If 'god' is a father, shouldn't he have his kids taken away for neglect?

Question

I always ask the question - how can your god be all loving if he is so willing to send people to hell?
Of course out comes the old analogy of god is just like a parent who loves you but will punish you for being bad. (Some parenting skills, sending a kid to his room for all eternity where he will be tortured and burned.)
If this 'dad' god analogy is true, then that means this deity not only plays favorites with his 'children' who suck up to him, but he is also a terrible parent who should have his kids taken away.

"Do what I say, not what I do! Don't ask any questions! My word is law and if you don't like it you can go live in your room for all eternity!"
Not to mention all those people who say god sends tsunamis and hurricanes as punishment. (Child abuse?) How about all the real children in the world who are starving to death? (Neglect?) Or all of his 'children' who spend all their days on earth killing each other? (Absenteeism?)
Sounds like a deadbeat dad.

I won't even go into detail about what he did to his one son, Jesus. What kind of father sends his kid to be executed?

Gate - You never say anything. You just bad mouth people's questions or answers. You have no real opinions or you are just too ****** stupid to form one. Who give a rat's *** what you think anyway? You believe in creationism. You are mentally defective.

Answer 1

That is a fair question, considering all the heartache and horror that currently exists on this earth. I could be wrong, but I assume that you don't believe that there is too much truth in the Bible. But if you would indulge me for a moment, I can at least show you that the Bible does not teach the things you are saying and does offer a solution.

Part of the key in understanding why things happen as they do, is to realize that time is not the same to God as it is to us.

(2 Peter 3:8) However, let this one fact not be escaping YOUR notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

So, although the suffering to us seems to go on and on, to him it has only been temporary. Now, that does not mean it does not affect him or he is ambivolent to our sufferings. It hurts him dearly to see us suffer.

(Zechariah 2:8) . . .; for he that is touching YOU is touching my eyeball. . .

He is looking for a long term solution, though, not a temporary one. We might compare his situation to that of parent who has a child with cancer. If that child is in a curable condition, would you think the parent who allows his child to go through Chemotherapy, a slow poisoning of the of the body with numerous horrible side effect, as a neglectful parent? Of course not! Because that parent is looking at the long term solution. Yes, a good parent would allow their child to suffer temporarily if it is for the long term good of the child.

Using the same analogy, a child in that condition might not fully understand why their parents keep taking them to such a horrible treatment. So, a good parent would likely have to continually reassure the the child of his love and that the treatment will soon be over.

(Psalm 34:18-19) Jehovah is near to those that are broken at heart; And those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Many are the calamities of the righteous one, But out of them all Jehovah delivers him.

(Psalm 37:10-11)  And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.  But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.

The idea of helfire is thoroughly unscriptural, is pagan in origin, and is not compatible with the idea of a God of love. In fact, when he found out that the Israelites were worshipping other gods and sacrificing their children to them, he said this:

(Jeremiah 7:31)  And they have built the high places of To´pheth ... in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.’

If God felt that way about humans burning their children, it wouldn't make sense for him to do the same thing to his children. For more discussion on Hellfire, you can see the first article linked below.

Although God works to assure all humans of his love and eventual actions, he does not force us to obey the very laws that are designed to protect us from the horrible effects of this system. He respects our free will and allows us to choose whether to obey him or not. It is an interesting observation, however, to note how often those who criticize God for not removing the consequences of their own actions are the same people who criticize God for wanting them to obey the laws in the first place!

However, there are people, similar to the previously mentioned cancer patient, who suffer through no fault of their own. To those people, he offers reassurance that this wicked world and imperfect life is only temporary.

(Proverbs 2:21-22) . . .For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. 22 As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.

(Philippians 4:6-7) . . .Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let YOUR petitions be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard YOUR hearts and YOUR mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.

(2 Corinthians 4:7-9) . . .However, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power beyond what is normal may be God’s and not that out of ourselves. 8 We are pressed in every way, but not cramped beyond movement; we are perplexed, but not absolutely with no way out; 9 we are persecuted, but not left in the lurch; we are thrown down, but not destroyed.

So, far from being an "absentee parent", he is right there along side us, just as a parent would be next to their child stricken with cancer, offering support and "power beyond what is normal" to endure whatever may come at us.

What issues need to be settled before God takes action in a world-wide way? And why would God allow his Son to die on our behalf? The last link below addresses thsose questions.

Anyhow, hope this at least gives you a different perspective that those who believe in the Bible have toward your concerns.

Answer 2

God doesn't "send" anyone to hell.. they choose hell through their actions..
You have the wrong concept of heaven and hell....
Heaven means an eternity spent with god...
Hell means an eternity seperated from god..

The horns, halo's and wings are a man created perception..

So.. that established... If you are a believer and God is your savior and you sin (whatever the sin is) you will be in the end forgiven. That doesn't mean you get off scott free.. you still will be judged for your actions... but in the end you will spend eternity with God..
Now... to define punishment again you are looking at it from a flesh and body perspective and not the spiritual perspective... God is Just.. no one knows how the soul is "judged" but we do know that our sould are saved and will spend an eternity with god.
Your analogy is very much based on the physical and not the spiritual.. therefore you are not able to grasp the spiritual part yet.. but you are learning.

