A core belief amongst Christians is that God is fair. He is "just". His justice system is perfect.
Now, from what I've heard of God, fair is something he is definitely not. Let me explain why:
1) For starters, God treats everyone differently. He doesn't give us the same oppurtunities, and is kinder to some than others. Just think about all the testimonies you hear about. God appearing to non-believers in their sleep, or on their death bed. Has this happened to you? Even if the answer's yes, there are billions of people who don't have this privelege at all, in their whole lives. The people who don't get divine experiences are expected to believe a book, but the ones that do have actually been visited by God. Why does God throw some people a bone and leave the rest with nothing but an age-old book with outrageous claims that they are expected to just believe?
2) Secondly, he places everyone in a different environment, where there is different culture and education. Take a little boy brought up in Iran. He's going to be a Muslim, no doubt about that. Islamic brainwashing is undeniable and inescapable in Islamic countries, and it is unlikely that a child will be brought up not to be a Muslim. Now, over to Texas, USA. Another little boy is brought up in a Christian environment. Most people in his town or village are Christian, and therefore the little Texan boy is very likely to be a Christian also. These little boys have had the exact same upbringing, but the little Texan boy has been brought up in the CORRECT religion. Is this fair? Why does the Muslim boy deserve eternal torture, just for being born in the wrong country. And vice versa! Why does the little Christian boy deserve eternal happiness, for being brought up in the right country?
3) Finally, God does not judge people based on their actions, but on their beliefs. Imagine a court room, where a case is being held for a murderer. The murderer signs a confession that he committed the crime. There is strong evidence to say that he did it. And the jury is unanamous that he is guilty of the crime. But all of a sudden the criminal pipes up and says, "Judge, I love you very much and I'm really really sorry for killing that man." What would the judge do? He certainly wouldn't forgive the man, he doesn't even have the right to forgive him. Imagine how outraged the murder victim's family would be if the judge just FORGAVE the criminal because the criminal loved him and was sorry. In this world, the criminal would receive the punishment he deserves for his crime. That's justice. God's justice system is RIDICULOUS when you think about it in an earthly context like we just have done. Watch this video for an animated explanation of this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWAUhadJzTk
Considering these arguments it is clear that if the God of the Bible and all that is said of him is true, he is unfair and callous in his judgement. He should therefore not be trusted or loved by anyone, even believers. Check out my other post, "The danger of trusting God" for another explanation of this.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, 14 January 2013
The danger of trusting God
Let's take a step back from trying to disprove god. Let's imagine he is true. Is this a deal-breaker? If he's true, I believe him and love him? I certainly don't think that should be the case.
In this blog I will outline why God, if he is true, should not be trusted or loved by anyone.
Ask any Christian why they think God sends people to hell and they will deliver an elaborate explanation of why it is OUR FAULT as humans that people go there. They will tell you that original sin brought suffering and evil into the world that god once made perfect. They will explain that god only wants the best for us. He loves us and wants us to go to heaven. But by rejecting him, we ourselves choose hell. He doesn't send us there, we send ourselves there.
But ask them to explain some of god's attributes and they will probably list the following 3, among others:
He is OMNISCIENT (all knowing) - this means he knows everything that has happened and everything that will.
Psalm 147:5
Jeremiah 32:27
A truly omniscient god knows everything that is going to happen to a world before creating it. He knows every crime that will be committed, every judgement that will be given and every word that will be said. Taking this onboard, we realise that before creating the Earth, God KNEW that hell would come into play, and knew that billions upon billions of people would be mercilessly and eternally tortured. We can only deduce from this that god wanted and willed this torture, and therefore in essence does send people to hell.
This is true even if god is not all powerful!
But according to christianity, god IS all powerful. He can literally do anything, apart from, strangely, affect free will. Christians will use this idea as a reason that he cannot stop people from going to hell. You ask them why he doesn't simply appear to the masses on a regular basis to ensure that everyone believes in him, and they will tell you that he can't affect free will so he won't do it. But in saying this, the Christian is forgetting all the times he did it IN THE BIBLE! Appearing to the masses, turning people into statues, telling Abraham to kill his son, appearing to Paul, and performing many epic miracles for all to see.
Instantly, the Christian's argument is killed, and you realise god could be doing more to help us than just giving us an old book and a load of wack-ass modern day testimonies.
But the Christian will continue to tell you that it is your fault if you go to hell, and god is not sending you there. They will come on to their next point that "He simply cannot dwell with those who are uncleansed, because he is so perfect himself."
But wait - who made that rule? Is there someone with a higher power that limited god to this? No, not if god is omnipotent. Surely an all powerful god, who says nothing is too hard for him, could have made a different rule. Why can god not spend time with uncleansed people? Isn't he OMNIBENEVOLENT? Doesn't he love us and care about us? I certainly don't spend my time only with people who are perfect and don't sin. Why couldn't God have made things differently? Couldn't he at least have made another realm where we learn about our mistakes and are cleansed? Or couldn't he have made punishment that wasn't eternal? There are other ways to go about judging those that you love, than just throwing them all into a pit of fire if they don't use your little method of salvation (believing in Jesus Christ), and I know that if I was the supreme being things certainly wouldn't be so ridiculously elitist and selfish.
