. never mind dispatching with something.

"There is nothing rational" - bout sums up your post mate .. you cry out "Faith" when asked if you can hear God talking -- then go on about demonizing the Religious Right ..

then I tell you .. the hearing of God has nothing to do with any Fundi Faith .. and ask for a definition of God .. followed by you running around crying out that was me who has been disrespectfull ... in a mass projection movement .. of your failings onto others. Crying out "Insult ..Insult" that nothing is difficult for you to understand .. when clearly you went deer in headlights in this conversation .. about God .. and your inability to hear .. or see .. that which is in front of you....
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
"A bit more Respectfull" ? .. says the fellow who has just accused me of all kinds of religious right nonsense .. lacking critical thinking skills .. adherence to Science. Now claiming you dispatched with something .. What was that ? you failed the basid test of answering the question .. adhering to the topic .. never mind dispatching with something.

"There is nothing rational" - bout sums up your post mate .. you cry out "Faith" when asked if you can hear God talking -- then go on about demonizing the Religious Right ..

then I tell you .. the hearing of God has nothing to do with any Fundi Faith .. and ask for a definition of God .. followed by you running around crying out that was me who has been disrespectfull ... in a mass projection movement .. of your failings onto others. Crying out "Insult ..Insult" that nothing is difficult for you to understand .. when clearly you went deer in headlights in this conversation .. about God .. and your inability to hear .. or see .. that which is in front of you....
This won't do. You'll need to control your emotions and turn your attention from ideas about me to ideas about ideas as I did for you when I initially answered your post. When you do that for me, we can have a discussion, but if you prefer to indulge in deprecating language, then no.
G-d is not indifferent ... but [then off to a deflection]
That's your answer to, "It describes a deity that is indifferent to creating souls that will suffer"? Not a very good defense of the mindset of a deity that creates creatures knowing that they will suffer in the extreme after life if not during. How's that better than a future psychopath torturing animals? This is the god that drowned the world. It flushed life down the toilet like a dead goldfish, but while still breathing.

Look, I don't think that any such deity exists, and that is some of the reason I reject, albeit the worst reason I have. It offends me to think any conscious agent could have that much power and be so cruel and indifferent, and so I intuitively reject the notion that it exists in something like a consequences fallacy - too horrible to be true so can't be.

My other reasons for unbelief are more sound. There were no six days of creation or first humans. Those are human ideas. And for human beings to claim that a god did or said that isn't credible. The god was created by those people over time. By the time the stories were written, the Jews were transitioning from polytheism to monotheism, hence the preoccupation with false idols, the contest between the Hebrew god and the Egyptian equivalent establishing domination of Yahweh over rivals, and the plural forms (Elohim).

But untold numbers of people over uncounted generations told and retold those stories, and so they evolved. That's lot of the reason I not only don't believe in this god, it's one I can say never existed. That's not true for the deist god. I simply don't believe in it, but unlike the god of Abraham, I have no opinion about whether it exists or did exist.
 

muhammad_isa

Veteran Member
..It offends me to think any conscious agent could have that much power and be so cruel and indifferent..
Why target G-d?
It's satan and his associates who are cruel and indifferent.

..and please don't come out with the argument that G-d created satan [evil] so is evil Himself,
because that is no good reason to turn away from righteousness, and make up your own
version.

The fact that evil exists does not mean that the Creator is evil .. that is purely
an excuse.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
That's your answer to, "It describes a deity that is indifferent to creating souls that will suffer"?
How do you know that God is indifferent to suffering? Are you able to read God's mind? The fact that suffering exists is no proof that God is indifferent to it. There is no logical connection whatsoever.
Not a very good defense of the mindset of a deity that creates creatures knowing that they will suffer in the extreme after life if not during.
So what if God knows that 'some creatures' will suffer in this life? God also knows that the bulk of people are fairly happy, and more people could be happy if they followed the teachings and laws of God. It is not God's fault that many people choose not to follow them.
How's that better than a future psychopath torturing animals?
It is different because God is not torturing anybody.
This is the god that drowned the world. It flushed life down the toilet like a dead goldfish, but while still breathing.
Every scientist knows that there was never a worldwide flood. That was only an allegorical Bible story.
Look, I don't think that any such deity exists, and that is some of the reason I reject, albeit the worst reason I have. It offends me to think any conscious agent could have that much power and be so cruel and indifferent,
Yet you have no evidence that God is either cruel or indifferent. It is merely an ego projection that if God was not cruel and indifferent God would do x and y.
My other reasons for unbelief are more sound. There were no six days of creation or first humans. Those are human ideas. And for human beings to claim that a god did or said that isn't credible. The god was created by those people over time. By the time the stories were written, the Jews were transitioning from polytheism to monotheism, hence the preoccupation with false idols, the contest between the Hebrew god and the Egyptian equivalent establishing domination of Yahweh over rivals, and the plural forms (Elohim).
Of course there were no six days of creation, nor were Adam and Eve the first humans. Science has long since proven the human species evolved about 200,000 years ago.

