If Christians can accept that their god is a jealous god, can they accept that he’s also an apathetic god?

Question

Envy is apparently a bad sin and envy is also a very human emotion, not really the emotion one would expect in a being with the power to supposedly create or destroy the universe and if he is the only god in existence, then what reason has he to be jealous? Despite all this and of course the blatant motive behind the jealous god nonsense, Christians still happily babble away about their god being a jealous god and then go back to stuffing their faces with fast food and shaking their heads and clicking their tongues at the moral decline in society….I digress. Why can’t they also accept that god doesn’t care? He could not give a rats rear end about what happens here on earth. Praying is a waste of time because His plan for the future is already set in motion and He won’t change it just for one lousy human. Is it just that Christians are reluctant to admit responsibility for their own decisions?

Answer 1

Na-a-ah; their made-up-god has specific characteristics - he's the NumberOneBestActionMade-Up-ManOfAllTime, he loves us all unconditionally (as long as we suck up to him), he doesn't mind if we rape or molest children (cos he never mentioned anything against it in his Decalogue although he did mention coveting the neighbour's goods - apparently that's a no-no to god which is a damned shame cos it's the basis of capitalism), everything ‘good’ that happens cos god put it into motion – everything bad that happens is the debbil’s work – and karma (which they don’t believe in but they do believe the basic agricultural knowledge ‘as ye sow, so shall ye reap’ – weird, huh?) only happens to bad people cos they don’t believe that ‘good people’ go to heaven – only those who asked the zombie to save them – ignorance sure does seem like bliss.
I envy their simplicity sometimes and at other times I’m thankful to god that I’m an atheist and free. ;)

No matter how much we dump on them they aren't gonna come into the light cos they're convinced they'll go to hell if they question or doubt.
What power those scamming preachers do have over their easily frightened sheep.

There’s good money in religion IF you can keep a straight face.

Answer 2

Your premise is wrong on several levels. In the Old Testament (The Books the Jewish People Follow), it first says that God said "Thou shalt not put any other Gods before me". The way I understand that statement is they can walk beside or behind Him but not in front. Later He changed His mind by saying "I am the Lord thy God, the Lord is one". At that moment he became a jealous god. He killed off all the other Gods because He was egotistical. Basically through the entire Old Testament He was an unforgiving God. Then along comes the New Testament. God changes. According to the texts, He sent His only begotten Son to Earth. Jesus taught people to be kind, turn the other cheek, etc. He soften the God of the Bible so that he would be more palatable to the masses. The two Testaments believe in the same God, but He is a completely different God in both books.

So I would have to say that Jewish people believe in the Envious, Jealous God. Christians believe in the kind and forgiving God. And you believe in stirring up trouble.

Answer 3

Be honest. Haven't you ever played the "jealousy game" to see if a guy likes you? You know, when you pretend to like some other guy to see if the guy you really like gets jealous. It's the jealousy in the person you have affections for that tells you that he likes you too. You talk about jealousy like it's a bad thing. A person only gets jealous if they care about you. If God were apathetic, he would have no reason to be jealous.

Envy applies to things that you want. God is not envious 'cause he has lots of stuff; all the stuff in the universe. Jealousy applies to relationships. They are related in that they are both desires and wants but they are different in that envy has to do with stuff you want and jealousy has to do with affection you want.

So, you can't have it both ways. Either God is jealous or apathetic. It is impossible to be both.

Answer 4

This is just like the old question, 'Do kind non-believers go to heaven?'. Well, I would think God would accept mean Christians as long as they didn't do anything THAT bad, I mean He's taken much more than that and let people go to heaven. Forgive me if I am not completely accurate, because I am not a Christian, but merely a person who likes to study religion.

Answer 5

This is a very thoughtful question. So, basically you're saying that, since God has the fault of being envious, that we should also accept that he has the fault of apathy. Interesting.

First of all, his jealousy is the jealousy of a parent who is jealous of the drug dealer coming to date his daughter. The daughter might say, "Dad, you're just jealous. That's petty and silly" But the Dad is not jealous of the drug dealer's attentions to his daughter because he craves the attention for his own selfish reasons.

Rather, the Dad is jealous of the drug dealer's attention to his daughter because he will probably sleep with her, get her hooked and high on drugs, abuse her, get her pregnant, and then dump her for some other naive little girl.

This is exactly how God is "jealous" of his people. He does not want us to be taken, used, abused and then discarded by someone or something that doesn't love us. So that kind of jealousy is certainly not something for which God needs to be ashamed.

And as far as God being apathetic, I disagree. He might appear to be at times because of all the garbage in our world, but he isn't. He cares for each one of us very deeply but often we are too scared to really believe that.

EDIT: Maybe the belief that God doesn't care is just a projection from within one own's psyche. Christians are often accused of projecting their own attachment needs and "father needs" into creating a God that will fulfill those needs. Maybe atheists are projecting their lack of love and faith in the world into their view of God. Just a thought.

Take care.

Answer 6

John 3:16 tells of how much God cares.
How do you know praying is a waste of time?! Prayer is a wonderful thing. You might actually try doing it sometime.
In the end we all will do what Philippians 2:9-11 says:
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Answer 7

Hey Honey, hold on and wait a bit so let`s clear things out. First of all GOD is jealous on other "god" that a person can worship. This things can be : sex, money, a girl/boyfriend, your daughter/son, everyone, and everything you put on the fist place instead of the almighty GOD! HE listens to our prayers, if that weren`t so, you think the roman catholic church could have survived in all the offence that are being brought against it, every day, non-stop?
GOD does exist and still loves us, but you don`t have to imagine this love as a "human" way of affection. But this love is the perfect love! Manny people still pray everyday so the World would be better one day, and on that day, believe me, every one will believe in GOD! Why don`t you believe in GOD, tell me? Can you give me a normal reason to this question???

Answer 8

Sometimes the best gifts from God are Unanswered prayer.

God has a plan we do not see.

God understands and feels emotion or he would not have shown his love which is the strongest emotion by having Jesus Christ die on the cross.

This is why we (Christians) cannot say that God is apathetic.

I hope this helps.

Answer 9

I highly agree with you. Especially since he does say "I am a jealous god" and last time I checked, nobody is a big fan of jealous people. But above all, how does he expect people to worship him if he doesnt provide any proof? How do we know hes the right one and not some other god? If he would just show himself to us then we would get the idea but thats not the case. But I totally agree with what you say. And you have a good point there.

Answer 10

You are right! God doesn't care - about those who don't care.

The one's that do care, care because He gives them that ability. The sin nature means that we naturally don't care about Him or His ways. The Bible explains this, but I'll spare you the verses.

So God has a heart for those He wants, and it says in the Bible that He doesn't want everybody.

So please be patient. God is gathering those He's know from before time. When He is done, it'll be over very quick.