Castiel233 Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 He doesn't just give the nod, he orders it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I think the universe makes more sense from an atheist perspective. There can't be an all evil god because of rainbows, sunsets, chocolate, sex, kittens, music, newborn babies and so on. But look at God from other angles and God is just as ridiculous. Infinity works both ways. So the number of years that were before God created our universe would be infinite. This God character is just sitting in the empty void doing nothing for an eternity. Then suddenly God creates our world so that we can worship God. Why wouldn't God do it sooner? An eternal being doesn't make sense. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castiel233 Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 An eternal being sitting on a throne and watching us 24/7 always seemed nonsense to me, let alone an evil eternal being Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdelsolray Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. The Problem of Evil/Suffering posits that a tri-omni god (i.e., omnipotent, omnipresent and omnibenevolent) cannot exist given the evil and suffering that actually exists in the universe. The PoE does not posit that any god does not exist, just a certain type of god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted June 29, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted June 29, 2014 If someone demands that I return their love, then what that persons feels for me is NOT love. I would apply the same to non-existent deities. Therefore, god does not love me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipVanWinkle Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Do Christians merely pretend to love God? Yes,as to the minority who actually have read the bible.The majority only read those portions of the bible that their church tells them to. So, they don't know of the evil deeds described in the bible. bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest afireinside Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 An eternal being sitting on a throne and watching us 24/7 always seemed nonsense to me, let alone an evil eternal being Yeah, I struggle to understand how people who man CCTV watch rooms can watch all those monitors at once let alone a being watching billions of individual people at once AND read their minds. Does God respect adolescent girls' privacy when they have a shower or is he in there watching? C'mon God you don't need to watch, you just want to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtify Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 The church constantly repeats the slogan, "God is love", over and over again. It's a form of brainwashing. Christians never dare question the goodness of god when they read the bible. If they were to, they might realise bible god wasn't good at all, but rather a megalomaniacal, narcissistic dictator. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdownunder Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. Yes, what more can be said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pensatore Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 A god who demands us to love him all the while threatening us with eternal damnation? Sounds to me like blackmail. I'm sure that majority of christians chose to "love" him out of fear of damnation. This arrangement reminds me of North Koreans who hail Kim Jong Il/ Kim Jong Un/ Kim Il Sung out of fear of being tortured and/or sent to prison camps. When you think about it that way, I can't help pity the christians who choose to accept jesus for the sake of saving themselves from an eternal death camp. They need to open their eyes and reject the dictator they call "god". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gall Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. What does Machiavelli say in "The Prince" Is it better to be feared or loved (as a leader)? I know this isn't exactly what he was talking about but my brain always thinks about it whenever I hear love and fear used in the same sentence. it does apply completely from a god perspective in that which is he really trying to get people to come follow him with in this false religion? He says love all day long while commiting acts all day long to make you fear him...what a load of crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pensatore Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 ^ Agree. . .Although I haven't read "The Prince" of Niccolo Machiavelli but that statement is very insightful. How can we have free will when there is a dire consequence when we choose not to love this god? Isn't that a sort of paradox? From what I know, a love can only be classified as genuine if we willfully choose to love an individual (or god) and not be forced to love for the sake of avoiding punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted July 1, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 1, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. When I fear someone, I walk on eggshells. You cannot approach a god about his evil ways when he will be on the defensive with you. Gods 'defensiveness' is hell. There is no trying to even discuss issues with this christian god. It is a fake love. Fake love has no intimacy at all. Fake love runs from discussing issues that have hurt someone. There is no real love with this god. It is totally fake and most of the time, you love out of fear, Fear of his fury. Fear of his hell. I'm glad I don't need this type of fake love anymore. I used to pretend to love god. I really tried to love this invisible, out of reach god. Now I know it was just an illusion. *hug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pensatore Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Many (including believers) struggle with the Problem of Evil, for me, it is, and has been for a very long time, the Problem of an Evil God. This is the biggest turn off of Christianity. God has to be evil, if we accept the stories of Him in the Bible