Insistence on interpreting the Bible literally is not a valid reason for unbelief. The fact remains that not all Christians interpret the Genesis stories literally, not in this modern age. Humanity is starting to move beyond that, although many American Christians are lagging behind.
But untold numbers of people over uncounted generations told and retold those stories, and so they evolved. That's lot of the reason I not only don't believe in this god, it's one I can say never existed.
Why would you need to believe in the anthropomorphic God depicted in the Bible in order to believe in God? I do not believe in much of what the Bible has revealed about God, and I certainly do not believe the various stories about what God purportedly did. Why should I believe in the Bible?

I guess the advantage I have is that I was not raised as a Christian and I never read one page of the Bible until I started posting on various forums in 2013. Forty years prior to that I had a firm foothold in the Baha'i Faith.
That's not true for the deist god. I simply don't believe in it, but unlike the god of Abraham, I have no opinion about whether it exists or did exist.
Although I belong to an Abrahamic religion, my beliefs about God run against the grain, since I am not convinced that God has all the qualities other Abrahamics believe He has. I can only believe what makes sense to me. It makes sense to me that God is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Wise, even that God is All-Good, but I would be lying if I said I am convinced that God is All-Loving, since that makes no sense to me.

It is my choice to believe about God as I choose. There are no Baha'is who make it their business what I believe about God. That is only between me and God, unless I choose to share it with a friend. I suppose I might care if God is All-Loving, if I felt the need for God's love, but I don't. It is my concerted that Christians and Baha'is believe that God is All-Loving not only because their scriptures say so, but also because they feel a need for God to be All-Loving.

God could very well be All-Loving, but that is only a belief and as such there is no possibility of proving it.
 
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ppp

Well-Known Member
I answered your question in the first 3 words of post "No gadget required"
I didn't ask you is a gadget was required. So, no. You answered the question that you made up in your head and tried to assign to me. I'll tell you what. You don't answer my question, and I won't read your posts. I like to play fair.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
That's your answer to, "It describes a deity that is indifferent to creating souls that will suffer"?
How do you know that God is indifferent to suffering? Are you able to read God's mind? The fact that suffering exists is no proof that God is indifferent to it. There is no logical connection whatsoever.
Not a very good defense of the mindset of a deity that creates creatures knowing that they will suffer in the extreme after life if not during.
So what if God knows that 'some creatures' will suffer in this life? God also knows that the bulk of people are fairly happy, and more people could be happy if they followed the teachings and laws of God. It is not God's fault that many people choose ot to follow them.
How's that better than a future psychopath torturing animals?
It is different because God is not torturing anybody.
This is the god that drowned the world. It flushed life down the toilet like a dead goldfish, but while still breathing.
Every scientist knows that there was never a worldwide flood. That was only an allegorical Bible stor
Look, I don't think that any such deity exists, and that is some of the reason I reject, albeit the worst reason I have. It offends me to think any conscious agent could have that much power and be so cruel and indifferent,
Yet you have no evidence that God is either cruel or indifferent. It is merely an ego projection that if God was not cruel and indifferent God would do x and y.
My other reasons for unbelief are more sound. There were no six days of creation or first humans. Those are human ideas. And for human beings to claim that a god did or said that isn't credible. The god was created by those people over time. By the time the stories were written, the Jews were transitioning from polytheism to monotheism, hence the preoccupation with false idols, the contest between the Hebrew god and the Egyptian equivalent establishing domination of Yahweh over rivals, and the plural forms (Elohim).
If course there were no six days of creation, nor were Adam and Eve the first humans. Science has long since proven the human species evolved about 200,000 ago.

