RE: Potter to the clay
September 18, 2011 at 7:48 am
(This post was last modified: September 18, 2011 at 7:50 am by lucent.)
The analogy isn't calling us dirt, because the material itself is irrelevent. Let's elaborate on the analogy. Let's say you're a parent dealing with 5 year old. The five year old says to you "I don't want to go to school"
You say "You're going whether you want to or not"
Kid says "Why do I have to listen to you?"
You say "Because we're your parents and brought you into this world"
Kid says "That's not fair! You shouldn't have done that! I don't have to listen to you because you didn't ask to create me!"
Getting the gist of it? How ridiculous is it for a kid to tell their parents that they had no right to make him, or that they can't tell him what to do? A five year old doesn't know anything about life, and obvious needs a lot of instruction, and also protection. That kid needs his parents to tell him what to do, to nurture and guide him to becoming a happy and healthy human being.
The difference is even more profound when you're dealing with God. Just as your parents had a right to tell you what to do because they give birth to you, God has every right to tell humanity what to do because he created us. Just as its ridiculous for a little kid to think he knows better than his parents, its even more ridiculous to think humans know better than God does, the author of life as we know it. This is what the analogy is getting at.
You say "You're going whether you want to or not"
Kid says "Why do I have to listen to you?"
You say "Because we're your parents and brought you into this world"
Kid says "That's not fair! You shouldn't have done that! I don't have to listen to you because you didn't ask to create me!"
Getting the gist of it? How ridiculous is it for a kid to tell their parents that they had no right to make him, or that they can't tell him what to do? A five year old doesn't know anything about life, and obvious needs a lot of instruction, and also protection. That kid needs his parents to tell him what to do, to nurture and guide him to becoming a happy and healthy human being.
The difference is even more profound when you're dealing with God. Just as your parents had a right to tell you what to do because they give birth to you, God has every right to tell humanity what to do because he created us. Just as its ridiculous for a little kid to think he knows better than his parents, its even more ridiculous to think humans know better than God does, the author of life as we know it. This is what the analogy is getting at.
(September 17, 2011 at 1:25 pm)BloodyHeretic Wrote: The potter and the clay is used as a 'stop asking awkward questions and shut the fuck up' argument. It supposes to give you perspective. You, it says, are a piece of dirt and know nothing, what would you know? Classic humiliation tactics to subject people. If god did indeed view us as clay, why would he love us? Clay is just a potter's material. Either god views us as dirt to be used as he sees fit, or if you like this whole he-loves-us-and-wants-a-personal-relationship rubbish, you cannot accept that you have no right to question and doubt and fucking improve on 'god's plan'. The whole thing is too stupid, just far too stupid.