"Do what I say, not what I do" - wow... that's so wrong... it's more accurate to say...

"Do as I teach, and if you choose not to there will be consequences, but I will still love you and I won't turn away from you"

"Don't ask questions" - wow.. again wrong.. the deciples question Jesus a lot.. most of the people in the bible questioned everything.. but then they made a choice to follow.

"My word is law and go to your room for eernity if you don't like it" - That's a very warped perception that has no base in facts.. or even words in the bible.. that is pure conjured thought...

Tsunami's and Hurricanes are caused by the physical natural occurances of the planet.. not by God.. he doesn't smite people like that... Proof of that is in the story or Noah.. God promised to never flood the earth again.. so why would he deliberatly send the storms??

Child Abuse wasn't created by god.. that is an action caused by man's free will.

Neglect...starvation... again... not a God created event.. that is governments failing to create infrastructure that can support the population.

People Killing each other..again not a God created quality.. that is a corruption of man caused by Free will and the deceit of the devil..

Absenteeism.. as in absentee parents.. again man's choice.. not god's....

You seem hell bent determined to slam god for all the problems of the world.. I would encourage you to read a translation of the bible in common day english and learn instead of spouting off such animosity.. You might learn something.

Good Luck

Answer 3

I love the question but think that you must have been raised Christian because the question seems to be framed from that point of view (as in God the Father,etc).

Religious terminology was created by people. Even if their hands were "guided", their writing might have been hard to read!
Your question helps the argument that humans may have made a few mistakes and taken some poetic licence with what they sometimes call "The Word". Others will respond that a father's hand should be stern anyway.

Answer 4

where to begging with, obviously you do not have children
you would never sacrifice your child for any one else, that is the extent of his love
you give your children all the opportunities you can but you can not make up their mind so hey end up in jail or drug addicts that does not mean you where a bad parent, if that was the case cllinton should had been a drug head and etc. so is God he has given us the opportunity now is up to us to make the best out of it
would you tell your four year old how you started to lust after his mom and that ended in sexual intercourse and describe all the details on how the anatomy, physiology, work and how you performed the act physically and in details? no. why? because he would not understand yet, well... do you understand ALL the mysteries of the universe? I think not, but if you tell your 4 year old not to touch the fire with no explanations he will understand, you know that is best for him even tough he does not understand, eventually he will mature and understand it appears that
1 you have not matured
2 you probably had a bad relationship with your parents
3 you want to blame others for your failings and not be responsibly
4 you do not understand that the opportunity no to go to hell is there for the taking, free, no strings attached, if you want to go to hell then it is up to you
5 there is plenty on this earth for all of us but as much as we want to share there will always be some one who wants to take it all, not God but humans, again us not him
6 is God killing people? no Humans are killing each other, because we do not understand
"know Jesus Know peace, no Jesus no peace"

Answer 5

It is amazing to me how, in your increadible ignorance, you twist words and ideas to and then try to place the blame for your own choices at His feet.

God doesn't send anyone to hell. Those going to hell, including yourself, go there because they choose to go there. And why should this upset you? You deny Him, you mock Him, you don't want to have any relationship with Him. You will get what you have demonstrated you want... eternal seperation from Him... hell.

When we do what God has commanded it isn't "sucking up to Him." It not only is an acknowledgement of His being Lord over my life (I suspect this is the real problem that you have with the idea of 'God') but because it benefits us as well. We are more at peace, less stress and healthier. What do I mean? Show me one of the 10 Commandments that aren't meant for our own benefit. So God plays no favorites, unlike yourself.

But you want to do what you want to do... You want to be your own god.... and so you are. And you bear the consequenses of your choices both now and in the life to come. Don't whine about it.

And what about the real (?) childrend in the world? What do you do to help them? What steps have you personally taken to do something about the suffering? Your choice is to use it as an opportunity to sooth your ego and to mock God.

Why don't you ever wonder, "How Satan must hate us to spread such bitterness, hatred and destruction throughout the world." or "How can I be used by God to help these people have happy, healthier lives?" Because you are too wrapped up in your anger towards God.

Sounds like an uncaring selfish finger pointer.

Hope this all helps. Have a nice day....

Answer 6

helllo??? If God gave us all everything that we wanted and made life peachy, why would we even care about loving Him. It's like giving a 16 yr old a bmw for their first car. they don't appreciate anything.
And have you actually thought about the good things that you have?
there are people starving in other countries that praise God everyday for the little things that they do have, and you are sitting here living in America in freedom and you blame the God who gave that to you, and you are complaining because people who worship some strange statue are flying planes into our buildings. Be thankful you haven't had to deal with that kind of stuff, and thank God for what you have.

Romans 8 says:
"Can anything ever separate us from Christs love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? No despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. And I am convince that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away."

So God doesn't promise us that everything is going to be great, but through our struggles, we should praise God without ceasing, because My FATHER shall give me my reward when I join him in Heaven!