Insistence on interpreting the Bible literally is not a valid reason for unbelief. The fact remains that not all Christians interpret the Genesis stories literally, not anymore. Humanity is starting to move beyond that, although many American Christians are lagging behind.
But untold numbers of people over uncounted generations told and retold those stories, and so they evolved. That's lot of the reason I not only don't believe in this god, it's one I can say never existed.
Why would you need to believe in the anthropomorphic God depicted in the Bible in order to believe in God? I do not believe in most of what the Bible has revealed about God, and I certainly do not believe the various stories about what God purportedly did. I guess the advantage I have is that I was not raised as a Christian and I never read one page of the Bible until I started posting on various forums in 2013. Forty years prior to that I had a firm foothold in the Baha'i Faith.
That's not true for the deist god. I simply don't believe in it, but unlike the god of Abraham, I have no opinion about whether it exists or did exist.
Although I belong to an Abrahamic religion, my beliefs about God run against the grain, since I am not convinced that God has all the qualities other Abrahamics believe He has. I can only believe what makes sense to me. It makes sense to me that God is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Wise, even that God is All-Good, but I would be lying if I said I am convinced that God is All-Loving, since that makes no sense to me.

It is my choice to believe about God as I choose. There are no Baha'is who make it their business what I believe about God. That is only between me and God, unless I choose to share it with a friend. I suppose I might care if God is All-Loving, if I felt the need for God's love, but I don't. It is my concerted that Christians and Baha'is believe that God is All-Loving not only because their scriptures say so, but also because they feel a need for God to be All-Loving.

God could very well be All-Loving, but that is only a belief and as such there is no possibility of proving it.
 
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Sargonski

Well-Known Member
I didn't ask you is a gadget was required. So, no. You answered the question that you made up in your head and tried to assign to me. I'll tell you what. You don't answer my question, and I won't read your posts. I like to play fair.

"No gadget required" was the answer to your rabbit hole question .. a gentile nudge to get you back on track ... as you were not playing fair .. deflecting from answering the question with a question.

So .. you not reading my posts .. doesn't change anything .. as you were not reading them before :)
 

Sargonski

Well-Known Member
This won't do. You'll need to control your emotions and turn your attention from ideas about me to ideas about ideas as I did for you when I initially answered your post. When you do that for me, we can have a discussion, but if you prefer to indulge in deprecating language, then no.

T

Spare me the projection .. was you started with the personal invective .. demonizing me as religious right and then attributing their nasty characteristics onto me. Now running away playing the victim .. as your position was found wanting .. unable to hear the Word of God .. or even define what you mean by God .. a leaf .. floating in the wind .. whose ideas are rife with fallacy .. but who gets very mad when this fallacy is pointed out .. feels very persecuted .. and thus lashes out :)
 

Bird123

Well-Known Member
Not from scratch ─ rather, on a model you've acquired through acculturation, and perhaps modified.

But this is the whole point ─ produce the evidence for a non-imaginary God and blow my argument out of the water!

Except of course you can't, so the case for God being imaginary is further confirmed,

I've previously asked you to spare us the condescending nonsense. But since it's obviously necessary, I'll repeat the request.


I see no evidence of a real God, one who has objective existence and is not entirely conceptual / imaginary.

And you have no such evidence.

It's very clear.
Since your belief is that God does not exist and that you do not want God to exist, it is expected that you will not seek the proof needed to confirm the truth that God does exist. I pointed the way, however each chooses for themselves what they seek or not seek.

As for myself, it has never been my goal to get someone to believe or serve up beliefs in any way. I am not going to feed you what you want to eat. I have placed Real Truth on your plate. The rest has never ever been up to me.

That's what I see, It's very clear!!
 

Bird123

Well-Known Member
Yes .. beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. :)
Yes. many limit their view to what they want to be the truth instead of what actually is. I think that when one reaches the understanding of what actually is rather than what one wants to be true, with the intelligence, math, and dynamics of God's system, beauty will be realized by all.

God pointed out to me that mankind carries such a narrow view. How much of what stares us all in the face is being missed? Perhaps we should all look again with the widest of views and advance our thinking to include more possibilities.

That's what I see. It's very clear!!
 

Bird123

Well-Known Member
Why should you? Nor should you love them. You owe it to yourself to try to find a way to diminish the pain, which you have likely done, and that is a state we can live in just as profitably and effectively as if one chose to pretend such things never happened.

