“…I loved God, I worshiped him (itself a really weird thing for a being to demand)…”
It occurs to me that this God may have a narcistic personality disorder. And we know that “God” is a concept created by humans. So I wonder why the humans that created this concept of God, made such an imperfect deity?
@Tee
Thank You for the morning chuckle ?? Final Project…F
So I wonder why the humans that created this concept of God, made such an imperfect deity?Because at least dozens of people had their hand in God's creation and they all wanted something different from him. I think they actually did a pretty good job of it, personally, given the intended result. The intended result is to make people willingly give you control over them because you make them fear the monster under their beds. God had to have scary traits, and the ones just at the edge of your consciousness, the ones which are never fully described, those are the scariest parts.
Because at least dozens of people had their hand in God’s creation --WSo, it only took "dozens" to capture the minds of billions? When will this atheist meme die? Religion could not have survived if it did not have some power to increase the survival chances of groups.
I believe you misinterpreted what I said. I am not aware of which meme to which you are refering, but “at least dozens” is not the same as “only dozens”. The “at least dozens” I was referring to was the writers of the Bible. I included only them because I did not want there to be controversy by claiming more without evidence to back it. Those “dozens” are self-evident.
And that religion could not have survived if it did not have some power to increase the survival chances of groups is, I think, an overly broad generalization which certainly does not always hold true, as any member of The Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown or the Branch Davidians could tell you. I’m not saying there is definitely no ability to increase group survival chances in any religion, I’m just saying that I doubt it’s an inherent trait of “religion”, generically.
Really Widdershins? Dozens = dozens. The meme I’m referring to is that some small number of people figured out how to control people by creating a religion, so they created one by writing scripture. History shows that religion developed some 80 to 200 thousand years ago and became part of how we developed tribes and eventually nations. Along the way, some of that became legends and codification of rules. Your evidence about it not holding true in every case doesn’t dispute that. Again, history, religions come and go, but the idea of creating symbols to support cultural practices is almost always there.
I’m not going to argue some generic definition of religion because there isn’t one. That’s what you tried to do and failed.
Wow, you are in a mood to argue today. Trouble is I really have no idea what it is your arguing or why because you clearly misconstrued what I originally said. I was speaking to the creation of the Christian God in direct answer to a question about why he was so imperfect. Your response, “So, it only took “dozens” to capture the minds of billions?” somehow jumps forward in time 3,000 years to a point where “billions” actually exist and encompasses all of Christianity, as far as I can tell.
And the false equivalency is beneath you. “Dozens = dozens”? Come on. Neither of us said “dozens”. I said “at least dozens”, you said “only dozens”, and those two are not equivalent. You know better and you did when you typed it. You’re better than that.
As for my second response, the terms “I think” and “I doubt” indicate opinion. With a lack of any but anecdotal evidence, that is a clear indication of uninformed opinion, even if not expressly stated. We deal with that every day. You should be able to spot indications of uniformed opinions in your sleep. Yours appears to be a more informed opinion than mine, but really, I honestly don’t know what it is you are arguing.
So I say again, you misconstrued what I originally said. The question you posed to me did not in the least resemble what I said. Because you misunderstood what I said and I don’t know how, I don’t really know what you’re talking about. I suggest you reread my original post, including the question I quoted above it, to which my post was a direct response, and if you want to make a point simply tell me what point it is you’re making and we can go from there.
Hey, maybe you’re both right, in a way.
Religion is a cultural phenomenon and as such does not necessarily rely on being passed on phylogenetically. However, there are aspects of religiosity that may very well have contributed to survival to reproduction and were thus passed on phylogenetically.
I suppose an analogy is our verbal behavior. That we can develop complex verbal behavior is something that is a part of our current genetic makeup. The specific language that we speak is cultural, in that we learn the particular language that we are exposed to.
Thus we are not born as a Christian, muslim, hindu, 7th day Adventist, etc., etc., etc, etc., etc., etc. But we may be predisposed toward being religious and thus learning to be one of the religions we are exposed to.
I’m pretty sure that he is probably right in whatever it is he is arguing. He’s a pretty sharp guy. I just don’t know what it is he’s arguing because of the way it was presented as being opposite to what I was saying when really it was unrelated. The post he responded to was nothing more than light hearted banter with Tee and you. Then he got all philosophical up on me and I was all like, “Whaaat???” 
