I believe God is a Person

As in a form of human?

Probably wearing some sort of Rugby Coach shirt knowing my luck.

You'd poison a blind man's dog and steal his cane
You'd gift-wrap a leper and mail him to your aunt Jane
You'd even force-feed a diabetic a candy cane
You can go to hell

Sorry but this is hilarious!

Rejected article, very amusing. I was concerned that Yahoo rejected my bid for cigars.

Monica Lewinsky Launches First Podcast With Wondery

I believe God is a Person

As in a form of human?

Probably wearing some sort of Rugby Coach shirt knowing my luck.

You know there's a God.

Even a dummy can figure that out.

You also know that God self-exists...no one created God.

And you know God created everything...there's no other explanation.

But He's not going to be the boss of you, no-sir-ee bob

Isn't that right, Mr. Dakmar :)

Ancient Tribal Mushroom Freak scribbles don't cut it in my daily life.

Actually I think right now that God is a crutch to allow the weak to feel better about themselves. To explain the constant harping, the hours spent scolding others rather than building something.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.

8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”?

It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.

11 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.

Am I Amelek? Do I get a star? :)

I believe in truth, because it must be true, by definition! :)

The truth is...you want nothing to do with your Creator.

The truth is...you want nothing to do with your Creator.

Ok Spanky, whatever! :)

What if I was built to reject nonsense? Who/what would sabotage me that way?

[edit]Oh, right...Satan. As always. Damned shame that free will malarky, otherwise I could be a soldier killing rebels!

What if I was built to reject nonsense?

God is nonsense? Are you sure?

God is nonsense? Are you sure?

Dogma is nonsense.

Dogma is nonsense.

Labeling God as dogma...makes the rejection easier, I suppose.

Go ahead and prove me correct by screeching at me like some old witch woman.

by screeching at me

I would never screech at you.

You are a creation of God. I respect God's creation.

Anger is weakness. Bible says God has gotten angry. Repeatedly as you pointed out yourself. We surely agree that acting out of anger or jealousy to harm others is wrong. Now please give a rational theological explanation for why God can kill some of his kids out of anger and it's okay, but it's not for us.

Anger is not a weakness.

Say someone raped your wife or daughter. Any normal person would be angered by that. To not be angry at that would be quite strange.

Now please give a rational theological explanation for why God can kill some of his kids out of anger and it's okay, but it's not for us.

I don't think there is one. Any provided would be trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

Does God hold us to a higher moral standard than he holds himself? It would seem so.

So this is a flaw exposing the Bible as a work of man, not God. It paints us a picture of God that is clearly incorrect.

Anger and jealousy are vices that we are called to grow out of. The NT is a good book overall and one reason is it clearly calls us to develop virtues and quash vices. Jealousy is a vice. I consider anger to be one also.

If the creator of the Universe created us with free will. He gave us a choice of how to behave didn't he. I'm going to jump around a bit so forgive me.

God wanted us to love him is the way I understand it. If he forced us to love him it wouldn't be love at all. So he gave us a choice of how to behave.

If God is good I would think he would want us to be good.

If some of us are evil and would harm others or his plan to redeem mankind.

Why wouldn't that make him mad/angry/hurt. Do you think he should just look the other way and make it so the bad ones (we are all bad to a degree) could harm the good ones? Could harm them in a way that would lead them not to be saved?

Here is part of a sermon that explains in part the point I am trying to get across. Please take 1 min and watch it and let me know what you think. I may take the time to find a longer version of what the pastor is saying here.

And human beings and animals are much more complex than a statue.

I'm not the one who made the comparison genius.

It went right over your head.

Let me try to make the point better.

You think that we evolved from some random chance. But you don't think the statue which is much simpler evolved. Something that would have a far easier time evolving. You can see that it is ridiculous to think of a statue evolving. But you just can't see it is even more ridiculous to think that human beings evolved from nothing even though we are much more complex and it would not be possible if you honestly think about it.

Are you one of those people who cling to the idea that the earth is flat?

That is what people who didn't read the Bible thought. The Bible clearly says the world isn't flat.

If you ask real nice I will show you. If not you can wonder about it.

Projection as usual Stone. So tell me, do you think that the Torah was written in English? Or are you just to lazy to research the fact that the verse I discussed was mistranslated?

You really think it was originally written in English? How quaint.

It was translated into English. You must think that God is not powerful enough to preserve his word. lol

That you can't see the connection between the words "Let there be light" and the sudden appearance of light in our Universe demonstrates your inability to think clearly.

I see you haven't ever read the Bible, or you couldn't comprehend it.

Let me give you a few verses.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

You see my friend it was part of a day not millions of years.