I find THAT comment arrogant. I don't need any gods or religions, thank you very much. Why would you presume otherwise? Because your religion taught it to you? Nothing about that deserves the description arrogant. Saying it is is a self-serving, Abrahamic sentiment that runs through all of those religions, and intends to induce fear and insecurity about leaving the religion and living as an atheistic humanist. Isn't atheism always defined as arrogance by such believers? It's depicted as man trying to be a god, or trying to avoid a god to go live a sinful existence.

A miracle should have a zero percent chance of occurring naturally, not a very low one. If that's your only criterion for a miracle, why call them that? Those happen every day.

It adds up to me. It describes a deity that is indifferent to creating souls that will suffer and is part of the argument that the Abrahamic god as described is a monster. Who does that? People today are refusing to have children because they foresee a dystopic future for them. That's how compassionate moral agents think.

Agreed.

That pretty much sums up this atheistic humanist's position, except I leave gods out of it. The word carries the unwanted baggage of an invisible, powerful person while adding no explanatory or predictive power. And what does one need with religions to create a "heavenly state"? One just needs a safe and comfortable place to live, love, beauty, leisure, and freedom from want, anxiety, fear, shame, guilt, etc..

Yes I do know spiritual, sentience, thought, and feeling, but why call those God? Those words are sufficient to describe those experiences.

It's what I want, too. The critical thinker doesn't want anything to be true. He is interested in discovering what is true. And he has a very effective method for screening out false and unfalsifiable beliefs. He requires that an idea be shown to be correct empirically before belief. And this is vexatious to the faith-based thinker, whose criteria for belief seem to be just the will to believe - the definition of belief by faith.

Accumulating false and unfalsifiable beliefs. It sounds like a pretty bad idea. Faith is not only the path to theism, it's the path to climate denial, vaccine avoidance, legitimate election denial.

Here's another description of what the faith-based thinker says the critical thinker needs to do - join him and become a faith-based thinker, too. Opening eyes is your choice of language, but others call the critical thinker's perspective myopic, scientism, and materialism - all meant derogatorily. They say that one must stop thinking critically (not in those words) and God appears.

As a boy, before I learned such thinking, I was an atheist. I didn't become a theist until age 18 or 19. I tried what you recommend then. No bueno. I returned to atheism, and have been grateful for that ever since. Not everybody can do it, just as many never quit smoking. I've quit both, and neither was easier than the other. The religious mems had taken root in an unseen part of my mind that had me praying to a god I no longer believed in to show me a sign if I was making a mistake - for a year. It was just like the tobacco addiction, which also nagged at me for a year when I became the tobacco equivalent of an atheist.

What makes you think that that life is appealing or desirable? Do you think that believers present an enviable state to be in for holding such ideas? How would it help me to imagine I'm hearing a god speaking again? Did you want me to follow that voice's urgings again? As I said, I've been there, and it didn't work out well. I've learned better since. Also as I said, I'm proud and grateful to have extricated myself from that.

Nor need he to reject the claim. You're quibbling over what looks like a claim of faith that gods don't exist from @blü 2. I think he used language casually there, but maybe he's a strong atheist. If so, I agree that that requires at least a small leap of faith.

The atheist need define no gods. You say that you see and hear one? Tell me what you see and hear, and I'll tell you if I believe YOUR god exists. Likewise with every other theist. Tell me about the god or gods you believe exist and I'll tell you if your argument was convincing or rejected.

A little dated now, but still clever:

A confused nine year old boy goes up to his mother and asks: "Is God male or female?"​
After thinking for a moment, his mother responds: "Well, God is both male and female."​
This confuses the little boy, so he asks: "Is God black or white?"​
"Well, God is both black and white."​
This further confuses the boy so he asks: "Is God gay or straight?"​
The mother answers: "Honey, God is both gay and straight."​
"Well then," the boy asks, "is god an adult or a child?"​
The mother replies, "God is both adult and child. Why all of these questions?"​
At this, the boy's face lights up with understanding and he triumphantly asks, "Is God Michael Jackson?"​
So much is said about God that simply isn't true. I can see how that can leave a bad taste in one's thinking to where one creates a wall to get away from it. Indeed reasonable. On the other hand, I think it's important to be open to all possibilities regardless of false information one can receive by others.

