The absolute absurdity of God

[Cecelia]

Theists expect us to believe in something that is, frankly, quite absurd when you really think about it.

We start with a fairly simple concept:  God, an all-powerful being who created the universe.  And right there, a lot of skeptics are lost from the onset.  And that's completely fair, but the concept itself isn't so absurd.  It just lacks evidence.  And one can believe in many things without evidence.  Maybe not logically so, but it's not completely and totally absurd.

However, we then delve further into what these theists expect us to believe that this deity created the earth as a test for human beings.   This is where we start delving into the absolutely absurd.  Earth is a 'test'.  One that:

-Nobody asked for, or agreed to take
-The rules for which aren't made immediately clear
-Is rigged against us from the beginning
-Has the sole purpose of determining an eternal afterlife

The first absurdity should be obvious to everyone.  Nobody agreed to take this test.  We're much like Harry Potter in the fourth Harry Potter book here.  Magically obligated to participate in a contest for which we did not agree to partake in.  And in fact one that we are NOT qualified to partake in from the onset from which the test begins.  There's no opting out.  The goblet of fire called our name, and according to theists, we're obligated to play along. 

The second absurdity is less absurd, I suppose.  One could argue that the rules are made clear:  It's all in the bible, silly!  You know the one that's only inspired so many denominational splits that it's not funny.  Apparently one book every 2000 years should make everything clear.  Except you know... to people born to different faiths.  Might have also been helpful if this book were actually written by the big man, instead of just inspired by.  And the book itself definitely reads like it was written to appeal to the people of biblical times.  Somehow their morality just happens to match God's.  This is in itself fairly absurd.

The third absurdity is that the test is rigged against us from the start.  This God, who allegedly created us and expects us to follow the rules for a test that we didn't agree to take... refuses to provide any real evidence of his existence.  Instead he expects us to take it on 'faith'.  Cause you know... if he revealed himself to us, we wouldn't have free will.  Like the people during Jesus's time dind't have free will!  If this game is real, then it's rigged against us, making it even more pointless.

The final absurdity is the idea that this determines where we spend our eternal afterlife.  This God creates a test, puts us all through it (despite nobody signing up for it) and the reward/punishment for getting it right/wrong is far greater than the test itself.  One wonders why (and my kids have asked me about this regarding other people and what they believe--making me glad I'm not a believer who has to answer these questions) God didn't just put everyone in heaven to begin with. 

Is it to feed his narcissistic tendencies?  Survey says: No.  Sure, he comes across as a narcissist.  But a true narcissist would reveal themselves to revel in people worshiping them.  Much like the God of the Old Testament is said to have done.  (Oh yes, but he 'changed' after becoming human.  Except not enough to make any logical sense, or provide evidence of his existence). 

The only other explanation is: He doesn't want us to know it's a test.  He wants to see how we all act when we think we're not being watched.  The problem with this, is equally simple.  The idea of God itself would destroy the ability to test under such conditions.  Besides, we already see plenty of believers act badly.  So it's not as if knowing about the test for certain would really change our behaviors.  Otherwise you wouldn't have priests molesting children, and Pope's turning a blind eye to that stuff.  Everyone forfeits, and the task is cancelled and counted as null and void.

[purplepurpose]

If you are afraid of afterlife, then become martial arts grand master and when you die here and switch to your astral body, you get the chance to start a rebellion in astral plane or help the rebels who already fighting for freedom.

Realistically all I can do is work few more decades(at best) I have left. Torturing my mind with magical theories seems one of the worst things I can do.

[robvalue]

I absolutely agree. It makes no sense on any level. I made a video about this very subject. Everything God is supposedly doing is completely stupid, and would be considered unacceptable if it wasn't given a divine pass.

[Kernel Sohcahtoa]

Out of curiosity, I wonder to what degree religious practitioners knowingly or unknowingly project their personal truths, opinions, and biases onto their faith?  To what degree did the authors of the various religious literary works anthropomorphize their faith? Was the expertise of these authors more in understanding/influencing human behavior than in accurately understanding a supernatural life-form (whatever that may be)?

[Minimalist]

God, an all-powerful being who created the universe.

Actually, there is nothing in that statement that is not absurd.  And then, yes.  It gets worse.

[Magilla]

Theists expect us to believe in something that is, frankly, quite absurd when you really think about it.
. . .
 Earth is a 'test'.
. . .

If we assume that this god existed before the universe, and then created it, because it's all knowledgeable, and all powerful, and had options, (so-called freewill), then it knew before hand, just how everything would turn out for ever, (and a day !) and before it set about doing its creating thing.

So as part of its option, it made a universe in which person b, d, g, q, w etc, and whomever else, would fail the test. If the god knew all this, and still went ahead, how then could it call it a test? It knew the result, and made that result happen, by the way it set up everything.

So its a non-test, with absurd rewards and punishments for things turning out the way it chose. Yes, it's absurd.

Magilla.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

-Nobody asked for, or agreed to take
-The rules for which aren't made immediately clear
-Is rigged against us from the beginning
-Has the sole purpose of determining an eternal afterlife

To put it another way:

'God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.' - Terry Pratchett

Boru

[robvalue]

There's also the issue of whether God knows its own future. If so, it has no agency either.

[pocaracas]

Theists expect us to believe in something that is, frankly, quite absurd when you really think about it.

