After a conversation with a Christian, I've had some continuing thoughts.
If our purpose is to worship and praise God and failure to do so results in eternal punishment. Doesn't this mean we are simply tools with an expected use? If we fail to perform as designed we'll be discarded just as a broken tool would be. This means our purpose exists only with the creator/user of said tool and our self value/purpose is irrelevant and essentially non-existent.
If this is all true then there is no use for free will. Free will would be a gratuitous selling point of no cash value. The only purpose for free will is to allow people to stray and in turn be tortured for the use of that free will.
Define sadistic...
Spiritual extortion! "Believe" or god (with a penis)
Perhaps THEIR purpose is to worship and praise their god, but it certainly is not MY purpose. Therefore I have no worries about the threats issued by anyone else's religion, as it does not affect me.
"Sadistic" is the evil pleasure religion has when holding people under its thumb, exerting its power to increase their own, yet with no benefit to those it is holding hostage...
Don't fall for Christian bullshiters... Use your head, it's all a 5000 year-old scam...
Imaginary Gods/Goddesses/Deities, etc, which they all are Imaginary btw, are like Celebrities, Politicians, Sports Stars, etc, they NEED and THRIVE on the Accolades, Adorations, etc, of their most worshipful followers and without they simply either die away or become just mere ordinary humans/things.
Some people fear and hate the idea of freewill and the practice of it. They want to be led or to lead there is no middle ground. This more the anything is why religions exist. Not just for the use of those who gain power and influence through it but even more so it is dependent on the multitudes who want to be sheep, who need direction (Or feel they do.). This is why the question of God or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is finding ways to educate and empower people to want to think on their own, to not fear failure, fear the other, the unknown. I think a far more toxic reality in America is our cultures enshrining of magical thinking and effort being a negative thing. Let Alexa do it for you, or the new appliance, or a corporation or service, let the TV or the website tell you how to think and what to think about. That is destroying the world; convenience in all things, effort in as few as possible.
So I believe (I'm a New Thought Christian) that God is Us. I mean that collectively. Our job than is to worship (I hate that word) humanity and our individual role in it. Prayer and meditation are simply a means of recognizing our roles. This is our own responsibility, not for someone else to determine. We are all subject to a feeling of brokenness in this world and if faith does not serve to heal us than it is pointless. However I believe it does have that power if used positively. Of course I can't prove that a Collective Consciousness (God) exists but, it doesn't matter because the benefits come with the belief. Sometimes no benefits accrue as the result of belief and in those cases free will can be used to opt out. But, if you don't believe than you will never have a chance of receiving the benefit, which is merely contentment, not even happiness. Biblically this non belief would mean eternal damnation (discontent). The Bible can be a overly dramatic though. I wouldn't worry about it too much, life is tough enough.
Seriously? the benefits of belief. 9/11 was the result of the suicide pilots belief.
@Healthydoc70 I think the key there is to have a positive belief system. I don't think believing in a punitive deity is at all positive. I don't think believing in an eternal hell is positive either, although depression sufferers know what it feels like. I think they knew that in Biblical times as well.
...how come everyone does not stop cold in their tracks and present that same question, to themselves? I did! And it made no sense to me! That would be an insane god, if there was one, like in the Bible!
Everyone knows that true worship tastes better than pretend or non worship.
It makes sense once you realize that every god is just a metaphorical manifestation of the ego of ancient rulers. Under that context, the necessity for worship comes into shape as the motivator for obidence from all levels of society.
God could have just adopted a dog if all he wants is worship
I'm pretty sure my dog is convinced that she's in charge. After all, I feed her on demand, take her to the park every day. throw her ball, and follow her around picking up her poop. Seems obvious who is calling the shots!
That's silly. Imagine that we're just icons in a Sims simulation. The purpose of our existence is to simply provide entertainment for our creator/manipulator/god. When we stop being entertaining, I'd imagine that our god goes looking around for something better.
Or not.
I told my sister it’s just like when we where we played with out dolls and when we where tired of them we threw them away