I watched a tiktok vid yesterday that said God killed over 2.4 million people in the bible. In the comments, many Christians were completely OK with that. It didn’t bother them in the least way. Personally, I find that absolutely disgusting. That is mass murder on a scale that would embarrass the worst, the most ambitious psychopathic murder of all time.
What are your feelings when someone says that? How do you respond back to them?
Well, if you kill a man, you're a murderer. Kill many, you're a conqueror. Kill them all, you're a God. I took this from a Megadeth song but seems to be the way they see things.
My usual response is "By that logic anyone can kill their own kids and has a perfect right to do so."
"Since God gives life, he can take life". By exactly the same reasoning, parents give life, so they are justified in murdering their own children. I have no time for anybody engages in such lunatic double-think.
Exactly! Well said.
I just keep remembering it's just a story, except about weird guys that seem to have the ability to control water or something, it's weird, like one walks on it and the other parts it, like hair.
I said it was weird.
The Lord of the Rings is more realistic and better written.
Honestly, I was much more upset by Voldemort killing people in the Harry Potter series than god killing people in the bible. I think J. K. Rowling made her characters much more real than this King James guy did, and as a reader I felt more empathy towards hers. Character development is important.
Okay, to address your question; They are going to sidestep every question regarding god's mortality with answers similar to "God defines morality; so anything he does is moral." Faith is their fallback position. In their minds it defeats logic, morality, and reality.
They live in a world full of contradiction and intellectual discord. That allows them to maintain their belief regardless of their own knowledge.
It’s a bunch of stories and any personalisation of a deity is delusional.
"God killed"? That would actually be ascribing the action of either natural process, accident or other humans to be 'act of god', as it suits the intended lesson. Magical thinking at its best.
I find it establishes what sociopathic goons they and their made-up god are.
In the sermons of biblical literalist pastor John MacArthur, he actually gets angry and scolds his congregation for questioning "God" in any manner saying essentially God can do whatever He goddamn wants... because He's God, and when God does a thing, it's unquestionably "good."
It reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode, "It's a Good Life" (Billy Mumy as the "wish them to the cornfield" kid) where we humans are supposed to respond (for example), "It's a GOOD thing God drowned all those babies, puppies, and kittens when He flooded the whole world. A REALLY good thing!"
I had a godbotherer coworker rationalize it by saying God knew those babies would grow up evil. When I asked about the puppies and kittens, he said God can do what He wants with the life He created.
I told him if a person drowned puppies and kittens in a bathtub, watching the terror in their eyes as their innocent lives were so cruelly extinguished, most anyone would recognize what a vile and reprehensible act this was. I also pointed out that the act itself accomplished absolutely nothing, as the tiny handful of "righteous" people God saved wound up breeding all the evil we have with us today. Noah saw first hand the power of this capriciously violent God... knew He was the real deal... and got pass-out drunk the first chance he got (an understandably human reaction considering).
This godbothering coworker subsequently quit speaking to me for besmirching the "good name" of his God by pointing out these disturbing facts and calling his God a sociopathic killer.
Good riddance and totally worth it. I tell him I won't sugarcoat his bullshit, and that I consider it a sign of respect to share my views openly and honestly with anyone who chooses to engage me.
I would just show him some memes and he will leave you alone forever
now as to the Twilight Zone-- it was a program way ahead of its time dealing with all sorts of human issues that you could either learn from or remain stupid
@bklynite53 - I chatted him because as an open atheist, he felt he could bring me around with his apologetics. Many have felt that "calling." I like to show the colors as it were for unbelief/non-belief/disbelief. As a secular humanist, I make it a point not to eat any babies in front of them.
Thx, GS71. They would often get upset saying I'm attacking or belittling their faith/godview. Some even make the specious claim that I'd get upset if they did the same with my godview. I replied not all all since mine is 1) easy to defend and 2) doesn't contain elements I find embarrassing in making a case for it.
