"Would an Abrahamic God Deserve Our Forgiveness?"
No, to be quite honest.
The deity described by the bible (*particularly* in the Old Testament, but even the New isn't without references) is a bigot, a sexist, and absolutely a murderer...to say nothing of his vanity, ego-centrism and general lack of a moral center.
Here is a being that supposedly creates mankind, flaws and all, then somehow gets insulted when man acts *precisely the way he knew they would when he made them* and then uses that as an excuse to require us to be "forgiven" for character flaws he instilled in us in the first place.
In other words, we are punished for mistakes he knew we would make, and indeed designed us to make.
To top it off, his punishment runs even deeper by banishing anyone who doesn't believe in him to an eternity of burning pain and suffering. This is the mentality of a 4-year old. Anyone ever see that old Twilight Zone episode with the kid banishing people to the corn field for making him upset? Same deal except probably worse.
Then he attempts to hold everyone hostage emotionally by sending his "son" to "die" for our sins, claiming that this is the only way to forgive us (nevermind that he ostensibly created the universe and thus *makes the rules*...no, no, this is the ONLY way for some reason) and brow-beats us with this "sacrifice" over and over again. "Look what I did for you!" he says, "I sacrificed my son for you!". Never mind that this was no true sacrifice at all, since Jesus then apparently rose up and now is sitting pretty in heaven (and he was also god at the same time? Whatever, a wizard did it). So, what did this god actually sacrifice? He didn't get to see his kid for 3 days? Sounds terrible.
Suddenly the entrance requirement to his afterlife clubhouse changes though: Now you have to believe that his son died for you, and if you don't then prepare for eternal fire and the worst 3rd degree burns you've ever had, buddy!
The Abrahamic god is a rage machine. A jealous, homicidal maniac that displays all the winning traits of alcoholism, sociopathy and bi-polar disorder at the same time. One might think that impossible, but hey, with god, all things are possible, right?
Luckily, I don't believe that deity exists, so we don't have to worry about it.
) it could be argued that either A. God did nothing to stop it, which is morally unacceptable in most cultures (Ie you witness someone being murdered and you could have stopped it but you didn't). or B. He created the realm of existence and therefore indirectly allowed such atrocities and horrors to be committed. Now in response, I understand a theist may simply say, (the common answer to evil and suffering) that we are endowed with free will. This however does not rest well with many, as God is considered omnipotent, omniscient, and all good, so why does he not change it? This is not even accounting for the horrors of the Old Testament apparently orchestrated by God. This is something that I and many others struggle with immensely, and I find weak arguments going either way, of what God should, shouldn't or should have done.
