RE: Jesus as Lord - why is this appealing to so many?
January 30, 2018 at 5:59 pm
(This post was last modified: January 30, 2018 at 6:02 pm by KevinM1.)
(January 30, 2018 at 4:51 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote:(January 30, 2018 at 4:46 pm)KevinM1 Wrote: I'd want this entity to:
1. Prove it exists
2. Demonstrate that its claim to authority is legitimate
As a starting point. From there, I'd attempt to convince it to be part of a greater collective body rather than simply the ruler.
Of course, your god hasn't even gotten #1 down, so....
While I would disagree; that wasn't the question. I'm trying to understand what you issue is.
I find absolute rule abhorrent because it eliminates individual agency. People/souls should have a say in how they live their lives, or, in this case, spend eternity. For me, there's really no such thing as a beneficial dictatorship, as the state of dictatorship is itself undesirable. And, I believe, should be undesirable to anyone.
I also have a problem with a god who supposedly values free will, but demands we abandon it as the only path to salvation. It's incoherent at best.
(January 30, 2018 at 5:21 pm)Khemikal Wrote: Sure...sure RR. There's no reason whatsoever to denounce dictatorship in any form. It's not as if the entirety of written history stands testament to that simple fact, or that the struggle of people since beginning of that written word to squeeze themselves out from under such an arrangement should be taken as a lesson on the nature of authority.
Just a floating rule, asserted in a vacuum, no reason at all to pay attention. Let's all get back to the good and godly business of praying for the return of the king.
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Well, the Christian answer is that their god isn't like other dictators because of their perfect morality/goodness. Thus, they're not susceptible to absolute power corrupting absolutely.
But that, of course, doesn't address the removal of agency from the individual, which is what my main objection is. I cannot fathom why surrender - not cooperation, but surrender - is held in such high esteem by Christians. In all other contexts, the surrendering of self is considered unhealthy, if not outright dangerous, for many obvious reasons. That it's not in this context is utterly baffling to me.
