Why believe god?

by LtCmd.Lore 32 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • LtCmd.Lore
    LtCmd.Lore

    Assuming for the sake of argument that the Bible IS inspired of god, why do you trust this god?

    How do you know ANYTHING he says is true?

    For all you know, Satan may have created everything, and then Yahweh came in to take the credit.

    For all you know, Yahweh may just like messing with people. (And that would explain a LOT!)

    He might be somewhat-powerful, but not ALL-POWERFUL, and can't really keep any of his promises.

    He might have just FOUND the Earth, and decided to use his limited power to convince everybody that he made it.

    He might have already LOST the battle of Armageddon, and Satan left humans humans to rule themselves.

    He might be smart, but not omniscient, and he doesn't really know WHAT'S going to happen.

    Just curious, if you think that the Bible is inspired of God, why do you believe God?

    Just wishful thinking?

    Because you have no other choice?

    Why?

  • Robert7
    Robert7

    I've wondered similarly. What if Satan is the 'good god' and Jehovah is 'evil' and convinced us that he's good. Any by worshipping Jehovah, we're actually worshipping the devil...

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    Why ask why?

    Why are they called apartments, when they're all stuck together?

    Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don't have?

    Why do people go to Burger King and Order a Double Whopper with a Large French Fry and insist on getting a Diet Coke?

    If the universe is everything, and scientists say that the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?

    How do "Keep off the grass" signs get where they are?

    Why is there only one Monopolies commission?

    Why do scientists call it research when looking for something new?

    Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

    Can fat people go skinny-dipping?

    Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

    Why is the word abbreviation so long?

    Is it possible to be totally partial?

    What's another word for thesaurus?

    If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?

    If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off?

    When companies ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in?

    If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?

    If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound?

    If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

    If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?

    When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?

    Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?

    Do cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift?

    What do you do when you see an endangered animal that eats only endangered plants?

    Do hungry crows have ravenous appetites?

    Why is bra singular and panties plural?

    If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

    If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?

    Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow? Only to be troubled and insecure?

    Is there another word for synonym?

    Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"?

    When sign makers go on strike, is anything written on their signs?

    When you open a bag of cotton balls, is the top one meant to be thrown away?

    Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all"?

    Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

    Why do they report power outages on TV?

    How come price and worth mean the same thing, but priceless and worthless are opposites.

    Why does an inspiring sight like a sunrise always have to take place at such an inconvenient time?

    If the world is smaller why do postal rates keep going up?

    If people don't like tailgaters, why do they buy bumper stickers?

    If necessity is the mother of invention, why does so much unnecessary stuff get invented?

    Why do we call a bad thing aweful while a good thing is awesome?

    Why do you need a driver's license to buy liquor when you can't drink and drive?

    Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

    Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

    Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?

    Why are cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?

    Do you need a silencer if you are going to shoot a mime?

    Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

    How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?

    If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

    If a cow laughed, would milk come out her nose?

    If nothing ever sticks to TEFLON, how do they make TEFLON stick to the pan?

    If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen?

    If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?

    You know how most packages say "Open here." What is the protocol if the package says, "Open somewhere else?"

    Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?

    Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?

    Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?

    You know that little indestructible black box that is used on planes, why can't they make the whole plane out of the same substance?

    Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

    If you feed a cold & starve a fever, what do you do when you have both?

    How come a nose runs, but feet smell?

    How come Quicksand works slowly?

    Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

    Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

    Why is the time of the day with the slowest traffic called the rush hour?

    Why is lipstick so called, when you can still move your lips?

    If humans evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

    If all those psychics know the winning lottery numbers, why are they all still working?

    Why is it necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?

    Why do supermarkets make sick people walk to the back of the store to collect their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front?

    Isn't it strange that a physician has nothing to do with physics?

    Isn't it strange that a radiologist has nothing to do with radios?

  • LtCmd.Lore
    LtCmd.Lore
    I've wondered similarly. What if Satan is the 'good god' and Jehovah is 'evil' and convinced us that he's good. Any by worshipping Jehovah, we're actually worshipping the devil...

    Yeah, after this recent thread about the presumably evil things that Yahweh did, the general consensus among believers seems to be:
    "I don't care what evil things god did because he's omnipotent"
    or
    "I trust that it wasn't evil because he's omnibenevolent " or
    "I'm not going to even think about it, because god is omniscient and I shouldn't question his judgement." Well, how do you know he's omnipotent, or omnibenevolent or omniscient. You only have his word that he is!


    Burn, I realize that you are probably trying to immitate Jesus, by answering a question with another question. But generally the counter-question is supposed to be in some way related to the topic at hand. <parody style="BurnTheShips"> Pharisees: "So Jesus, What do you think? Is it lawful to pay head tax to Caesar or not?" Jesus: "If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen? " And the crowd went away astonished, because crazy people are astonishing. </parody>
  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    edited. link didnt work

  • Qcmbr
    Qcmbr

    We can't really use evidence to posit Satan or God.

    Many disprove God based on the evidence that He allows evil to go on, human body design has some atrocious elements and natural disasters kill many.
    Many posit God by arguing that love, life, joy and rainbows couldn't possibly be anything other than evidence of a loving God.
    You could flip it all round and suggest that the utter misery of most in life is evidence of a ruling Satan, each earthquake another blow against his plaything people.
    You could also argue effectively that if Satan was in charge then how come many are happy, most live to a long age and sex feels so darn great.

