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MSD · 01-28-2004, 05:39 PM

Here's my two cents on the traditional definition of God:

According to those who taught me, God created man in his image.

God then gave man free will, but threatened punishment if it was used in any way other than as God said to use it. The original two misused it, so he kicked them out of paradise and let them fend for themselves.

Then, God decided to flood the world and kill all but a few people when his plan didn't turn out the way he wanted it to. Then, he promised he'd never do it again. No more smitings.

He loves us all, but if we don't follow his orders, he sends us to hell for eternal punishment. Things we have to do include going to church every Sunday, not lying, stealing, having sex before marriage (actually, anything from french kissing and up is considered lust, so you go to hell for anythign but the most innocent ikiss,) or having much fun in general.

What I understand from these teachings is that God is sadistic, contradictory, insecure, egocentric, and generally does not have the qualities that I would associate with a supreme being. The qualities that he supposedly has are more human-like than anything else. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is the most logical, therefore God did not create man in his image, man created God in his image.

This leaves me with the impression that the God that religion claimed created us does not exist. He was created by men to give them control over other men.

This leaves me with two equally illogical possibilities, that a supreme being created us then left us alone, or that he doesn't exist at all, and an almost infinitely improbable series of events led to the creation everything an infinite amount of time in the past.

I give it a 50/50 chance. I figur that either way, I should live my life in such a way that I enjoy it, and try to help others enjoy life more. If I die and there's nothing after life, I helped out. If I die, and and God does exist, I did good things, and should be rewarded for it. If it isn't good enough because I didn't follow the rules exactly as set forth in some ancient text, then I got this all backwards and God really is sadistic and evil.

01-28-2004, 05:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	Here's my two cents on the traditional definition of God: According to those who taught me, God created man in his image. God then gave man free will, but threatened punishment if it was used in any way other than as God said to use it. The original two misused it, so he kicked them out of paradise and let them fend for themselves. Then, God decided to flood the world and kill all but a few people when his plan didn't turn out the way he wanted it to. Then, he promised he'd never do it again. No more smitings. He loves us all, but if we don't follow his orders, he sends us to hell for eternal punishment. Things we have to do include going to church every Sunday, not lying, stealing, having sex before marriage (actually, anything from french kissing and up is considered lust, so you go to hell for anythign but the most innocent ikiss,) or having much fun in general. What I understand from these teachings is that God is sadistic, contradictory, insecure, egocentric, and generally does not have the qualities that I would associate with a supreme being. The qualities that he supposedly has are more human-like than anything else. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is the most logical, therefore God did not create man in his image, man created God in his image. This leaves me with the impression that the God that religion claimed created us does not exist. He was created by men to give them control over other men. This leaves me with two equally illogical possibilities, that a supreme being created us then left us alone, or that he doesn't exist at all, and an almost infinitely improbable series of events led to the creation everything an infinite amount of time in the past. I give it a 50/50 chance. I figur that either way, I should live my life in such a way that I enjoy it, and try to help others enjoy life more. If I die and there's nothing after life, I helped out. If I die, and and God does exist, I did good things, and should be rewarded for it. If it isn't good enough because I didn't follow the rules exactly as set forth in some ancient text, then I got this all backwards and God really is sadistic and evil.