RE: Theists: what does your god want for you?
March 14, 2013 at 10:42 am
(This post was last modified: March 14, 2013 at 10:43 am by Whateverist.)
(March 14, 2013 at 2:41 am)Rayaan Wrote:(March 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm)whateverist Wrote: 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.
A little disappointing for me to hear but your call of course.
(March 14, 2013 at 2:41 am)Rayaan Wrote:(March 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm)whateverist Wrote: I cannot and never could imagine a God who wants only sycophantic rule followers.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.
Of course objects don't follow the laws of physics out of a sense of duty. There is no choice involved. Animals -apart from ourselves- do not behave in keeping with their nature to please God. They have evolved to respond the way they do and do so for no other discernible purpose. Humans are capable of a great deal of variability in their response. I suppose one could say that is the essence of their nature or else note that the capacity for delayed response coupled with reason has estranged humans from their nature. Either way, it seems that it is only humans who have the capacity for deliberate rule following. But then why should humans have so much capacity for judgment if its only purpose (as you see it) is to permit them to choose to follow a god's commands? Why not just hard-wire it into our nature as with every other animal? What purpose does it serve?