    Both God and Satan end up as hopelessly non-omnipotent or very lazy about establishing global good/bad. Therefore the evidence strongly argues that neither Satan nor God are enforcing global will upon this speck of the universe but that mankind is free to make what it will of the natural world and the opportunities available. Some will live silver spooned through life others will live in cr*p holes and die miserable.

    The only real reason to believe in God - the good one - is not because it makes a shred of physical difference now but because it can inspire hope when ALL the evidence around inspires despair. Hope moves us, when we are moved we are capable of incredible things. I like to think that we all have enough hope - even if its based on noodly gods or elephantine milk drinkers - to rise above our immediate mortality and be incredible.

  • serotonin_wraith
    serotonin_wraith
    The only real reason to believe in God - the good one - is not because it makes a shred of physical difference now but because it can inspire hope when ALL the evidence around inspires despair. Hope moves us, when we are moved we are capable of incredible things.

    Generally speaking,

    Hope = good.

    False hope = bad.

    If someone is diagnosed with cancer and told they only have a few months to live, how would we feel if they ignored what the doctors had told them and acted as if they had years ahead of them? While their delusion and denial of facts would surely be comforting, would anyone feel okay knowing they were avoiding reality? Their belief would affect how they lived. If they thought they had years instead of months, they may put things off until it was too late. They may waste money on things they would never use, or a future holiday they would never go on. They may not prepare their children for the inevitable, but instead lie to them about being around for a long time.

    I think most people would agree with me on this, but as soon as the topic changes to the comforting belief regarding an eternal afterlife, opinions change.

    False hope can be dangerous. The seemingly benign belief of an eternal existence after death can have devestating results when we consider what some Muslims are prepared to do, what they feel Allah has ordered them to do in fact, to get there.

    Jehovah's Witnesses are prepared to refuse life saving blood transfusions for themselves and their children, because they honestly believe their god would rather they died than take blood. While the teachings of that religion don't allow for violence, this shows they still allow for death in the name of their god. As their beliefs are not based in reality, those victims are dying for nothing. They are cutting short the only life we know for certain we have due to their false hopes of an eternal life on Earth.

    Saying it's good to believe in something just because it gives hope isn't a good reason in my opinion.

  • Qcmbr
    Qcmbr

    Not everyone needs religion or anything else to inspire hope but some do.

    False hope needn't be all bad. I once had false hope in Santa and it made my christmas ace - for a while. I think we can get too hung up on literals - making a black and white universe where each action is either good or bad. Hope - even that inspired by false religion - can be very, very fulfilling, comforting and inspiring. Great art, architecture , awesome literature, poetry and philosophical thought can derive from the 'falsest' of sources.

    I think the idea that 'by their fruits ye shall know them' is applicable here - of your false religion preaches kool aid spaceship suicide - bad,if your false religion teaches turn the other cheek mercy and love your neighbour - good. One of my favourite things about church is being with generally nice people - when I'm with them I do genuinely try harder to be a better social person - weird but true.

  • sinis
    sinis

    Assuming for the sake of argument that the Bible IS inspired of god, why do you trust this god?

    How do you know ANYTHING he says is true?

    For all you know, Satan may have created everything, and then Yahweh came in to take the credit.

    For all you know, Yahweh may just like messing with people. (And that would explain a LOT!)

    He might be somewhat-powerful, but not ALL-POWERFUL, and can't really keep any of his promises.

    He might have just FOUND the Earth, and decided to use his limited power to convince everybody that he made it.

    He might have already LOST the battle of Armageddon, and Satan left humans humans to rule themselves.

    He might be smart, but not omniscient, and he doesn't really know WHAT'S going to happen.

    Just curious, if you think that the Bible is inspired of God, why do you believe God?

    Just wishful thinking?

    Because you have no other choice?

    Why?

    My take exactly - Satan (according to Sumer and other cultures) created man, and his younger brother took the credit, or was given dominion over Earth and creatures. Have you EVER wondered why Yahweh forbids humans to look into the after life? Why is it Saul asked for Samuel to come forth does the bible say that Samuels spirit did come forth and asked what Saul wanted of him? The Bible does not say that it was an evil spirit or "demon". Could it be possible that Satan, the creator of man and creatures great and small, who got the short end of the stick, created another life (dimension) outside of this world where his brother has no authority, and thus Yahwehs rule of not contacting the dead? In the end, based upon my research, I would rather give my allegiance to "Satan" the creator of man and animals, than his younger brother "Yahweh" who created the earth. Makes a lot of sense when you take into consideration that Jah required blood sacrifices (humilation tactic to his older brother) as well as condemning the ground that Adam would cultivate (Jah had initial authority over the Earth, and created the Earth, not the species that inhabit it). Nothing will ever come of THIS world as the "god" who controls it is truely and asshole and despises men. If there is an after life I would rather be with the god who created, and had enough compassion to set men free - Satan.

  • serotonin_wraith
    serotonin_wraith

    Yes, some people still need their Santas and gods to feel happy, prompt their creative abilities and be better behaved. Others can do all of this without false hope, and they don't give backing to those who think Santa or the Bible instructs them to do some bad things.

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