So, if God is all-powerful and all-knowing, he is definitely sending people to hell out of choice.
After you've outlined all this to the Christian, they will revert to telling you that we can't understand God's ways because he isn't a mortal man. They will tell you that he has a justice system that is way out of our understanding because he has infinitely more wisdom than us.
So, wait a second, the Christian has just tried to explain to you how judgement and eternity work, but now that you've probed a little bit further they say that we simply don't understand god and therefore just have to TRUST that he is right, because he loves us.
Wooooah woooah woooah hold up there mr. Christian. You can't go about it like that! If you don't understand God, you shouldn't put your faith in him and love him. He could be doing ANYTHING up there! If you just put it down to trust and faith, you're leaving yourself exposed to unknown horrors and dark secrets. You can't tell me that you love him and that he loves you, then tell me that you don't understand him and his wisdom is higher than yours!
It's dangerous to trust someone when you know they have an agenda that you don't understand. It is even more dangerous to justify that someone is torturing people if you don't understand why they're doing it. Just because they TELL you they love you, and they TELL you they are powerful and just and good, it doesn't mean they are! Imagine that in real life! Someone kidnaps you, ties you up in their attic and tells you they love you and that what they are doing is right and just. They tell you that they will torture you to death, unless you believe they won't. If you believe that they won't torture you, and ask forgiveness, then they'll give you a million pounds. You wouldn't trust them would you? If they're thinking of torturing you, you certainly wouldn't trust them and love them.
My perspective of all this is that, if God really is true, he is not to be trusted, and certainly not to be loved, especially if he is torturing people ETERNALLY, simply for the "crime" of not believing him. If we do not understand his ways then we should be afraid of them and cynical of them. We shouldn't try to stick up for him and explain him, we should question him and think about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he isn't actually the good guy.
Because after all, when was the last time you saw a good guy torturing anyone?
Thanks for reading.
In this blog I will outline why God, if he is true, should not be trusted or loved by anyone.
Ask any Christian why they think God sends people to hell and they will deliver an elaborate explanation of why it is OUR FAULT as humans that people go there. They will tell you that original sin brought suffering and evil into the world that god once made perfect. They will explain that god only wants the best for us. He loves us and wants us to go to heaven. But by rejecting him, we ourselves choose hell. He doesn't send us there, we send ourselves there.
But ask them to explain some of god's attributes and they will probably list the following 3, among others:
He is OMNISCIENT (all knowing) - this means he knows everything that has happened and everything that will.
Psalm 147:5
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;He is OMNIPOTENT (all powerful) - this means he has the power to do anything he wishes.
his understanding has no limit.
Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?He is OMNIBENEVOLENT (all loving) - his love for his creation is pure.
1 John 4:7-8
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and
knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and
knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Let's analyse these attributes in respect to the Christian's argument.
A truly omniscient god knows everything that is going to happen to a world before creating it. He knows every crime that will be committed, every judgement that will be given and every word that will be said. Taking this onboard, we realise that before creating the Earth, God KNEW that hell would come into play, and knew that billions upon billions of people would be mercilessly and eternally tortured. We can only deduce from this that god wanted and willed this torture, and therefore in essence does send people to hell.
This is true even if god is not all powerful!
But according to christianity, god IS all powerful. He can literally do anything, apart from, strangely, affect free will. Christians will use this idea as a reason that he cannot stop people from going to hell. You ask them why he doesn't simply appear to the masses on a regular basis to ensure that everyone believes in him, and they will tell you that he can't affect free will so he won't do it. But in saying this, the Christian is forgetting all the times he did it IN THE BIBLE! Appearing to the masses, turning people into statues, telling Abraham to kill his son, appearing to Paul, and performing many epic miracles for all to see.
Instantly, the Christian's argument is killed, and you realise god could be doing more to help us than just giving us an old book and a load of wack-ass modern day testimonies.
But the Christian will continue to tell you that it is your fault if you go to hell, and god is not sending you there. They will come on to their next point that "He simply cannot dwell with those who are uncleansed, because he is so perfect himself."
But wait - who made that rule? Is there someone with a higher power that limited god to this? No, not if god is omnipotent. Surely an all powerful god, who says nothing is too hard for him, could have made a different rule. Why can god not spend time with uncleansed people? Isn't he OMNIBENEVOLENT? Doesn't he love us and care about us? I certainly don't spend my time only with people who are perfect and don't sin. Why couldn't God have made things differently? Couldn't he at least have made another realm where we learn about our mistakes and are cleansed? Or couldn't he have made punishment that wasn't eternal? There are other ways to go about judging those that you love, than just throwing them all into a pit of fire if they don't use your little method of salvation (believing in Jesus Christ), and I know that if I was the supreme being things certainly wouldn't be so ridiculously elitist and selfish.