Can you wrap your brain around that?

Anger and jealousy are vices that we are called to grow out of.

Here is a little play. It is make believe.

Pinguinite- Hello daughter how are you doing today?

Pinguinites Daughter- It wasn't a good day it was horrible i was raped and I am so angry.

Pinguinite- Daughter you shouldn't be angry about it you need to grow up and not be angry.

Pinguinites Daughter- That is crazy dad.

Pinguinite- It is a vice to be angry you need to grow out of it.

Pinguinites Daughter- UUgggghhhh

You described justification in the form of "the end justifies the means".

These are your words...not mine!

Yes, as I was describing your statement here:

God was perfectly right and just to command the destruction of Amalek...men women, children, livestock, the very memory of them.

Had Israel obeyed, the world would not be suffering under the Edomites as we are today.

You stated that the world would be a better place if complete genocide had occurred in a point in time. The phrase "The ends justifies the means" describes accepting a lessor evil to justify avoiding a greater evil. Logically, it can make sense. Morally, it falls flat on its face.

When you see injustice...and you feel nothing...no sense of righteous anger wells up in you...you are a sociopath.

No, not necessarily. Not when you understand we are all immortal and neither God nor the universe revolves around planet Earth or the human population. Not that I claim to be immune to anger myself. I am not. But anger is no virtue at all. God does not get angry, and even if he did, he certainly wouldn't kill people while under it's influence. Anger is weakness.

Humans are designed to feel anger, especially when they see injustice.

Human emotions are not spiritual emotions. And anger is a human emotion. Ancient Israelites personified God by painting him with human emotions. Many cultures, probably all, do this. It's a way of making them feel like God is like them. We all want our caretakers to understand how we feel.

But you say being angry is bad?

Absolutely.

I believe God is a Person

As in a form of human?

Sorry Neil, that question should have been directed to watchman in post 165..

For criminal acts and violence on the stage
For bein' a brat, refusin' to act your age
For all of the decent citizens you've enraged
You can go to hell

I can't afford to hire dancers.

You're the one that seems to think the Torah was written in English.

I believe God is a Person

As in a form of human?

I did not say this as I was quoting watchman, but I say God is not a human. Our human identity is merely incidental. Humans are a product of earth. We as souls inhabit a single human body for the life of the body. Our human nature/DNA/bodies do not make us valuable to God in any way.

The human race is expendable as far as God is concerned. We souls that inhabit these bodies are not.

Say someone raped your wife or daughter. Any normal person would be angered by that. To not be angry at that would be quite strange.

You suggest God is a normal person?

But your example is extreme. Compare that to a bunch of confused people making a gold statue and throwing a party around it for a few days. That would be cause enough to make an all-knowing God who understands all of us completely and cannot be surprised by anything we would do angry enough to kill them? Or angry at all?

The root of anger is insecurity. One becomes angry when one finds himself powerless in the face of a wrong done to him/her, or perhaps others.

Please explain how God is in any way powerless or capable of being surprised by anything at all.

The bible is a work of man, not God. It is falsely revered with theology constructed around it to give it validation even when it means employing creative theological gymnastics, as is the case with arguing that God can get angry.

Having said that, much of what the bible says, particularly in the NT, I agree is true and correct. Of course that is part of the reason why all of the bible is considered divine by so many.

Please explain how God is in any way powerless or capable of being surprised by anything at all.

That does seem quite out of keeping with omnipotence, which I must assume includes omniscience, since it's a package deal.

neither God nor the universe revolves around planet Earth or the human population.

In all that you have said, that God is angry, God is weak, etc...you are simply saying, "I reject God", that is, "I reject the God of the Bible".

Dakmar has actually been the most honest and clear.

He said "It's my choice, I have made it".

If the creator of the Universe created us with free will. He gave us a choice of how to behave didn't he. I'm going to jump around a bit so forgive me.

God wanted us to love him is the way I understand it. If he forced us to love him it wouldn't be love at all. So he gave us a choice of how to behave.

If God is good I would think he would want us to be good.

All of the above is correct.

If some of us are evil and would harm others or his plan to redeem mankind. Why wouldn't that make him mad/angry/hurt.

Because he's smarter than that.

Do you think he should just look the other way and make it so the bad ones (we are all bad to a degree) could harm the good ones? Could harm them in a way that would lead them not to be saved?

Your mistake is in thinking that actual events on earth are what's most important to God. It is not. What's important is how each of us responds to the various things we experience. We are on earth to grow, to embellish our virtues and quash our vices. To learn kindness, the Golden Rule (as per gospel), to patience with others. to turn the other cheek. To love our enemies. Those things make us stronger. Things that keep us weak is to wallow in anger, jealousy, selfishness, etc.