to be accurate portrayals of Him. A god who gives the nod to: Slavery Murder Rape Fasting Suffering Abandonment of family Beating children Eternal Hellfire Fear Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway. When I fear someone, I walk on eggshells. You cannot approach a god about his evil ways when he will be on the defensive with you. Gods 'defensiveness' is hell. There is no trying to even discuss issues with this christian god. It is a fake love. Fake love has no intimacy at all. Fake love runs from discussing issues that have hurt someone. There is no real love with this god. It is totally fake and most of the time, you love out of fear, Fear of his fury. Fear of his hell. I'm glad I don't need this type of fake love anymore. I used to pretend to love god. I really tried to love this invisible, out of reach god. Now I know it was just an illusion. *hug* Well said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthmama514 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 this reminds me of my abusive ex. he would constantly demand that i tell him I loved him. and if i didnt reply would get mad and physically abusive. Being in Christianity for so long, i feel like i just left an abusive relationship, only instead of physical abuse it was mental and emotional abuse caused by extreme fear of burning for eternity. What a fun way to live! *Sarcasm* and to answer your question: yes Christians pretend to love him because to do anything else means eternal damnation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 The church constantly repeats the slogan, "God is love", over and over again. It's a form of brainwashing. Christians never dare question the goodness of god when they read the bible. If they were to, they might realise bible god wasn't good at all, but rather a megalomaniacal, narcissistic dictator. My church as a kid would also often repeat the need to "fear god", and I remember asking my mom several times why should we fear god. I don't remember her having an answer. My sunday school was full of a loving and happy god, and I saw no reason to fear him until I got older and read the bible for myself. But instead of developing that fear, I was deconverting and simply saw it all as a sham... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted July 1, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted July 1, 2014 The church constantly repeats the slogan, "God is love", over and over again. It's a form of brainwashing. Christians never dare question the goodness of god when they read the bible. If they were to, they might realise bible god wasn't good at all, but rather a megalomaniacal, narcissistic dictator. My church as a kid would also often repeat the need to "fear god", and I remember asking my mom several times why should we fear god. I don't remember her having an answer. My sunday school was full of a loving and happy god, and I saw no reason to fear him until I got older and read the bible for myself. But instead of developing that fear, I was deconverting and simply saw it all as a sham... Another fine example of how the bible doesn't mean what it says. Sure, it says we should fear god; but it doesn't actually mean we should fear god. It means we should have respect for god. That's what they told me, anyway, whenever I asked the same question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castiel233 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Never could fully grasp the whole God loves us, but we must fear Him aspect of theology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megasamurai Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I remember the fact that I was terrified because God could read my mind and know I didn't feel anything towards him. I was an idolater for loving humans more than him. I pondered how he could punish me for an emotion I could not control. I learned that love isn't a light switch that can be turned on and off at will. I physically could not feel love for him because I couldn't see him, hear him, or sense him with any of my 5 senses. It was easier to feel love for the my female friends in high school because I could see them, hear them, and hug them. I wished God could understand that loving who I could not see more than I could see is difficult for some humans. My Assembly of God church always made me feel like shit with their emotion crime bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castiel233 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 The whole God can read my mind bit, surely is hard to swallow, even for the truly devout. There is approximately six billion of us, thinking and speaking in different languages......how on Earth could any God, let only the God Of Israel keep up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted July 2, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted July 2, 2014 The whole God can read my mind bit, surely is hard to swallow, even for the truly devout. There is approximately six billion of us, thinking and speaking in different languages......how on Earth could any God, let only the God Of Israel keep up Especially when that god is kept constantly busy trying to demonstrate his awesome power by finding someone a parking space or showing up on a grilled cheese sandwich. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castiel233 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the grilled sandwich miracles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gall Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the grilled sandwich miracles. DO NOT blaspheme against the mighty GRILLED CHEESUS god dammit. if nothing else he can perform the miracle of filling my stomach when no one wants to pay me to see him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipVanWinkle Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 "Do Christians merely pretend to love God out of fear of Him, and isn't a love fuelled in fear, a fake love anyway." Castiel233 I'd put it this way: If you could take away the fear, love would be right behind. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts