Ex-Christian vs. God

I still haven't quite reached the point of trying to prove (or, let's say, demonstrate) that God/gods don't exist, because I've still got a lot to say about what I think of the Christian god if he IS true. In previous posts I have shown why god is unfair and shouldn't be trusted, and now I want to show why I'm kinder, more generous, more sensible, and overall more morally respectable than god (wow, my arrogance will NOT win me a place in heaven if he is true!).

Let's do this like a game. We'll take each moral issue as it comes and reward a point to the one who has the morally superior outlook on it. Here goes, an ex-Christian vs. God:

 

A) Make a list of your top 10 moral concerns, in a "don't do x" format:

Ex-Christian:
"Hmm, okay, tough one, well how about these:
1) Don't kill anyone (murder)
2) Don't attack anyone (physical abuse)
3) Don't take anything that doesn't belong to you without permission (theft)
4) Don't claim ownership of anyone (slavery)
5) Don't abuse the natural world out of greed (environmental damage)
6) Don't discriminate against someone because of their race, sexuality or gender (prejudice)
7) Don't harm a child, physically or mentally (child abuse)
8) Don't cheat on your partner or spouse (adultery)
9) Don't blackmail or exploit anyone (exploitation)
10) Don't bully anyone (abuse)
It's a rough draft, but I think I've included the majority of moral concerns here."

God:
"I actually already have a list, which you can find in Exodus 20:3-17 of my book, the |Holy Bible|; here it is:
1) Kiss my arse, nobody else's
2) Don't draw pictures of me or anything else and pray to them, because I'm jealous and if you do it I'll kick not only your arse but your children and your children's children and your children's children's children's arses too.
3) Don't use my name in a bad way, only in a kiss-assy kind of way, or I'll kick your arse.
4) Don't you fucking dare work on a sunday, because I DIDN'T when I created the earth, so it's MY DAY and you can't do any work on it, and neither can any of your servants or animals or women or children or anything!
5) Treat your parents well, or else I'll kick you out of where you live.
6) Don't kill anyone.
7) Don't cheat on your spouse.
8) Don't steal anything.
9) Don't give false testimony against your neighbour.
10) Don't want anything that doesn't belong to you. Don't fancy some guy's wife, or want his servants, or his pets, or anything that belongs to him.

VERDICT:
Well, it seems the ex-Christian has a good set of moral values there. God on the other hand... sounds like a spoilt brat. Almost half of his moral concerns are all about kissing his arse, and a lot of them contain threats. God himself is sexist within his commandments, which are very much directed at men (do not covet your neighbour's wife???), and generally he comes across as a massive douchebag. There are a few good commandments, but not really any that the ex-Christian didn't include. Gotta hand the point to the ex-Christian here.

Ex-Christian 1 - 0 God

B) What should happen to someone if they break any of these 10 rules?

Ex-Christian:

"Well, a lot of those have various laws surrounding them already, for example a life-sentence in prison for a murderer, and shorter prison sentences for abuse, theft etc. Some don't really require punishment, they are just good morals to live by. For example, cheating on your partner, it's not a good thing to do, but it's all private stuff really and it's not something that should be punished by the government."

God:
"Breaking any of my commandments is punishable by merciless torture until the end of time (Revelation 21:8 2, Thessalonians 1:9). Everyone that has ever lived has broken one (Romans 3:23), so everyone deserves eternal torture and I will make sure that happens. I can't live with anyone who isn't perfect according to my standards (Revelation 21:22-27), so they can burn for all I care. However, about 2000 years ago I tortured and killed my son, who hadn't broken any of these laws, so that means that anyone who believes in him and repents their sins can be forgiven and can live with me (John 3:16).

VERDICT:
Errrm, okay God. You tortured and killed your son, which means that anyone who believes that he is your son and asks forgiveness can live with you in heaven... but anyone who doesn't believe in him can burn for eternity? How very fair of you...
Well done ex-Christian, there is a lot of injustice in the world but a thorough, non-biased and well-regulated criminal justice system is an excellent way to reduce this.

Ex-Christian 2 - 0 God

C) What is your opinion on slavery?

Ex-Christian:
"I think it's an abomination, and I'm sad that it still exists in the world. People should never be used as property, everyone should have the freedom to make their own way in the world and decide things for themselves. It is also rare that slaves are treated well, and countless times in history and even in the present, slaves have been beaten, malnourished and neglected. Nobody should be owned, never mind worked to death!"

