Would you believe?

Question

One of the biggest problems I have with Christianity or any of the other mainstream religions is that claim that their god is a loving, merciful, benevolent being who only wants what is best for us, his children. If they claimed that their god was a vindictive, jealous, egocentrical, murderous bastard I would be more willing to believe them. I have a great deal of trouble reconciling the rosy picture of god with the deeds and words of this god that are recorded in their book. If the book is the truth, and believers are just trying to gloss over the reality of god, would anyone else agree that they should cut out the sugar coating and just tell the truth. It would probably get them more converts than trying to reconcile all the inconsistencies.

common_sense_don't_hurt - you are a typical example of why I'm beginning to thoroughly dislike theists. I started here merely disagreeing with them. Now, thanks to people like you, I despise them. You don't read beyond your limited attention span of about 3 seconds, which is why you have others do your thinking for you. My question is there.

"If the book is the truth, and believers are just trying to gloss over the reality of god, would anyone else agree that they should cut out the sugar coating and just tell the truth?"

Okay, I had a typo and forgot the question mark. That was extremely difficult to figure out.

josh - you obviously cared enough to respond. Your limited understanding of your own language makes me tremble with despair.

whitehorse456 - I've never bought that whole "we just aren't wise enough to understand" b/s. It seems whenever Christians can't make up a reason, however flimsy for some inconsistency, they trot it out. It hasn't worked for the last 2000 years, don't you think it's time to try something else?

monte54que - Oh, another short attention span. Should I type single syllable words in sentences no longer than 4 words each?

Angel Drawers FM - Well, if you would kindly point out the appendix that differentiates between the allegory, parable and fact, I'll be quite glad to go back and re-read the bible.

Apostle Jeff - Another of these standard lines that you all seem to trot out. What sort of god only preaches to the converted? Does he only talk to the already deluded? Why won't he talk to me? I'm ready to listen. And don't bother telling me I'm not ready or open to him. How would you POSSIBLY know anything about me.

AdoreHim - what is it with Christians and illogical answers. You can't convince me of the truth of something I question by telling me what I'm already questioning. If you want to convince me, give me something new. If you don't want to convince me, go away and stop wasting my time. I don't need you preaching at me.

keydoto - a little advice. Stop comparing all non-believers to children. I'm not a child. I am just as capable of understand complex ideas as you are. Do you think you are somehow smarter than I am and I just don't get it? Go away and don't bother me again till you have something rational to say.

ckrug - so what you are saying is god is just a deadbeat dad? He won't take responsibility for his own actions and wants the state to pay for his fiddling with creation?

georgemichael - Where is this mercy, love and grace? He's punishing me for the sins of two people he created and knew were going to disobey him. Talk about setting me up.

goldyyloxx - Wow, that really showed me how living and merciful he is. God throws a hissy fit and we all get to suffer until he gets over it. I'm convinced.

minnie - And you know this how? You really are egotistical if you think you are better than me and are capable of understanding the concept of god and his book while I'm just too damn stupid to get it. I feel better now, how about you?

Is that it? Are we done with all the canned responses from the Christians? Can we now have a few original thoughts?

joe c - Isn't that the idea? That everyone would do it. Why would a loving god set up the rules in such a way that he KNOWS most will fail. All that tells me is that he wants us to fail. He made the rules. He shows his true hatred of mankind.

Answer 1

i feel the exact same way.if God loves us so much and wants what's best for us,why are there people dying and starving and suffering from horrible diseases?and if they are dying and suffering to make a point and have others help then i sort of believe my own mother loves me more than god cus she would not let me die just to see if anyone else would help.
and yes,the sugar coating should definitely stop.I don't doubt that there was probably,maybe definitely some prophet that spread the word of God around but Humans naturally fear death and do whatever it takes to save their skin so I'm wondering if Heaven was....idk invented to soothe many peoples' fears of dying.
i'm so confused bout it all.

