(March 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm)whateverist Wrote: Do you have any idea what your god wants for you? Does He wish you to do the good you perceive and to grow in your capacity to perceive what is important and what is best? Or does He wish for you to follow His rules? Will those of you who believe in a judgment day be judged like Job and Abraham on your willingness to sacrifice all else to follow orders and do his bidding? Or do you think God really wants you to eventually stand up to him and stand up for what you think is right?
He wants me to remember Him, love Him, praise Him, and submit to His commandments. And he doesn't need any of those things, but he is deserving of them.
(March 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm)whateverist Wrote: I cannot and never could imagine a God who wants only sycophantic rule followers. Of what possible value would that be to such a one? If God really were anyone you should want to spend eternity with, He should first of all be someone you can respect. Can anyone of any religion explain this to me?
Rules are everywhere; Science shows that almost everything in nature are subject to certain laws and limitations - the clouds, trees, animals, evolution, DNA replication, the orbiting of the planets, the beating of your heart, etc. - are all following rules or laws that they have been programmed with from the beginning of their existence. These things have a set of instructions which are intended to manage, command, and regulate the behavior of each of these physical systems in different ways.
My point is that if you can at least imagine (or assume) that a god created this universe as well all these different laws and instructions for each and every thing, then it shouldn't be significantly harder to imagine that He would do the same thing for humans as well.