God:
"I don't really appreciate some of the slavery that's gone on, but I'm pretty crazy about controlled slavery. I made a bunch of rules about it, for example I told my people the Israelites that they weren't allowed to enslave each other but that it was perfectly fine to take slaves from other countries and clans (Leviticus 25:44-46)."

VERDICT:
The ex-Christian understands how slavery creates inequality and destroys the individuality and basic human rights of its victims. God, on the other hand, seems to have been pretty keen on it in the past, and hasn't really given any indication to humanity about whether he still likes it or not.


Gotta give the point to the ex-Christian here, for both integrity and moral superiority.

Ex-Christian 3 - 0 God

D) Who do you love, and how do you show it?

Ex-Christian:
"Love is a difficult word to define, but I would certainly say I love my close family and friends. I show them I love them by spending time with them and being there for them in difficult situations. One day I hope to feel a different, stronger kind of love, for a woman. We may decide we want to marry each other to express our love, and even have children, which we will both love unconditionally, so much so that we will ensure they are safe, happy and fulfilled until we die. I have a certain kind of love for my fellow man, the kind that will help a stranger in trouble, and give to worthwile charities. However, I can't say that I care about everyone, because I don't really think about anyone that I don't spend time with."

God:
"I love everyone in the entire world, unconditionally and unbeatably. There is nobody in the whole world that loves each person more than I do. I am love. (1 John 4:7-8) I have shown them this love through my word in my best-selling book, the Bible, and through creating them and giving them the incredible planet Earth to live on. I have also shown them my love through the sacrifice of my beloved son, Jesus. If they love me in return, and believe in my son and repent their sins, I will grant them everlasting life and happiness by my side. If they don't love me back though, they'll burn forever." (John 3:16)

VERDICT:

Wow, it was going quite well for God until that last sentence. The ex-Christian has a pretty normal idea of love, and admits that the word love has an array of meanings and that he can't love everyone. God however, claims to love everyone more than any human can, yet will burn you for eternity if the feeling isn't mutual. Sorry god, but I don't think that's love at all...

Ex-Christian, you've done it again. 1 moral superiority point goes to you! God still on zero.

Ex-Christian 4 - 0 God

E) What do you think about witches?

Ex-Christian:
"Errm, well I don't think magic and sorcery really exist, so to be honest I think people that practice that kind of thing are a bit weird. Each to their own though."

God:
"You shall not permit a sorceress to live! (Exodus 22:18). That's right, anyone that practices any kind of magic, other than miracle working in my name, should be killed! Derren Brown! Why has nobody killed him yet?! I thought I had millions of followers. Clearly they've all forgotten about that commandment!

VERDICT:
Yep, there we go, God happily contradicting himself as usual. Ordering people to break his own commandments, and all out of jealousy! Ask any christian though and they'll tell you that god doesn't think that any more. It's quite strange that he changed his opinions, especially after saying "For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). Maybe he was talking about his underwear, we'll never know.
The ex-Christian has his opinions of witches, which is fine (haha, 'witches-which is'). He isn't ordering anyone to burn them to death. Good. He gets the point again.

Ex-Christian 5 - 0 God 

F) Final question, who deserves harsher punishment, a man who earnestly facilitates the horrendously painful deaths of millions of people simply because of their religious beliefs, or a 2 year old un-baptised child that doesn't know anything about god.

Ex-Christian:
"Well I assume you're talking about Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. This is a pretty strange question, obviously Hitler deserved extremely harsh punishment, but why would you punish a 2 year old at all?

God:

"Hitler eh? He was a very bad man and he's burning in Hell now. I mean, if he'd repented his sins at the end of his life, I would have let him have eternal bliss, no questions asked. He was a believer after all. But that 2 year old? Disgraceful! There is no worse sin than not believing in me and my son! (no bible quote for this but http://www.christiananswers.net/q-grace/hell-and-god.html certainly seems to think so). I'll burn that little son of a bitch for all eternity, just like I am doing to Hitler! They both deserve eternal and merciless torture, in equal measure."

VERDICT:
Here we see the embarassing evils of Christianity, which at its core teaches that killing masses of people is no worse than not believing in Jesus. The ex-Christian undoubtedly wins the moral point for this.

Ex-Christian 6 - 0 God  

FINAL RESULT

The winner, by a 6-0 whitewash, is the ex-Christian! Commiserations to the Creator of the universe, you just aren't as morally intact as the ex-Christian, or most human beings for that matter.

Thanks for reading.