Believe it or not, I once had a boss overhear my theology discussion with a student (I worked as staff at a university), and she said, "You're lucky you work here. Other places wouldn't let you talk about that," as if there was something sinister about expressing such views, let alone holding them to begin with.
I got many positive responses from coworker believers who liked me, my character and integrity, and willingness to discuss any and all aspects of God, religion, and belief.
Like I said... show the colors.
I made the comment to someone that the devil in the Bible is only attributed to a handful of deaths whereas God had killed millions.
And rather than take on the concept of their God just slaughtering people they said yeah well the devil doesn't want to kill, he just wants to turn you against God.
You can guess my next comment but it didn't have any impact.
Question 1: I feel disgusted, too.
Question 2: I would respond, "How can your so-called god be so ungodly?"
Or even, totally godly, if you define godly not by the conventional usage, but by the capriciously cruel manner the God of the Bible behaves.
It's just a story.. If they believe, they believe.. I can't change their minds at all..
He's good at smiting not a good thing
I shall give up smiting for lent!
First of all life is not a tradable commodity. Secondly so many religious leaders have deflected the blame onto their invisible friend sometimes just for a land grab or more people they can lord over. Land should also be non tradable. Just look after the land and people that you have gotten now.
What I will write down is not what I believe, is just what the abraamic religions are based on. It is more a literature exercise.
It is because to accept that there is a being that created, control and basically has the universe existence sustained by his will you need to make a moral shift.
God is not good because he follow moral code, he is good because he becomes the definition of good. If he decides that kill children is good, then it is good, no questions asked, your role as a believer is not to judge, is to obey, because the best thing for you and the universe is if we keep our creator and absolute controller happy and satisfied. And there is nothing we can do against him unless follow his plan (that will happen no matter how hard you try to go against it).
Imagine that the universe is a game of the sims, THWH (the name of god) is not only the player, but he is also the guy who wrote the code (and can change the code), he also built the pc and can change the pieces at all time, he also provides the energy that keeps all running. He is not bounded by any rules, he can edit the save in a way that he is no bounded by time, he never makes mistakes because he can just repeat the same moment as many times as he want (he has a reverse button at his disposal), he can interfere with you mind, he can rewrite the world etc.
Why would this "superplayer" be bounded by moral code? Why a being with this degree of control let something like moral open for discussion? He killed those people because it was somehow necessary for his game go as he wanted, or not, was just for fun, we will never know and is not our role as simulated beings to judge, we just accept, if the source of existence says so, then the purpose of existence itself was to have all those people killed. Thus is good, moral and correct.
To be short. Moral and good is what God does, and not what you judge it is
Of course, this is what their book says without proofing, so, for me, it is just a nice concept of mythology.
Please define why it is " nice concept of mythology."
@Mcflewster something interesting, that tells about the civilization who generate it and has a lot of symbolism and condensed meaning into it.
Something that was created and shaped over generations and in its details show how people leaved, how was their way of thinking etc.
@Pedrohbds I agree a lot of people like and find interesting mythologies of all sorts but is it necessary to perpetuate them? For example I was watching Stephen Fry on this very site saying that he much preferred the Greek gods over the Christian God because he could not deal with the Cancer in young children decreed by the latter one . Greek gods were more Human indeed more cruel without thinking and people accepted them better. The philosophy behind their thinking is just So irrelevant and modern authors are replacing them in droves. If greek gods affect your thinking in any way there is something wrong. They are purely entertainment but in that do retain a hold. We do not need symbolism we need reality and explanations of behaviour in modern situations and no invisible friends. I suppose we do need the history of the situation and are grateful for inheriting people things like democracy. We do not need the language once translated.
2)I am not in no way telling you should perpetuate it, well we should as part of history and culture, but I am not advocating for proselytism at all
3)In any place I say that gods whatever mythologies they are from affect my way of thought, i have no idea where it came from.
@Pedrohbds Sorry this is the first time I have 'ranted on ' about mythology, but I still want to make it firmly in history ( meaning it lives in a book) . We have enough to do to get rid ox Xian 'mythology'.