RE: How is Yahweh not immoral?
November 27, 2012 at 8:13 pm
(This post was last modified: November 27, 2012 at 8:15 pm by Kirbmarc.)
Undeceived, thanks for answering. Premise: I am an atheist, therefore I don't believe that any god is real. I'm judging the morality of the god of the Bible as I would judge the psychology of any other fictional character, such as, say, Hamlet or Harry Potter.
That's the root of the problem. Anyone loves people who love him. Even Adolf Hitler loved Eva Braun. The problem is not about whom you love or you don't love (you're free to love or not love anyone you want) but what you do to people you don't love.
I dislike people who chat during a movie. However, I'd never hurt them, physically or otherwise. I just wish they stopped doing what annoys me. The god of the Bible committed genocide. I think that if he is set up as the paradigm of morality, he utterly fails at it.
Most people are morally better than the god of the Bible. I am, you are, everyone who doesn't wish for genocide is. You are morally better than your god, Undeceived. Think about that.
I don't believe that such a god exists, or ever existed. However, when I judge him as a character, I see that he is portrayed as a vengeful, petty psychopath, who on top of that is also a hypocrite. I don't buy him as a hero, let alone the source of everything that is good and just.
A character could be portrayed as a hero and fail at that. Let's say that JK Rowling wanted us to buy Harry Potter as a paldin of justice, but then had him kill innocents left and right. I'd say that if that was the case, she'd have utterly failed at her job.
I think that the god of the Old Testament was written in the way it was written because the Jews felt that they were right no matter what they did, even if what they did was wiping out the Canaanite. Their god was always going to side with them unless they stopped praying him.
So no, I'm not trying to be noble. I'm simply trying to make people understand that their god is not the source of their morality, that they're better than their god, and that therefore they should think about their moral choices and about the relationships between their religious beliefs and their moral compass.
I'm not turning my face from my creator, because there's no creator from which I can turn my face.
Quote:"I love those who love me
That's the root of the problem. Anyone loves people who love him. Even Adolf Hitler loved Eva Braun. The problem is not about whom you love or you don't love (you're free to love or not love anyone you want) but what you do to people you don't love.
I dislike people who chat during a movie. However, I'd never hurt them, physically or otherwise. I just wish they stopped doing what annoys me. The god of the Bible committed genocide. I think that if he is set up as the paradigm of morality, he utterly fails at it.
Most people are morally better than the god of the Bible. I am, you are, everyone who doesn't wish for genocide is. You are morally better than your god, Undeceived. Think about that.
Quote:You could try to be noble and say "If God did not treat the Canaanites like He has treated me, I will go on strike and reject His gifts" but would you be truthful? Is that really the reason you turn your face from your Creator?
I don't believe that such a god exists, or ever existed. However, when I judge him as a character, I see that he is portrayed as a vengeful, petty psychopath, who on top of that is also a hypocrite. I don't buy him as a hero, let alone the source of everything that is good and just.
A character could be portrayed as a hero and fail at that. Let's say that JK Rowling wanted us to buy Harry Potter as a paldin of justice, but then had him kill innocents left and right. I'd say that if that was the case, she'd have utterly failed at her job.
I think that the god of the Old Testament was written in the way it was written because the Jews felt that they were right no matter what they did, even if what they did was wiping out the Canaanite. Their god was always going to side with them unless they stopped praying him.
So no, I'm not trying to be noble. I'm simply trying to make people understand that their god is not the source of their morality, that they're better than their god, and that therefore they should think about their moral choices and about the relationships between their religious beliefs and their moral compass.
I'm not turning my face from my creator, because there's no creator from which I can turn my face.
