Why are we here?

[KevinM1]

It's a distinction without meaning, really.  According to most, I'm going to go to hell for simply not believing.  Does it really matter if your god sends me there directly or if it's part of some automated process based on me not entering a covenant with it?  The method is the same: unbelief = hell.  Moreover, it's based on pettiness.  

What does a supreme being need with worship?  Christians espouse god's forgiving and loving nature all the time, but at the end of the day salvation relies on not just belief that it exists (despite it not providing clear, verifiable evidence of itself), but that I accept it as my lord and master.  I cannot do that, even under threat of torment.  I would rather be free in hell than a slave in heaven.

Let's get back to sin for a moment.  You made a big stink (capital letters and everything) a few posts up about my sins.  I jokingly asked you to list them.  I'll simply do it for you:

1. Not believing in your god
2. I stole a couple of beef chalupa supremes from the UNH food court over a decade ago because I was running late for class

That is, honestly, all I can think of.  I never cheated on my girlfriend.  I abhor violence, except in self-defense.  I haven't made nor possess idols of anything.  I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs.  Do I deserve to be tortured, even temporarily?

Note also that I think Original Sin is idiotic and barbarous.  Children should not be held to account for the crimes of their ancestors.

Pettiness? The morally perfect, eternal, creator of the universe says he cannot (as in not possible) have sin in his presence. And not just that, he desires to have us in his presence so much as to have provided a bridge to get us back to him. You, one of a few billion ants that exist for a time that is so insignificantly short compared to eternity past, deem this petty. 

Do you think that a little sin or a big sin matters to a morally perfect God who cannot have sin in his presence? To think so is to miss the point and/or engage in faulty reasoning.

Morally perfect?  Really?  This is circular logic at its finest/worst.  God is morally perfect because the bible demands you take its word for it rather than going by the actual actions described in the book itself.  God's immorality begins in Genesis chapter 2 and continues throughout.  You hand wave the atrocities described within because of a book - whose only authority on the matter comes from itself - tells you to.  Utterly ridiculous.

As far as not being able to have sin in its presence, it sounds like your god is a wuss.  Surely the almighty - which created everything, including, presumably, sin itself - should be able to handle it in a better way than sending those who have sinned to eternal torture.  Moreover, it brings up all the problems that have never received an adequate answer, such as:

Why did god create creatures that are at least as likely to fail as to succeed?  Even with free will, he could've made us more likely to follow his lead than not.
Why does he continue to create creatures that are destined to sin, and thus go to hell?  Isn't that incredibly wasteful?
Why does a perfect being desire us to rejoin him?  Doesn't want/desire point to imperfection?
Why hell, which isn't corrective, and not some other mechanism?
Why doesn't he simply provide unambiguous evidence of his existence and power, thereby greatly reducing the number of people who are sent to hell?
etc.
etc.

I deem your god petty because he thinks a finite crime, even those that don't actually hurt anyone (like unbelief) to be worthy of eternal torture.  Saying, "Well, the bible says he's just, so it's just" is laughable.  And, no, arguments from ignorance aren't going to cut it as a response.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

You are missing the point. YOU decided not to mend the relationship that YOUR sin damaged. You cannot be in the presence of God (heaven) without mending that relationship. This is the consequence of your free will--God cannot mend it for you--it MUST be your choice.

No, no, I get your point.  It's just the same drivel all Christians write.  Here, I'll make it clear for you:

Any god that would punish someone with an eternity of pain and torture for a finite crime is a tyrant.  Any god that would demand belief over everything else, especially when they provide absolutely 0 credible, verifiable evidence for its existence, and therefore considers unbelief to be among the worst sins, is a psychopath.  Neither trait engenders the desire to join its flock.

Really, the "repent now!" stuff is incredibly childish.  It's the religious version of "do you want me to tell your father when he gets home?"  I'm not six years old any more.  Your vague threats of eternal damnation or else only serve to solidify the idea that your god is something I'd much rather work against than with/for.