I understand one should strive for physical proof. On the other hand, more exists beyond the physical. Does one really want to place limits on oneself? Looking for proof? Proof never shows up at the beginning of the journey. It is Discovered along the way.

What is God needed for? Who do you think is the Teacher? Who do you think determines the parameters of every life? Random chance? There is order to chaos is one Understands.

Everything must add up!! You are right in that this is the base one should never fall below. Clearly, so much in holy books does not add up. This is when the questioning should start. The physics of this world add up. The people factor of this world adds up. Everything about God adds up. Math should never be ignored.

It has never ever been about believing. If one studies this world and universe. One studies God. One can learn much studying the actions or creations of others. It doesn't matter what one believes. The study will lead to God anyway.

That's what I see. It's very clear!!
 

Bird123

Well-Known Member
OK .. so what then is God doing with this world.. - what has your analysis told you ... as I have put the puzzle together ... and done the math .. and you are correct that God has no name .. though your rational is unclear.. Remember when you got to the right answer in math .. but did not get full marks because you didn't show your work .. something like that .. but of no moment --- the right idea .. "God has no name" and from that follows ... that none of us knows what God's direct commands are .. from the Bible .. or any other Holy Book.

So here is what happend in your story so far ..... One day eyes opened (analogy -- your eyes did not actually see anything at this moment) .. and you had the "I AM" moment.. the only thing in this world you know for sure .. and will ever know for sure .. but that is another story.

From there you progressed to look around .. "Did the math" .. and have come to an understanding of what God is doing with this world. Do tell what you have concluded about the primordial one .. the uncreated ooze :)
What is the very first thing you remember in your life? I AM??? Think back to those early days before all that sensory input from this physical world seduced you into thinking this physical world is all there is. Think!

Holy books and mankind portrait God as a Mighty Ruler with a Mighty Kingdom. This is mankind's thinking.

Let me point a way. God is a Teacher.

Look around at this world and universe. Look for purpose.

That's what I see. It's very clear!!
 

blü 2

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Since your belief is that God does not exist and that you do not want God to exist, it is expected that you will not seek the proof needed to confirm the truth that God does exist.
God, and gods, and fairies and magicians and wishing wells and magic wands and Superman and angels and devils and goblins and pixies and all the characters of fiction exist as concepts / things imagined in individual brains. They have no objective existence.

I've invited you to show otherwise, but clearly you can't.

I pointed the way.
In a pig's eye you have. All you've done is waffle about believing and how one day it'll all happen, like the lottery. If you've ever suggested a procedure that will demonstrate the reality, the objective existence, of God, I certainly missed it, but it's not too late ─ spell it out for me.
 

Sargonski

Well-Known Member
What is the very first thing you remember in your life? I AM??? Think back to those early days before all that sensory input from this physical world seduced you into thinking this physical world is all there is. Think!

Holy books and mankind portrait God as a Mighty Ruler with a Mighty Kingdom. This is mankind's thinking.

Let me point a way. God is a Teacher.

Look around at this world and universe. Look for purpose.

That's what I see. It's very clear!!

For someoe that see's things very clear - you are not being very clear. God is a Teacher -- Got it -- and agree ... So what then .. what has the universe taught us ? What is the purpose of "Row row Row your boat -- gently down the Stream" ? .. according to Bird .. cause Bird is the Word ..

I have my own answer to this question .. stated somewhere in this 52 page thread .. curious as to what you heard though ... while rolling down the stream merrily

Prophet told you .. one thing you know fo sure .. das it .. ya hear .. telling you twice now .. how matter and energy come together .. arrange itself into a certain configuration .. opened its eyes .. and was aware that it existed.

You figure out that much .. then you come tell me bout what the universe has to say .. but before you came here .. was a time when this elemental stuff was only dimly aware of itself .... over time this awareness grew .. evolved .. until one day something remarkable happened .. the thought manifested itself into physical reality .... something you now take for granted when you make your pinky wiggle by force of will ..

Alas your god-like powers only extend to your own physical body .. you can make your pinky move .. but not the chair on your deck. Only God thoughts can manifest themselves externally -- but that is another story.

This is all you know for sure ... all the universe has taught you directly ... do you understand ?

