Nutter Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I'm new here, and I'm unsure if this is in the right place, but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else. Also, although I'm technically agnostic, I do lean more to the atheistic side, but it's just something I'm wondering about. Why do so many people assume if there is some big pie-in-the-sky person IS out there, that they must be perfect? I know in many of the old polytheistic religions, they didn't have such a problem (what with so many being cheating selfish liars half the time, not evil but not good either, just full of power-lust), but I'm just wondering why so many of the big monothesists seems to take offence to the fact that their god might be anything LESS than perfect. (Even when the Bible/Koran/whatever itself paints him as a vicious bully...) Is it just fear or not? Why do some believe that a god/creator whatever MUST be perfect? Just rambling here. I'm just kind of curious is all, and want to find out what you think the reason is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I think it is the evolution of my god is better than your god. My god makes game animals appear, well my god makes the sun rise, pfft that's nothing my god made the world, well I have you all beat since my god did all that AND is perfect on top ot it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedah Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 ^^^That Plus, a God being perfect is a great way to sully many delusions. With a perfect God you can assume that life's purpose, Morality, Direction, and all things which would normally require honest intellectual insight to understand can then be simply answered with "Gawdidit" regardless of whether or not you actually know what the fuck that implies. For people who don't like to think for themselves, this is highly appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutter Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Good points. I never thought of them, but they DO make sense. A part of me wondered if it worked on the 'father' principle, since so many xians seem to think of him like that. (Duh- God the father and all that). For instance, when we were very small and ignorant children, perhaps from a time most of us perhaps barely remember, we probably have even thought of our own parents as infalliable. They were our whole world and they seemed like they could do anything. Of course it didn't take long for us to eventually realise that they weren't. They made mistakes like everyone else. Some felt disappointed at this fact probably. Even if it WAS true and it was better to know that then living through life believeing a lie. After all, thinking all the way into adulthood that your parents were 'perfect' would cause alot of problems! Perhaps, as well as the points you have also put forward, there is a certain fear, (after putting someone on a pedestal) of... looking TOO closely or listening to criticism too much. They all want to keep the image. Even when it's staring them in the face (from reading their OWN texts I might add) they ignore this one fact: that even if there IS a god and they picked 'the right one' that he is far from perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 For people who worship words in a book, the idea that God might change or be less than perfect is very threatening. It undermines the authority of their sole guide to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagnarus Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'm new here, and I'm unsure if this is in the right place, but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else. Also, although I'm technically agnostic, I do lean more to the atheistic side, but it's just something I'm wondering about. Why do so many people assume if there is some big pie-in-the-sky person IS out there, that they must be perfect? I know in many of the old polytheistic religions, they didn't have such a problem (what with so many being cheating selfish liars half the time, not evil but not good either, just full of power-lust), but I'm just wondering why so many of the big monothesists seems to take offence to the fact that their god might be anything LESS than perfect. (Even when the Bible/Koran/whatever itself paints him as a vicious bully...) Is it just fear or not? Why do some believe that a god/creator whatever MUST be perfect? Just rambling here. I'm just kind of curious is all, and want to find out what you think the reason is. My guess is that if you belief that their is a being which is all powerful and all-knowing, can do anything it wants and doesn't have to answer to anyone, then the thought that that being might be flawed is actually quite terrifying. Think of it like if you had Saddam Husein as president, it's an extremely depressing position to be in because you've got an absolutely evil ass-hat in charge and little you could possibly do about, apply that to an all-powerful god and the feeling of hopelessness would be magnified several 1000 times seeing as how at least with Saddam Husein his power is limited and he'll eventually be deposed (now was of course), not so with our all-powerful god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest novaprime001 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'd say that we Christians think God perfect in the sense that he does not commit sins. Not as in Jesus never stubbed his toe, or never got sick, or things of that effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'd say that we Christians think God perfect in the sense that he does not commit sins. Not as in Jesus never stubbed his toe, or never got sick, or things of that effect. Why would a perfect God ever have any idea of "sin" ? If God is all perfect, where did sin come from? Please don't say the devil, because the devil is a being created by God, like everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko47 Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Actually, I think that somewhere in the OT, God "repents" of his actions after flooding the Earth and offing everybody except the Noah's. I know that there is a stream of Christian thought (well, not totally confined to Christianity) that "God" is "perfecting" humankind in the fullness of time, leading us into a "perfected" future where everything will be "perfect". Anyway, my cat has pretty well "perfected" me. I can't believe he just got another fishy treat. I suppose when the scope of your goals is rather small and simple, perfection is a little easier. That's why I nick-named him the "Fur God". Well, we all have our roles to fulfill... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thackerie Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 ... Anyway, my cat has pretty well "perfected" me. I can't believe he just got another fishy treat. Yes, cats are very good at training their pet humans. Anyway, this reminds me of an old, but very cute, joke: A dog looks up to his owner and thinks, "You give me food, water and shelter and tend to my every need. You must be god." A cat looks down on her owner and thinks, "You give me food, water and shelter and tend to my every need. I must be god." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 If I recall hearing correctly, a theologian said in a documentary that the concept of the perfect and unsinning god came from when the early Israelites wanted to distinguish their god from the other pagan gods by saying he is above all human wants and needs; they could trust their god because he doesn't have human emotions, which is thinking that humans are the only ones in this entire universe that could have emotions. I would rather have a god with faults because they are more equipped to judge and understand human though process and why we do things we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRDWarrior Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Because if god wasn't perfect, then how could they justify saying we are less than it? If it has the same problems, attitudes, etc that we do, then it's not significantly better than we are - and therefore, it's higher place is hard to justify, especially when we are no longer as reliant on things like weather patterns etc that we can attribute to said being's tantrums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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