…for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…
God doesn’t handle rejection very well, fact if one rejects God, that is the ultimate sin, yeah, He’ll take you back, I think, although there seems to be some confusion on that particular sin, but basically, if one says, Gee, God, maybe you exist, and if you do, maybe the Christian Bible is your truth directly to us from you. But you know, with all due respect, I just can’t buy into that. You haven’t convinced me. Well, then, according to those that do buy into your Word, You seem to be saying: “OK little one, for that rejection and lack of slavish following of my Word, you shall burn in the everlasting fires of Hell, suffering the ultimate in pain and torture of which you can conceive of in the current state of your physical being for all eternity. Take that you unbeliever."
Somehow I don’t think you can be that mean and cruel to those of your creations that choose, no, choose is not the right word here, better is ‘application of an intellectual necessity’, to follow investigative observation and rationality to objective conclusions rather than “choosing" a path that makes no rational sense. But anyway, now that I’m talking to you, God, have you ever bred rabbits? Oh, sorry, that’s right, You’ve bred everything. Now if you do exist, and if we are created in your image as you said, then obviously you used intelligence and reason to create the elements of matter and guide the development of life, including the innate ability of humans to grow plants and breed animals to enhance our existence on this Earth. You said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." and we did that, just like you did with us, and pretty soon, if we don’t get control of it, this “dominion" that we have is going to destroy the capability of the Earth to support humanity. I hope the intelligence and reason that you must have, and hopefully have given us, will kick in and let us reach the potential of which we are capable.
But rabbits, bunnies, that is, are very cute and docile and fit the human criteria of lovable little animals very well. They also breed like, well, like rabbits. I have bred them, and in captivity their populations have to be controlled. And in many instances, they, like other “livestock", chickens, pigs, and cows, are killed for their meat and skins. Civilizations are built upon this practice. And we don’t torture these animals by burning them alive because they can’t “believe" that we are superior beings and that they were created for the purpose of worshiping us. We, except for a very few that we consider mentally ill, try to dispatch them without fear and pain. Yeah, I know, we did do the burning thing to folks that didn’t believe what they were commanded to believe a few hundred years ago, but we have gotten over that now. At least for the most part that is, although, and you may not know this, the practice of killing innocent men. women, and children in horrible ways because of their beliefs and cultures is still with us, done in this day and age by religious intolerance and apparently in Your name. Now forgive me God, but I wonder, why do you breed us?
That is one of the Bible quotes that stymies and enrages evangelicals when I bring it up in this context.
Consider these three Bible verses. (I’m not going to take the time to look up the exact verses right now.)
“I am a jealous god.”
“Love is not jealous.”
“God is love.”
Only two of those three statements can be true. Evangelicals invariably hem and haw about us not being able to understand god’s ways. Those deep into cognitive dissonance tell me logic is a tool of Satan.
That is one of the Bible quotes that stymies and enrages evangelicals when I bring it up in this context. Consider these three Bible verses. (I'm not going to take the time to look up the exact verses right now.) "I am a jealous god." "Love is not jealous." "God is love." Only two of those three statements can be true. Evangelicals invariably hem and haw about us not being able to understand god's ways. Those deep into cognitive dissonance tell me logic is a tool of Satan.God is a sadist. Lois
You know that this comment uses logic to prove (sort of) that logic is a tool of Satan. But that was probably your point. Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation had his own take on reason and logic, “Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." Actually without reason and logic we could not function as sentient beings. If you miss your bus and you know that another bus will be along in 15 minutes, it’s logical to wait for the next one. It’s only when logic interferes with religion and faith that Satan get the blame, and logic is demonized.
You know that this comment uses logic to prove (sort of) that logic is a tool of Satan. But that was probably your point. Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation had his own take on reason and logic, “Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." Actually without reason and logic we could not function as sentient beings. If you miss your bus and you know that another bus will be along in 15 minutes, it’s logical to wait for the next one. It’s only when logic interferes with religion and faith that Satan get the blame, and logic is demonized.If "Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God," then reason is the best weapon that can be used against theistic claptrap.