Now what have you learned indirectly :)
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Why target G-d?
Target? Isn't God in charge in your faith? Does he or does he not see all, know all? Is he or is he not all-powerful? If you answer yes to both, then I call such a deity omni-responsible for everything that happens. I understand that that is impossible and unthinkable to you, and you don't know how I can think it, but it appears very different when one doesn't start with "God is good," but makes that judgment AFTER considering things like this.
It's satan and his associates who are cruel and indifferent.
Did God create them? If so, could he foresee their behavior and intent? If so, God is responsible for everything they do, including allegedly letting the demon harm humanity. Why was it let loose in our universe? Whoever did that is responsible for what has followed, including the fall ofman if that had ever happened.
please don't come out with the argument that G-d created satan [evil] so is evil Himself ... The fact that evil exists does not mean that the Creator is evil
A tri-omni god would be responsible for the evil. Isn't being the source of evil the same as being evil?
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
you started with the personal invective .. demonizing me as religious right and then attributing their nasty characteristics onto me.
There was no invective in my posting to you. I commented on what it meant to mean to read that if I open my eyes, I'll hear God. I told you that I understood that as the faith-based thinker advising the critical thinker to stop thinking critically if he wants to believe in a god like he did. You chose to be offended by that, which is fine with me, but you also chose to be offensive ("yammer", "blather"), at which point I lost interest in discussion with you. A man of ideas might have been intrigued by the thought and chosen to explore it or even rebut it. An insightful man might ask whether itis correct and pertains to him. I'm looking for that poster, not hurt feelings.
How do you know that God is indifferent to suffering?
I don't believe in "God," but any conscious agent able to prevent gratuitous suffering ought to, and one that didn't is justifiably called indifferent. If it cared, it would intervene.
The fact that suffering exists is no proof that God is indifferent to it.
Nor did I claim it was, but add that this god is omniscient and omnipotent and that gratuitous suffering exist in the world, if the god existed, it would be one indifferent to that suffering.

Donald Trump is suffering now, and even if I had the power to prevent it, I wouldn't. Would you call me indifferent to his suffering?
It is not God's fault that many people choose not to follow them.
Yes, it would be, if it had the power to make itself known and didn't. The words of prophets and messengers aren't convincing to critical thinkers. There is nothing in them that couldn't be there if no god existed.
Every scientist knows that there was never a worldwide flood. That was only an allegorical Bible story.
I believe it was meant and taught literally until that became untenable, and then, rather than call the story a wrong guess - because we NEVER use that wrd with scripture, right? - some began calling it allegory. It most definitely is not allegory as allegory is defined.
Of course there were no six days of creation, nor were Adam and Eve the first humans.
Then the god said to have made those things happen doesn't exist.
I think it's important to be open to all possibilities
Me, too.
more exists beyond the physical.
Not to anybody's knowledge.
Does one really want to place limits on oneself?
Yes. I want to avoid accumulating false and unfalsifiable beliefs.
Who do you think is the Teacher?
In my life, experience.
Who do you think determines the parameters of every life?
The laws of nature dictate the conditions of life - the length of the day, the weather, etc.. The laws of man determine how much freedom I have. But I am the principle source that determines the conditions of my life - where and how I'll spend my day.
If one studies this world and universe. One studies God. One can learn much studying the actions or creations of others. It doesn't matter what one believes. The study will lead to God anyway.
OK. I've studied nature extensively - empirically (life experience), formally (schools), professionally, and as an avocation (free reading, discussion on venues like this one). What I've learned shows me what nature is like, and I respect that, but I haven't given it a name except maybe Mother Nature.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
Target? Isn't God in charge in your faith? Does he or does he not see all, know all? Is he or is he not all-powerful? If you answer yes to both, then I call such a deity omni-responsible for everything that happens.
That is completely illogical and I certainly don't consider that the product of critical thinking. What does God being all-powerful have to do with whether God is responsible? Nothing at all.

God has perfect foreknowledge but knowing that something will happen is not what causes anything to happen. There is no logical connection whatsoever.
God does not cause anything to happen. Humans are the cause of what happens in this world, so they are responsible for all of it.

“Every act ye meditate is as clear to Him as is that act when already accomplished. There is none other God besides Him. His is all creation and its empire. All stands revealed before Him; all is recorded in His holy and hidden Tablets. This fore-knowledge of God, however, should not be regarded as having caused the actions of men, just as your own previous knowledge that a certain event is to occur, or your desire that it should happen, is not and can never be the reason for its occurrence.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 150
 
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