Answer 7

-sigh-
OK. If Christianity is not for you, then why spend so much time debating it? Anyway, to answer the question, I don't think God has actually abandoned us. I think it's weak little minds who spit hate and deny the TESTS and moral lessons they are supposed to be learning here on earth that should be taken away. Every opposition in life comes from a mind like your own. Sounds like a deadbeat dad? No, it sounds like you're stuck. And to recap, if this thought structure is not for you, go elsewhere and worship freely as you believe. Just realize not everyone will be as friendly as this when you are purposefully trashing their religion. Very disrespectful.

Answer 8

According to christians God created the heavens and earth for us to live on. Then in the bible says how he has helped us in the past with his son dying for us and how he helped us in other ways too. But that was a long time ago and human kind has "grown up", just like how our parents help us when we are young and then we grown up and they mostly stop helping us and we learn to live on our own. I believe that god is treating us the same way and when we were young he took care of us but now we are "grown up" so we should be able to take care of ourselves.

Answer 9

God (Allah, or whatever you believe He/She to be) doesn't send the children who are bad to hell. Those who don't believe in Him, that's another story. God doesn't play favorites, and there's no such thing as sucking up to Him. Those who are blessed to spend eternity with Him in heaven are those who believe in Him, worship only Him, follow Him, and ask for His forgiveness when they have gone astray.
As for your other theories about a "deadbeat dad" I don't think that's the kind of Father He is. God is our Heavenly Father, we have human parents to ensure we are fed, watered, sheltered, and otherwise cared for.
And the fact that you accuse every person who believes in Creationism of being mentally defective, only helps to prove that you are the one with the defect.

Answer 10

May I ask you if you are a father...It does take a lot from anyone to allow what JAH has..I know I would have wanted to wipe my creation off of the face of the earth and I would have never created mankind again. Also, if only one has to suffer for the sake of many, I think I prefer those odds. But, as we are dealing with an infinite mind, and we, meaning you and me, have a far less Superior thinking process, cannot fathom
the depth or breadth of what it would take to create any life form.. Now, I as a father, would be hard pressed to sacrifice any of my kids, but It would be wrong of me to apply my inferior level of thinking to the situation.. Look, why don't you continue to examine your own theory, believe what you will about evolution and creation.. I know how confusing it must all look.. I think both sides has a lot of unanswered questions.. I will just continue to believe in the luv of JAH version, as I hate to think we are nothing more than a higher animal form..But if you are comfortable with the dog eat dog mentality then I guess that's your right..One day we shall all die then we shall know the truth, until that time I will believe in HIS luv for us..Hard decisions has to be made all the time, we fight many wars and generals have to make sacrifices of their soldiers in hope that they can win eventually..I believe JAH allowing his son to die was a good decision...WHY!! Well if you had power over life and death, would it matter to you if I died!!!! All you would do is breath life back into me right..So, to us who has no power, death is bad, but to JAH who has all power, death is nothing, suffering is meant I believe to strengthen us... History reveals that this is true, and If JAH created us, I think he is the best one to know how to get to the inner us and I am glad he created us with a mind of our own.... So, think what you will my friend, but you must admit we don't have all the answers and your beliefs whatever they are may look just as shaky as mine..The difference between you and me is my faith, not in mankind but in JAH, in things unseen, just a belief that everything will work out, even for you..Oh, this hell thing, why fear it if you are doing the right thing, and as a father, I have seen what fear can do to his kids, and as a son, fear worked..But to each his own..And before you go asking all these condemning questions why don't you try seeking both sides of the story, I promise you, it will make you better equipped to pass judgment...

One luv always and keep seeking cause one day the truth will be revealed.....

Answer 11

God still loves everyone, but God is not just your father, God is your mother, your brother, your friend, your enemy, your governor, your employees, your waiter, your boss.

GOD is everything and 'in' everything. We can't apply human standards to God. God is not human. God is more than human. God's a God.

If you dare to question God, you'd better be darn sure of who and what you are questioning. God is your creator. But, it's not that awesome a thing to question God either, God gave us the intelligence to question God. Just have the intelligence to respect the immensity of what you're doing.

God is benevolent, but also God is what your choice of what to believe God is too. If you believe in a malevolent God, then God to YOU is malevolent. It seems that's what you do believe, so God is that way to you.

That's one thing I've found about God. God will fit any description you choose for God. You notice like most people the bad things in our world that God's responsible for. Like in Star Wars, you are leaning towards the "Dark Side."

Sounds funny, huh? True though. If you start trying to be more positive and proactive, you'll find yourself closer to the bright side of life. You'll start finding ways to love God rather than hate God. God won't care either way. God just doesn't want to be ignored.

God is love (God can be love); but God is also hate, to some.

To answer your question, specifically, God is both a bad parent and a good parent. It's not understandable in human terms, because God isn't human, God is MORE than human. Will God send us all to Hell? Yes, if that's what you believe. Don't believe it if you don't want it. Work against it!

Hope that helped. Use the force Luke LOL.