According to the rest of your post, I'd replace "Theists" with "Christians".
A few other religions rehash some of your points, but not all of your points.

We start with a fairly simple concept:  God, an all-powerful being who created the universe.  And right there, a lot of skeptics are lost from the onset.  And that's completely fair, but the concept itself isn't so absurd.  It just lacks evidence.  And one can believe in many things without evidence.  Maybe not logically so, but it's not completely and totally absurd.

I think they've turned the order on its head...
Let's, for a moment, imagine that humans evolved from some form of ape... and, during that evolution, they started wondering about life and death and what happens to the memories and experiences and personality of an individual after death of the body.
From such musings to having someone declare the existence of another world where those inhabit might have been a matter of minutes, or generations... however much time elapsed, it happened, eventually. The realm of the dead became a suitable explanation, unfalsifiable of course, and it wormed itself into the imaginary and the desires of early mankind.
Simultaneously, this would have generated the concept of a soul.
The other realm would require a hierarchy for control, much like we need one among ourselves... and who sits on top of that hierarchy? The ultimate ruler, the king of souls...
And, from there, all religions drink and make their head god to be that ruler.

The fact that people came up with such an concept as a god is amazing... perhaps it is to be expected in any nearly-agricultural society.

The religion then evolves with the appearance of cities and there, yes, the concepts proclaimed by those religions become absurd... but they are already too ingrained in the population and most people never pose the right questions.
Ignorance is bliss. And we'd rather have bliss than face the potential harsh reality of the end of life as a simple end.

[Little Rik]

Theists expect us to believe in something that is, frankly, quite absurd when you really think about it.

We start with a fairly simple concept:  God, an all-powerful being who created the universe.  And right there, a lot of skeptics are lost from the onset.  And that's completely fair, but the concept itself isn't so absurd.  It just lacks evidence.  And one can believe in many things without evidence.  Maybe not logically so, but it's not completely and totally absurd.

However, we then delve further into what these theists expect us to believe that this deity created the earth as a test for human beings.   This is where we start delving into the absolutely absurd.  Earth is a 'test'.  One that:

-Nobody asked for, or agreed to take
-The rules for which aren't made immediately clear
-Is rigged against us from the beginning
-Has the sole purpose of determining an eternal afterlife

The first absurdity should be obvious to everyone.  Nobody agreed to take this test.  We're much like Harry Potter in the fourth Harry Potter book here.  Magically obligated to participate in a contest for which we did not agree to partake in.  And in fact one that we are NOT qualified to partake in from the onset from which the test begins.  There's no opting out.  The goblet of fire called our name, and according to theists, we're obligated to play along. 

The second absurdity is less absurd, I suppose.  One could argue that the rules are made clear:  It's all in the bible, silly!  You know the one that's only inspired so many denominational splits that it's not funny.  Apparently one book every 2000 years should make everything clear.  Except you know... to people born to different faiths.  Might have also been helpful if this book were actually written by the big man, instead of just inspired by.  And the book itself definitely reads like it was written to appeal to the people of biblical times.  Somehow their morality just happens to match God's.  This is in itself fairly absurd.

The third absurdity is that the test is rigged against us from the start.  This God, who allegedly created us and expects us to follow the rules for a test that we didn't agree to take... refuses to provide any real evidence of his existence.  Instead he expects us to take it on 'faith'.  Cause you know... if he revealed himself to us, we wouldn't have free will.  Like the people during Jesus's time dind't have free will!  If this game is real, then it's rigged against us, making it even more pointless.

The final absurdity is the idea that this determines where we spend our eternal afterlife.  This God creates a test, puts us all through it (despite nobody signing up for it) and the reward/punishment for getting it right/wrong is far greater than the test itself.  One wonders why (and my kids have asked me about this regarding other people and what they believe--making me glad I'm not a believer who has to answer these questions) God didn't just put everyone in heaven to begin with. 

Is it to feed his narcissistic tendencies?  Survey says: No.  Sure, he comes across as a narcissist.  But a true narcissist would reveal themselves to revel in people worshiping them.  Much like the God of the Old Testament is said to have done.  (Oh yes, but he 'changed' after becoming human.  Except not enough to make any logical sense, or provide evidence of his existence). 

The only other explanation is: He doesn't want us to know it's a test.  He wants to see how we all act when we think we're not being watched.  The problem with this, is equally simple.  The idea of God itself would destroy the ability to test under such conditions.  Besides, we already see plenty of believers act badly.  So it's not as if knowing about the test for certain would really change our behaviors.  Otherwise you wouldn't have priests molesting children, and Pope's turning a blind eye to that stuff.  Everyone forfeits, and the task is cancelled and counted as null and void.

Let us clear few points because it seems that your confusion is really out of control.    

1) Don't think that what religions say is what God say.
Religions were created by humans not by God so God has nothing to do with what religions say.

Here below there is an interesting view about religions.



2) When you create an image or a dream in your mind that image belong to you and you can do what you like with it.
That image has no power to rebel or to exit the mind of the person who created the image.
At the same time the creation within this universe has no power to exit the mind of the creator so the best thing for that creation to do is to go back in the mind of the creator ASAP and enjoy the unlimited power of that creator.

Whining about it only make the thing worse and get you nowhere other than in a stage of worse off.