Is god kind?

[Schwenkdawg]

I think God is kind and loves us much in the same way you would love your kids. Like, he'll let us make mistakes for the sake of learning, and hope that we don't make the same mistake again (nukes are a good example, although i don't really believe in divine intervention). Plus, look at it overall, at least in your case. You're sitting on a computer, connected to the internet, youre probably not starving, and you probably have a bed etc etc etc. I'd say, if you believe in such things, that God was quite kind to you. As for other people (people in poverty-stricken third world countries come to mind), the complete religious nuts would have you believe that its because they live in sin and are being judged. In reality it's prolly just, horrible as it sounds, luck of the draw...aka they got shafted and you didnt. So I'd say he's nice, but no one can please everybody

 

[Schwenkdawg]

don't apathetic and uncaring mean the same thing?

 

[Hippobatman]

Have you even read the Old Testament?

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

Have you even read the Old Testament?

and Chapper /thread
Dude made a flood, tricked an old man to almost kill his son, banished people, got a fish to eat a dude. Yeah God is just made of love and fuzzy hugs

 

[Schwenkdawg]

Have you even read the Old Testament?

enough to understand what you're getting at, yes. To play devil's advocate, because i really couldn't care less what other people think (I've always thought of religion as a personal thing...and thus why i dislike going to church), the god in the old testament did things to either protect his chosen people (the Israelites), destroy cities with no good people in them (in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, he tells Abraham that if he finds even 5 good people in either city he'll spare the city. as it stood, there weren't [doubtful, but w/e] and he lightning bolted it out of existence), or free his chosen from slavery (the whole plagues on Egypt thing). I think using the old testament to judge whether or not god is good would require an individual weighing of what is important. AKA, if you believe god's job is to hold ALL human life at equal standard, then it was evil, but if the Israelites were more valuable, then it wasnt. I don't really have an opinion, because the verdict is still out on most of my beliefs anyways.

 

[knight steel]

Let me get this straight. God gives us free will, then punishes us for using it? Then, he lets a bunch of people kill his only son? He's not kind, he's a dick!

Lol good point i laughed so hard when i read this.

 

[Dragon_of_red]

God is good, Satan is bad, he is the source of corruption and impurity, God is more of a bystander, he just watches what we do, learning from oure mistakes and our gains, and eventually, will kill us all to start again cause we f-k'ed this all up.

 

[Hippobatman]

-SNIP-

Personally, I lack faith in Christianity, or any other religion for that matter. You seem to do, and that's teriffic for your part. That's all you, sport, and I won't have a say in it.

But, as you said;

if you believe god's job is to hold ALL human life at equal standard, then it was evil, but if the Israelites were more valuable, then it wasnt.

I'm actually all for equality. If God truly is kind and so forth, I'd much rather believe he'd treat mankind equal, instead of only caring for one selected group of people. You know what that's called? I'm not going to continue on this track, though. Makes me sound a lot more cynical and hateful than I really am.

Right, to sum up; I don't believe, others do. Super!

 

[Kpt._Rob]

If there is a being that we could even so much as call a deity here on Earth, it is either brilliantly paranoid, or utterly insane. Unless it is genuinely omnipotent, in which case it is quite possibly the most malicious entity that has ever existed.

That said, the existence of a literal omnipotent God is so far beyond improbable that it barely merits consideration. And the other entities that we would consider "gods" are more likely nothing more than highly evolved extraplanetary or extradimensional entities.

And if you're looking for commentary specifically on the God of the Abrahamic traditions, you need no more evidence to see just how evil he would be (if he existed) than the Bible. Consider, for instance, when he drowns everyone on the face of the planet except for Noah and his family. Does this seem like the actions of a benevolent deity? The bible even specifically says, in Exodus 15:3 that "The Lord is a man of war." Although, to be completely fair, the bible also says, in Numbers 23:22 that "he [God] hath as it were the strength of a Unicorn." So perhaps we should gauge the reliability of that particular book on the premise that there are Unicorns out there somewhere.

 

[Schwenkdawg]

Haha, in a modicum of self-defense before going to bed, i do indeed believe in equality, and see no reason for judging one human life more valuable than others without EXTREME extenuating circumstances (AKA the person who cures cancer is worth the lives of 10 other people because he'll save more than that yadda yadda yadda). I was just pointing out how some people view what god did in the old testament as evil, and how others see his actions as necessary in light of the lens through which they view their life.

Personally, i believe god is good, but, viewing all humans as equals, i could never connect the dots, and therefore, my religious views arent much further developed than "god exists and he loves us"

Oh, and one final thing, thank all of you in this thread for not moving to the automatic religious cop-out of "god moves in mysterious ways". That 5 word phrase makes it impossible to actually debate with people who are really and truly religious.

 

[la-le-lu-li-lo]

if he does indeed exist, i don't think he is capable of kindness or of the opposite. i don't think god would feel or even think. it [why the gender?] would simply exist. and create. and destroy, if all that 2012 nonsense ends up being true as well.

since our creation, everything that's happened has been the result of our actions, with the exception of natural disasters and weather.

free will and all that... puh.

of course this is simply how i see it, and i don't try to preach this upon others. just sharing my opinion.

 

[la-le-lu-li-lo]

So perhaps we should gauge the reliability of that particular book on the premise that there are Unicorns out there somewhere.

dude, unicorns totally exist. they hang out with bigfoot.

duhhh.

on a more serious note, i thoroughly enjoyed reading your post.

 

[Dottie]

LOL....wait a thread about religion,and there's no shit storm yet?? this must be a trap...I believe in him and I'm sure he's a great guy when you're not human....

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

I've always thought of God as the stereotypical 'Bad Dad'.

He created everything, but the moment he realised he'd have to raise it..BAM. Cosmos.
Nothing like creating an infinite vacuum between yourself and it.

And when he finally did come crawling back he knocked up some random married woman, breaking one of his own rules, and then vanished before he had to pay child support.

 

[Valiance]

These threads should not exist.

To answer your question...

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able, and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

God's made an entire fucking universe. I doubt he cares about us insignificant humans.

My old Religion teacher used to say that God is a sadist and enjoys watching us destroy each other. That he has the power to stop, but he just won't.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able, and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

Thank you, Epicurus.

 

[Zacharine]

God, as depicted by the Bible is a vengeful, egoistical bastard who had a few good moments every now and then.

God, as put forwards by some christian denominations is a bit kinder, but even then there is the concept of Hell among other things that I find quite frankly evil and sadistic.

I don't have too much experience with other gods, though the bits of Torah I've read aren't much better.

So no, generally God is not depicted as an entirely good guy and most of the time is actually quite sadistic according to people's descriptions.

 

[Sonicron]

Anyone here ever hear the term 'Theodicy'...?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodicy

 

[Kajt]

Thor is all the god I need.

All hail Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet!

Seriously, god seems like a real arse for threatening to send me to hell.

 

[the1ultimate]

For maximum relevance to this topic I will assume that there exists a god.

He doesn't smite people who say bad things about him, so at least god allows freedom of speech.
I think the issue might be more complicated than kind or not kind. I mean, if he is aloof, does that make him cruel? If you notice one ant colony attacking another colony, are you cruel if you don't step in and save as many as you can?

Basically I'm not sure that you can ask such a question of a being who can presumably see the universe in ways we cannot imagine.
Of course, at least in the case of the god referenced in the Bible, I would certainly try if I ever got to come face to face with him.