The whole fairy tale is summed up in Hebrews 11:6.  https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Hebrews%2011:6.  There's zero proof that the God character actually exists so people must have faith and an ocean of self-delusion to believe in him.

[abaris]

What does any of that have to do with heaven, hell, and purpose?

You are assuming I am a literal creationist. Stop making assumptions.

So how does a god cropping up in the desert work in your world? 3000 years ago. After billions of years of nothing happening. How do you make ends meet, given that kind of model?

[IATIA]

Why did god create creatures that are at least as likely to fail as to succeed?  Even with free will, he could've made us more likely to follow his lead than not.
Why does he continue to create creatures that are destined to sin, and thus go to hell?  Isn't that incredibly wasteful?
Why does a perfect being desire us to rejoin him?  Doesn't want/desire point to imperfection?
Why hell, which isn't corrective, and not some other mechanism?
Why doesn't he simply provide unambiguous evidence of his existence and power, thereby greatly reducing the number of people who are sent to hell?
etc.
etc.

I deem your god petty because he thinks a finite crime, even those that don't actually hurt anyone (like unbelief) to be worthy of eternal torture.  Saying, "Well, the bible says he's just, so it's just" is laughable.  And, no, arguments from ignorance aren't going to cut it as a response.

I expect that you will get the same answers I did. Zilch. His responses are simply rote rhetoric.

[KevinM1]

Why did god create creatures that are at least as likely to fail as to succeed?  Even with free will, he could've made us more likely to follow his lead than not.
Why does he continue to create creatures that are destined to sin, and thus go to hell?  Isn't that incredibly wasteful?
Why does a perfect being desire us to rejoin him?  Doesn't want/desire point to imperfection?
Why hell, which isn't corrective, and not some other mechanism?
Why doesn't he simply provide unambiguous evidence of his existence and power, thereby greatly reducing the number of people who are sent to hell?
etc.
etc.

I deem your god petty because he thinks a finite crime, even those that don't actually hurt anyone (like unbelief) to be worthy of eternal torture.  Saying, "Well, the bible says he's just, so it's just" is laughable.  And, no, arguments from ignorance aren't going to cut it as a response.

I expect that you will get the same answers I did.  Zilch.  His responses are simply rote rhetoric.

Oh, no doubt.  Likely with an appeal to ignorance about god's mysterious ways to boot.

I keep asking for him, for anyone, to explain my "obvious" mistakes.  All I get are deflections and circular bible talk.  There needs to be something better than "all of this illogic comes from the bible, and that aught to be enough for you."

[Ravenshire]

Exactly, according to most theist philosophies, god created us for the sole purpose of groveling before it or suffer eternal damnation.  That purpose in and of itself makes no sense and the theists are unable to come up with anything else.  All their arguments boil down to this ridiculous premise.

What's funny is that when theists are questioned about this, they generally pull the, "Well, without god, you wouldn't be here!" card.  Okay, the same can be said about my mother, but I don't worship her.  She doesn't demand that I do, and she doesn't gravely punish me for not doing it.

(emphasis is mine)

On the rare occasion that a parent does the above things, the state usually intervenes because we, as a society, have managed to figure out that that type of behavior is just sick and harmful. Yet gawds love is often described as that of a father for his children.

[Dragonetti]

We are here to have fun and pay taxes!

[Whateverist]

Why are we here?

Lately it has been to convince poopbuilder and pfool they are full of shit.

[Dragonetti]

So many new people. Though I do miss the Islamic Folks. Their circular logic was great comedic gold.

[Ravenshire]

God does not send people to Hell, they send themselves.

This stinky little turd gets a little smellier every time it pops up. No. Just, no. Nobody sends themselves to hell. They are (according to your iron age book of voodoo) judged by gawd. If your gawd finds them unworthy then he casts them into hell.