Answer 2

I want Christmas cards with these verses inside:

13:12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
13:13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
13:14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
13:15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
13:16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

(Deuteronomy)

I don't think I agree with you, though, about them getting more converts if they tell the truth. I think you underestimate most people's laziness and gullibility. How many Christians in the US have actually read their bibles, after all?

Ramen.

Edit: To Angel Drawers: You've got to be kidding me. Atheists take the bible too seriously? Do you mean to say, "The bible is like a box of chocolates; you've got to learn how to take all the good caramels and truffles and leave the nasty creme-filled crap behind"?

Answer 3

We are still under the fall of Adam and Eve and are still living under the influence of Satan. When one would ask a question such as " Why does God let people starve ? " I have to say that God has given us plenty of food to feed the world one hundred times over, when one dies and asks God this very question His answer will be "What did you do to help my people in need? "

What people don't understand is how to interpret the bible. It clearly says that one must me in their spirit to understand the riches in the bible. You have people picking up this book with their natural minds and you can have many discrepancies you will not understand. but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the same way that the authors of the bible were, the mysteries in the bible are revealed to you.

Answer 4

All of the different organized religions are wrong about God's nature. There is no such thing as the Devil. God is nice and benevolent sometimes. At other times he is angry and destructive. Different religions compete with each other to have the most appealing description of him to draw in the biggest following they can get.

They are indeed one of the most profitable business ventures known to mankind. God told me to not get involved with any of them because I can do my good deeds myself rather than trust and give money to a church to do it for me. Why should anyone contribute to the lifestyles of the rich and famous preachers who get chauffeured around in limousines?

Answer 5

Do you have children? How do you treat small children? You sometimes have to correct their behavior with punishment. Believe me there were times I wish I could have called down plagues upon my own (still do at times). But as they grow older you have to relax the hand a bit more and more. Now as God is with His Children so am I with mine now that they are grown. I'm sure they see me as being more benevolent, merciful, and loving now than they did as children. There were times I had to tell them to go hate me in their room, but now I don't hear it at all and we have a pretty good relationship. I didn't try to be their friend when they were young, I was their parent. Now that they are grown I am much more of a friend. So it is with God.

Answer 6

Listen closely, if a disease lives, it spreads, that makes sense and is true. Evil is the same way. If it lives, it spreads. In order for you and me to be alive today, evil people before us had to be eliminated. Why? Because they would have spread and populated and murdered and killed until nothing but evil would exist on the earth. Since Christ came and died, we live under grace. And with that grace God stopped wiping out the wicked. And because He has stopped doing that, evil will eventually take over the earth and then the earth will destroy itself. Satan will show up in the flesh with supernatural powers and deceive the whole world and sit in the temple of Jerusalem and claim to be God. We must have order and live and let live in order for life to be maintained on the earth. But the earth is going to turn into a total war zone due to the populating and spreading of evil, because it has been allowed to continue to live and exist on the earth thru men's hearts. Evil dies, and it destroys, it does not live on forever. Love lives on forever. God is love.

Answer 7

When you were 8 years old and your parents spanked you for the first time,you probably thought they were evil. When you were 16 and they grounded you and kept you from going to the biggest party of the year, you probably thought they were evil. Well now magnify that lack of understanding 1000 times to try to grasp how much greater God's wisdom and understanding is than our own. That is why He says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways."

Answer 8

Ya gotta remember what He had to work with for 4000+ years...

Answer 9

You see our God as a hard Judge while we see Him as our Loving Father. Only those who have been Born Again can call God their Father. God answers our prayers and shows us His favor. The good news, anyone who turns from their sins and receives Jesus as their Lord can be adopted into the Family of God. That includes you!

Answer 10

some people who even watched Jesus die on the cross probably said the same thing- they saw love in action and still refused to accept it.

Granted God is just, and is judge- however because of His love, He gives all of us a chance- look at the cross, = the nails did not keep Him on the cross, His love for us, did