[split] Are Questions About God Important?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

If you think there is nothing outside this universe that is worthy of your greatest gift, you STILL strive for ideals. Why is God necessary for that?

Ideals trapped in a universe that has no real meaningful expression.  You do good stuff, and then it's over.  the deed dies out and eventually float off into nothingness and the universe dies with all your actions and everything you do.

Why bother?  (I hate to say the above paragraph, and it's not what i think really happens.  I thing your goodness lives on and is recorded.  it transforms into something meaningful - and never dies)

Why is God, the author of all misery, evil, and calamity, worthy of your best effort?

I think god has attributes that are worthy - like goodness, love, truth, beauty, personality, courage.  They shine out of god.

Fear is actually a fantastic motivator. The trouble with your particular brand of godism is that the fear motivation is all out of proportion.

Not out of proportion.
Its a poor reason to do good things.  "Why do you love me?".  "Because i'm afraid of what you'll do if i don't love you".
fear needs to be kept in it's place - keeping you alive in the biological sense.  it has no business in the spiritual matters though.

What ‘dreams and values’ motivate you, personally? You said earlier that, without God, you wouldn’t care about anything. Your motivation appears to be going to Eternal Happy Funland. Seems kind of a selfish way to live your life.

Happy funland is a giant family, we are all family, brothers and sisters with god as our father.  greater and greater challenges and growth, helping eachother find the father.

If you really don’t think ideals are meaningless because they’re impermanent, why did you say it?

One might say the same thing about a cocker spaniel. Would you devote your best efforts to a cocker spaniel?

Of course it’s out of proportion. Trying to make people behave via the threat of eternal punishment for finite transgression is MONSTROUSLY out of proportion. And what you’re describing isn’t love, but a dangerous co-dependency.

Ever seen a child with bone cancer? Some ‘father’.

Boru