So, if God is all-powerful and all-knowing, he is definitely sending people to hell out of choice.
After you've outlined all this to the Christian, they will revert to telling you that we can't understand God's ways because he isn't a mortal man. They will tell you that he has a justice system that is way out of our understanding because he has infinitely more wisdom than us.
So, wait a second, the Christian has just tried to explain to you how judgement and eternity work, but now that you've probed a little bit further they say that we simply don't understand god and therefore just have to TRUST that he is right, because he loves us.
Wooooah woooah woooah hold up there mr. Christian. You can't go about it like that! If you don't understand God, you shouldn't put your faith in him and love him. He could be doing ANYTHING up there! If you just put it down to trust and faith, you're leaving yourself exposed to unknown horrors and dark secrets. You can't tell me that you love him and that he loves you, then tell me that you don't understand him and his wisdom is higher than yours!
It's dangerous to trust someone when you know they have an agenda that you don't understand. It is even more dangerous to justify that someone is torturing people if you don't understand why they're doing it. Just because they TELL you they love you, and they TELL you they are powerful and just and good, it doesn't mean they are! Imagine that in real life! Someone kidnaps you, ties you up in their attic and tells you they love you and that what they are doing is right and just. They tell you that they will torture you to death, unless you believe they won't. If you believe that they won't torture you, and ask forgiveness, then they'll give you a million pounds. You wouldn't trust them would you? If they're thinking of torturing you, you certainly wouldn't trust them and love them.
My perspective of all this is that, if God really is true, he is not to be trusted, and certainly not to be loved, especially if he is torturing people ETERNALLY, simply for the "crime" of not believing him. If we do not understand his ways then we should be afraid of them and cynical of them. We shouldn't try to stick up for him and explain him, we should question him and think about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he isn't actually the good guy.
Because after all, when was the last time you saw a good guy torturing anyone?
Thanks for reading.
Why Christianity is evil
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-grace/hell-and-god.html
Some quotes from this website.
"We have rape and incest and murder ; and we have them all cataloged and classified--but there isn't one of them (or even put them all together in one big hunk) that comes close to the sin of keeping Jesus Christ out of your life."
"All that are in Hell, choose it."
So, let's take a 16 year old girl. She looks after her mother who has Alzheimer's Disease. She goes to school and works hard but is bullied. She lives on a low budget, does all the household jobs and has to live with the horror of seeing her mother slowly forgetting who she is and becoming a vegetable. She doesn't believe in god because it doesn't make sense to her.
This girl deserves eternal, merciless torture because she has committed the worst crime of all. By not believing in a 2000 year old story, she is choosing to suffer until the end of time and is a filthy sinner.
Hitler, on the other hand, was a christian. He facilitated the torture and murder of millions of innocent people. Yet, he believed in christ, and as long as he asked forgiveness at the end of his life, he is now dwelling with jesus in eternal happiness. HITLER.
This is no joke, this is what christianity teaches. Anyone who does not believe in jesus christ and is cleansed of their sins via him will suffer until the end of time.
Christianity, just like many other religions, is evil at its core. It has been used to some good effect throughout history, often deterring people from crimes, and does have the capability to change a bad person into a good one. But, even though most christians you meet are loving, kind people, believing that everyone deserves eternal torture is a dangerous thing. Religious people are not evil. But what they believe in is. Religion is a virus just like any other, the only difference is nobody is trying to cure it. It's time to move on from superstitious nonsense, especially when it endangers minds and lives.
Thanks for reading.
Some quotes from this website.
"We have rape and incest and murder ; and we have them all cataloged and classified--but there isn't one of them (or even put them all together in one big hunk) that comes close to the sin of keeping Jesus Christ out of your life."
"All that are in Hell, choose it."
So, let's take a 16 year old girl. She looks after her mother who has Alzheimer's Disease. She goes to school and works hard but is bullied. She lives on a low budget, does all the household jobs and has to live with the horror of seeing her mother slowly forgetting who she is and becoming a vegetable. She doesn't believe in god because it doesn't make sense to her.
This girl deserves eternal, merciless torture because she has committed the worst crime of all. By not believing in a 2000 year old story, she is choosing to suffer until the end of time and is a filthy sinner.
Hitler, on the other hand, was a christian. He facilitated the torture and murder of millions of innocent people. Yet, he believed in christ, and as long as he asked forgiveness at the end of his life, he is now dwelling with jesus in eternal happiness. HITLER.
This is no joke, this is what christianity teaches. Anyone who does not believe in jesus christ and is cleansed of their sins via him will suffer until the end of time.
Christianity, just like many other religions, is evil at its core. It has been used to some good effect throughout history, often deterring people from crimes, and does have the capability to change a bad person into a good one. But, even though most christians you meet are loving, kind people, believing that everyone deserves eternal torture is a dangerous thing. Religious people are not evil. But what they believe in is. Religion is a virus just like any other, the only difference is nobody is trying to cure it. It's time to move on from superstitious nonsense, especially when it endangers minds and lives.
Thanks for reading.
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