W;
You were responding to this from Tim;
It occurs to me that this God may have a narcissistic personality disorder. And we know that “God” is a concept created by humans. So I wonder why the humans that created this concept of God, made such an imperfect deity?Tee was talking specifically about the Christian God, but Tim expanded it to the concept of “God”, so, excuse me if I ran with it. Everything I said still applies to Christianity since we can trace it back to Judaism and Zoroastrianism and trace those back to earlier myths and on and on. It wasn’t “at least” or “only” dozens that “had their hands in” that creation. It was a few million people over many generations.
They ALL think they’re 100% correct. I cannot get it through my Witness friend’s head that EVERYONE can show me in the Bible how theirs is the one true religion. Literally every single person who has ever tried to convince me has shown me, in the Bible, how they were right and everyone else was wrong. But he just doesn’t seem to comprehend that because he thinks his understanding is so super special.1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000x.
It occurs to me that this God may have a narcistic personality disorder.Oh, this has been a topic of satire for a long time!!
God Diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality DisorderThis article endorses the contention that God suffers from a mental disorder, but challenges J. Henry Jurgens’ diagnosis of bipolar disorder as reported in The Onion (“God diagnosed with bipolar disorder”, 2001) and proposes narcissistic personality disorder instead.
It uses the diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder from The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, 1994) and various biblical citations in support of this diagnosis.
It rejects the idea that a major personality change is reflected in the New Testament and claims that God did not experience a major transformation of his narcissistic personality structure as described by Heinz Kohut (Forms and transformations of narcissism, in A. P. Morrison, Ed., Essential papers on narcissism, pp. 61–87, New York University Press, New York, 1966/1986).
However, it concludes that God’s creativity accounts for the stability of his narcissistic personality structure and helps to explain his lack of empathy toward human beings.
God Diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder | Pastoral Psychology
Widdershin said,I was speaking to the creation of the Christian God in direct answer to a question about why he was so imperfect. Your response, “So, it only took “dozens” to capture the minds of billions?” somehow jumps forward in time 3,000 years to a point where “billions” actually exist and encompasses all of Christianity, as far as I can tell.
Are Adam and Eve human creations, are the gospels human creation??? Are you advancing the notion that all of Christion religion is a creation of the human mind and therefore completely imaginary?
That is the position of atheists. Are you an atheist? If so , I agree completely…: )
Oh, dudes, don’t fight. What each of you said and meant was understandable to me.
This isn’t an either/or thing. Some nonbelievers do seem to anthrophoize “Religion” as a sentient being with evil intent…or they imagine all of “Religion” as a single strategy developed by a small group of men in a smoke-filled room who wanted to control the world.
But religions and spiritualities developed organically, in all cultures of the world, in all different manifestations, some top-down, some at the level of individuals, some helpful, some harmful, some controlling, some freeing.
(I don’t mean all the impacts above were equal. Just that there has not been a single cause.)
Your comment here is such a non sequitur, I don’t know where to start.
That is the position of atheists. Are you an atheist? If so , I agree completely…..: )@Widdershins, @Lausten, @timb and I are all atheists, as most of us have said a billion times. If you haven't been following threads, that's on you.
What on earth are you talking about.”creation of the Christian God”???? What happened to “God the Creator of humans”???This thread has mostly been about the God as understood in the Christian and Jewish traditions, I think. ... I would have to read the OP again.
Are Adam and Eve human creations, are the gospels human creation??? Are you advancing the notion that all of Christion religion is a creation of the human mind and therefore completely imaginary?Huh? Yes. What is your point?
It wasn’t “at least” or “only” dozens that “had their hands in” that creation. It was a few million people over many generations.Okay, I understand where you're coming from a little better now. I was responding specifically to the quote I did in the post with my statement and hadn't given a second thought to "the larger picture".
But come on, now, I’m no letting you off the hook that easily. “Millions of people” is, in fact, “at least dozens”.
I was getting all set to write a witty response and then I read that last bit, shattering my dreams. You, sir/madame/mx (I don’t want to presume), are a cad.
Write4U is smart as a whip. He rarely indulges in being facetious, as in his last post, in a humorous vein, no doubt.
I wonder what is up with the tendency toward in-fighting in this thread.
I didn’t even recognize that as sarcasm. But okay
The tip off is the final sentence with the smiley face at the end.: "…Are you an atheist? If so , I agree completely……: ) "