by nicolaou 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The God I believed in as a JW was kind, loving, and had created all things... the universe and the earth and everything in it.. and man. He knew what was best for us, he knew what we needed even before we knew ourselves. Obeying him was best because since he created us, then he knew the precise way for us to live to bring us the best life possible.
That's why I wanted to be obedient to God before. I am just not sure anymore that that God truly exists.
GGG
Since loving God and loving the world is how we obey, how is that a difficulty? Isn't that something we should do just because it is the right thing to do?
Why be obedient to god?
This question has been kicked around with a different spin in science fiction.
If men are able to create clones to provide body parts, would it be slavery to use
what we created to serve us? What if we created robots that were considered
able to "feel" like humans do? Could we continue to treat them as machinery?
When placing Man in the role of Creator, most people seem to feel that we are not
supposed to enslave our own creation. But when discussing God, people say that
obedience is for our own good and happiness.
How is spending all of our time worshipping increasing our happiness?
Couldn't we acknowledge that God made us, just like we would acknowledge that
our parents gave birth to us and cared for us, but move on to our own life?
If your parents paid for your college education, should they be able to dictate how
you live your life- career choices, marital choices, procreation?
Rules of golf are designed to save you strokes NOT penalize you!
If you ever get a chance to read the rules of golf then you'll understand my comment.
Golf
Good question!
Surely a god who made everything in the universe, or infinite universes would have far more important things to do, than be demanding obedience from a species, that lives on a planet which pales into insignificance when compared to the vast universe or universes.
When we look into the Mosaic Law with all its tedious requirements that micro manage even dress codes, when and who to have sex with, what you can eat, etc..and the fact that these laws often carry the death penalty as punishment for violations. One has to wonder, what is the point?
Why all the anger too? Why would god get so angry when someone didn't obey his micro management? If he is so great and perfect why would he get mad at all, at something he made that is predisposed to live differently than the way he wants them to? It is a bit like a person that makes something and it doesn't work the way it was intended to and so the person throws a tantrum, and proceeds to take his anger out on the the thing made, which is a form of insanity, instead of making the repairs to the faulty device.
It also presumes that god has the same primative feelings of anger, and frustation he often condems humans for having. Just not logical nor rational, and very small minded to say the least. Clearly this god was invented in the minds of those that saw god to be just like themselves. It is so easy to do, many still do it today, they project thier likes and dislikes onto an inivisible god that feels just like they do, this type of projection is often behind thier claims that god is going to punish those that hurt them, because they project thier feelinging of anger or hurt onto this inisible diety and proclaim god will repay or bring vengence on those that have injured them, they fail to see what they are really doing is just projecting thier feelings onto a invisible diety.
The small mindedness of the biblical god is clearly due to the small mindedness of those that invented him. The biblical claim that god created man in his image or likeness is really, a cover up of the fact that the reverse is true, for really the god of the bible was created in the image of men.
Even if I believed in "god", I wouldn't be automatically obedient to its wishes.
What is the point of having (or being given) free will if you aren't allowed to use it?
What is the point of having (or being given) free will if you aren't allowed to use it?
I like that. You have free will- do whatever you like, BUT DON'T ACTUALLY
DO WHATEVER YOU LIKE.
Choose serving me and I will give you everlasting servitude, choose to reject me
and you will have a limited lifetime of freedom.
What a choice.
Scully,
What is the point of having (or being given) free will if you aren't allowed to use it?
I suppose there are those that feel, god is just testing us, to see if we really love him and will give up free will to serve him reguardless of what we really want to do. But in this type of logic, one makes god a pretty needy fellow that always needs reassurance, always testing the love his creatures have for him to see if it is real, never really too sure of his own creations looking for the hidden flaws.
The same reasons why you should be obedient to your parents, your vows if married, ect... LOVE, love should be the motive for it, if not, you will not follow obediance for the right reasons. We are prone to selfishness and unless we fight that quality and do it because we should, it wont last.
abr
>>Dave, what if that god is the Abrahamic god that lurks behind Judaism, Christianity & Islam?
I think we can safely write that guy off as neither "loving" nor "all knowing", so he doesn't even qualify for consideration in the question. He expressed regret over his decisions, killed babies willy-nilly, wiped out all the animals in his ill-conceived and ultimately failed attempt to "cleanse" the earth. He's an oafish brute. (Don't tell him I said that, he's pretty easy to set off!)
If a truly loving and omniscient god existed, he'd be worthy of note. Perhaps even obedience. Yahweh ain't him.
Dave
