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How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
#1
How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
He does so many terrible things in the old testament, and then there is his personality, how can people even believe in these mythologies? I mean I understand that they grew up with them or at least most of them did, but how can they not see all of the external influences that molded their religion? For the most part I can certainly see the appeal God the Father had to those ancient Levantine's compared to the old Jewish god, but then the Christians make that god the same being as the old one? Hardly makes sense, especially since I'm guessing most of the converts originally started from people who wanted to escape old god.

I personally do not see the appeal.
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#2
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
Firstly, most Christians read the Bible through the rose-tinted interpretation of their denomination (Or even their pastor), so it isn't surprising they can ignore what is plainly written there for all to see.

And not all Christians believed that the old testament god and the new testament god were even the same being. The Cathars for instance believed that the god of the old testament was the creator of the physical world and that the god of the new testament was the creator of the spiritual realm.

The reason you may not have heard of them is because the Catholic church virtually annihilated them in the thirteenth century for being heretics.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. ~ George Bernard Shaw
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#3
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
(August 22, 2015 at 2:14 am)Ashground Wrote: Firstly, most Christians read the Bible through the rose-tinted interpretation of their denomination (Or even their pastor), so it isn't surprising they can ignore what is plainly written there for all to see.

And not all Christians believed that the old testament god and the new testament god were even the same being. The Cathars for instance believed that the god of the old testament was the creator of the physical world and that the god of the new testament was the creator of the spiritual realm.

The reason you may not have heard of them is because the Catholic church virtually annihilated them in the thirteenth century for being heretics.

I actually have heard of the Cathars, but didn't know that particular part of their belief, but that still doesn't explain the attachment Christians, Muslims, and especially Jews have to Yahweh especially upon learning of his criminal record much less his spiritual credentials.
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#4
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
They'd rather hate what their deity hates instead of questioning his 'perfection' (I suspect plain fear of Pascals Wager).
But that is just my guess, I wish I knew.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. ~ George Bernard Shaw
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#5
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
(August 22, 2015 at 2:29 am)Ashground Wrote: They'd rather hate what their deity hates instead of questioning his 'perfection' (I suspect plain fear of Pascals Wager).
But that is just my guess, I wish I knew.

If it is pascal's wager shouldn't they think perhaps that this monstrous mythological being is the one trying to pull the sheet over their eyes? I mean Satan in the bible is a very nice guy , he share's the fruits of the garden willingly with Adam and Even bestowing them with knowledge (technically I think it's just a snake but many Christians identify it with satan), and it is this Yahweh who damns them and their children to suffer for disobeying his will. In the desert Satan offers' Jesus a chance to be the king of the world and that he won't even have to suffer a thing. Satan never says anything bad about god as far as I know in the bible. According to every Abrahamic faith it is Satan whom we have to thank for all of our technological advances, and Satan if he is the snake becomes something like the Prometheus among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Prometheus never really got that much thanks either now that I think about it.

But back to Pascal's wager I mean as far as they know this Yahweh guy is actually everything he says Satan is, and Satan is the one you know, who rules over heaven and that this Yahweh fellow is actually the ruler of hell and Satan who does not want them to suffer for all eternity and stroke the ego of the biggest jerk in human history tries to save them from this path, but because they die willingly accepting Yahweh's terms that he enters his kingdom there is nothing Satan can do as they make the choice on their own free will.
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#6
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
I heard of the Cathars, too. The Baptist Church I was a member of brought them up in one series of lessons during a night service that was all about 'proving God' and debunking other beliefs like theirs. I forget what all was said, but naturally they used the bible to prove his existence like everyone else.

I can't speak for the Jews or Muslims, but on the Christian side of things Ash is pretty spot on. Some of them don't even read it, and manage to gloss over the questionable bits when they do. I know I did until I was older. I think the bible is the only book in history where its readers recommend you NOT read it in chronicle order. My dad read the bible seven times, and there are STILL things he's discovering each time he reads it, but those usually fall in line with the things he hates. Go figure.

Some will justify it by assuming if God is real, then he's right by default, which means humanity is bad and deserves the things God did. I believe you can file that under self-loathing.
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#7
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
(August 22, 2015 at 2:42 am)Ayen Wrote: Some will justify it by assuming if God is real, then he's right by default, which means humanity is bad and deserves the things God did. I believe you can file that under self-loathing.

I was responding to a guy on youtube earlier and related god with sadism and his followers with masochism, your part of self-loathing may be more accurate though, as I'm not sure if the Abrahamic Faithers or their mythological deity are aroused by all of this, though I assume they are, as it makes more sense to me that they derive some sort of pleasure and enjoyment from it but I don't think most of them would admit this.
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#8
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
People see what they want to see.  A simple wikipedia search even shows that Yahweh is just another god morphing through time into the all-powerful dictator he is today.  