Everything around us will perish eventually, including planet earth itself. We, however, will not. We are immortal. And things that happen to us on earth, good or bad, is no more real than what happens to us in dreams. And just as dream events become inconsequential when we awake, earthly events become inconsequential when we die and leave earth/human form, and for the same reason. None of it was real. What is/was real, are the lessons in how we handled ourselves.

This is a very simply theology that doesn't require all the convoluted gymnastics of biblical theology. And if one asks if God had a choice of how the universe should be ordered, wouldn't he choose one that didn't end up with most of his kids burning in hell for all eternity?

Here is part of a sermon that explains in part the point I am trying to get across. Please take 1 min and watch it and let me know what you think. I may take the time to find a longer version of what the pastor is saying here.

Just about everything in that 60 second snippet I completely agree with.

Dakmar has actually been the most honest and clear.

But I am a habitual skeptic. Just for the record.

You think that we evolved from some random chance.

It is an assumption, even within the science community, that evolution is a product of chance. It is possible some biological mechanism could be in play that specifically causes offspring to be better suited for a current environment that doesn't rely on chance.

Christian fundamentalists also err in assuming evolution could not have a supernatural element assisting its progress.

Everything around us will perish eventually, including planet earth itself. We, however, will not. We are immortal. And things that happen to us on earth, good or bad, is no more real than what happens to us in dreams. And just as dream events become inconsequential when we awake, earthly events become inconsequential when we die and leave earth/human form, and for the same reason. None of it was real. What is/was real, are the lessons in how we handled ourselves.

In Dreams?

Sorry, I try not to be horrible, but can't stop myself sometimes. :)

In all that you have said, that God is angry, God is weak, etc...you are simply saying, "I reject God", that is, "I reject the God of the Bible".

I never said God is angry or weak. YOU say he's angry. Yes, I reject that portion of the biblical portrayal of God as a God that can get angry or jealous. Absolutely I do. God is certainly real, and he's far, far, FAR better than what the bible depicts.

Plainly put, the bible fails the test of being the divine Word of God. It is not. It is a work of man. It's flaws are present. It does have good elements in it but so do a great many other books by ordinary authors. Many people ascribe divinity to it but only because they were raised to do so, as if ancient people had any more wisdom about life than people today do, and were free of all the human flaws that we all see around us daily. Ancient people were the same as us. Wondering about their purpose & confused about their human form. As souls they correctly knew they were special in the universe, but their human minds couldn't figure out how that was possible, in no small way trying to figure out how animals were different from them. So stories and legends arose, relayed from parent to inquiring child, generation after generation, eventually "codified" on scrolls. Some items correct in spirit but wrong in mechanics.

We should be open minded. That is particularly hard for our human minds that are so comfortable clinging to beliefs. Many Christian preachers say a problem with people is we do not have enough faith. I say the problem with people is we have far too much. We accept too much as true which is not true, particularly things we are taught as children. It's the reason why countries remain predominently of certain faiths generation after generation. If the human mind was given to rational thought, we would instead see various faiths spread homogeneously through all countries about evenly. But we don't. Most humans grow up believing what their parents taught them. Some firmly enough to strap bombs to themselves. Others enough to promote genocide of "subhuman" and "inferior" people.

Yes, we are all conditioned to just accept what we were taught, taking the "wide road" as it were. People like me take the narrow path and are willing to ask the real question of "Is all I've been taught in my youth actually true?" I'll take satisfaction in that. And when my time comes to face God, I'll tell Him (actually He will already know) that I followed my conscience at least somewhat faithfully, and I did not lie about it even when people told me I would burn for all eternity if I did not somehow "change my mind" as though that were possible.

He said "It's my choice, I have made it".

As we all have. Good for him. Good for you. Good for me.

In Dreams?

Well, E = mc²....

Which could be interpreted to mean our entire universe is....

You suggest God is a normal person?

No. I was just showing your comment that being angry is wrong and a vice.

I think my post served that purpose.

But your example is extreme. Compare that to a bunch of confused people making a gold statue and throwing a party around it for a few days. That would be cause enough to make an all-knowing God who understands all of us completely and cannot be surprised by anything we would do angry enough to kill them? Or angry at all?

My example is extreme. But it isn't the only example.

Would you be angry if you were castrated?

Onto your second sentence.

Why do you say they were confused?

Yes it would make him angry. It did didn't it? Just because he knows what will happen in the future doesn't mean he should never get angry about it.

It seems you have substituted yourself for God and you say what God should do or be.

The bible is a work of man, not God.

The Bible says "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

You used to say you were a christian. What changed your mind?

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.