Why did God do Satan’s bidding?

[John V]

Here's a question. What's a right, and what does it mean for God to have one? Is a god with rights different from a god without rights. Where did he get them?

That’s a number of questions.

What is a right? The applicable dictionary definition is: “a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral: You have a right to say what you please.” For this purpose I would word it as “moral authority to perform an action.”

What does it mean for God to have a right? It means he’s morally justified in taking that action.

Is a god with rights different from a god without them? The god itself isn’t any different. People’s reactions to it differ based on their perception of its rights. If God doesn’t have a right to flood the world, he’s a mass murderer. If he does have such right, he’s not.

Where did he get them and, skipping to the end, who defines what a right is? Anyone can claim a right, declare a right for someone else, and define the right anyway they please.

Are they objective? They don’t seem so to me. This is why I couldn’t tell Rhythm why creation confers rights, and why he can’t explain why sentience and/or sapience confer rights. There is no right or wrong answer. So, all we can really strive for is consistency in application.

Second, I think you're subsuming the right of ownership in this act of creation. I may create a child, and for a time, my rights do resemble property rights, but as soon as that child gains sufficient autonomy in one or more areas, those pseudo-property rights start falling away. Are we God's property then, just as the negroe slaves were the property of European and American slave owners? Is that your relationship to God, do you consider yourself both property and essentially God's slave.

I think God has a right to treat me as such, but in his grace he adopts me as a son.