Wikipedia Wrote:In the oldest biblical literature, Yahweh is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior" who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies;[5] he later became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah,[6] and over time the royal court and temple promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.[7][8] By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BC), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world.[8]
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBetz2000917-8][/url]

There is no good answer to the question your OP posses.  

People are stupid, gullible and afraid.  We want so desperately to believe that we are more than mice in a field that we will grasp at anything that allows us to live on somewhere after we die.  We will even accept a blood-thirsty unjust tyrant as long as someone tells us that that same tyrant will love you if you fear him and grovel before some wealthy religious twit wearing a dress and stupid looking hat.

Yahweh is just another lie passed on through the ages.  Hell, he hasn't even been around that long when you consider the duration of the human race and the amount of other gods he has to compete with.  

It's utter stupidity.  Christians, like Jews, Muslims and most every other member of the human race, are sheep. 

Stupid.
Fucking.
Sheep.
[Image: Evolution.png]

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#9
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
(August 22, 2015 at 2:38 am)Celestine Wrote:
(August 22, 2015 at 2:29 am)Ashground Wrote: They'd rather hate what their deity hates instead of questioning his 'perfection' (I suspect plain fear of Pascals Wager).
But that is just my guess, I wish I knew.

If it is pascal's wager shouldn't they think perhaps that this monstrous mythological being is the one trying to pull the sheet over their eyes? I mean Satan in the bible is a very nice guy , he share's the fruits of the garden willingly with Adam and Even bestowing them with knowledge (technically I think it's just a snake but many Christians identify it with satan), and it is this Yahweh who damns them and their children to suffer for disobeying his will. In the desert Satan offers' Jesus a chance to be the king of the world and that he won't even have to suffer a thing. Satan never says anything bad about god as far as I know in the bible. According to every Abrahamic faith it is Satan whom we have to thank for all of our technological advances, and Satan if he is the snake becomes something like the Prometheus among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Prometheus never really got that much thanks either now that I think about it.

But back to Pascal's wager I mean as far as they know this Yahweh guy is actually everything he says Satan is, and Satan is the one you know, who rules over heaven and that this Yahweh fellow is actually the ruler of hell and Satan who does not want them to suffer for all eternity and stroke the ego of the biggest jerk in human history tries to save them from this path, but because they die willingly accepting Yahweh's terms that he enters his kingdom there is nothing Satan can do as they make the choice on their own free will.

I've arrived at the conclusion that the difference between Yahweh and Satan is really simple to understand.  Yahweh (one of his many names) is considered "God" whereas Satan isn't.  But what is a "god"?  History is full of them.  The more successful ones were the guys who instituted a comprehensive system of laws that regulated the local yokels' behavior in all things.  As a group the "God" of the Bible was simply the series of men who ruled the dominant empire in the Middle East at any particular time.  He had the power of life and death over all of the local yokels and they jumped when he said jump, most of the time.  The Bible does include some stories where the local yokels told the God character to get bent and the God character goes bonkers with rage and foaming at the mouth threats.  

Now the Yahweh character became the big God because he issued the "Law," aka the 613 rules that the Jews were supposed to follow for eternity.  When Moses started spewing them out a lot of the local yokels didn't take them too seriously.  Remember the golden calf and the guy who picked up sticks on the sabbath?  Moses went ballistic and went on one of his usually killing sprees.  He was ISIS on steroids.  That kept people in line for a while and then they told him to go F himself.  More killing.  And since the people couldn't overthrow the jerk they simply complied with his rules.  Moses gained the title of "god" for his efforts but he gave the title of "God" to someone else.  

Jesus comes along and he created a shorter list of laws that everyone was supposed to follow, simply because he said so and if they didn't he would toss their butts into the lake of fire.  So for his efforts he became known as the "son of God".  He said that people had to follow the old rules (he didn't follow them himself but he was "special" and therefore exempt) but if they didn't follow all of his new rules he would throw their butts into the lake of fire.  

Why do muslims worship Allah?  Because "Mohammed" (aka Uthman) said that all of the new Islamic rules came from the deity Allah.  If people don't follow them they are killed.  And since it's a peer pressure religion people comply in public.  

So why do people worship BS "gods"?  Because if they don't they are usually killed or suffer serious sanctions from the herd.  Christianity is the weak link because in the modern world people can claim to be a Christian and simply fake it.  They don't have to wear special clothes, do group rituals, go on pilgrimages, or kill goats (or their children).
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#10
RE: How do people justify the worship of Yahweh?
In antiquity yhwh was the common enough sort of god who had to be propitiated with sacrifices and shit because if he got pissed he might do something awful. Conveniently the priests had a whole book of nasty shit that he'd done in the past when people got uppity.

Remember that religion is about social control not some god
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