Can God be objectively good despite criticism against Him/Her/It?

[vulcanlogician]

I could say the same about your response.

You are correct that I am not frustrated with you in particular but with people in general.  I see over-generalizing as another variety of lying to oneself and others, so certain specific points can't be communicated.

Since this is a general human problem, I won't escape it by switching forums.  So I need to take a break.

I personally don't see why Angrboda is annoyed with you. But it's very possible that I'm missing something.

I personally always enjoy our interactions, and you usually say thoughtful things. Just keep giving your input, man. Maybe people are just cranky sometimes. Or opinionated. In either case, that doesn't mean Angrboda is trying to stop something from being communicated. But neither should that deter you from dropping your two cents.

[Anomalocaris]

I mean, I know I've said some pretty harsh things about God (in real life), but perhaps God is above all forms of criticism? And acts like the one truly objectively good thing in a person's life, despite what that person might think or say about God?

Nothing is above criticism unless it satisfies all possible desires that can exist. 

If god does that then it would be impossible for us to be having this discussion.

[Ahriman]

I mean, I know I've said some pretty harsh things about God (in real life), but perhaps God is above all forms of criticism? And acts like the one truly objectively good thing in a person's life, despite what that person might think or say about God?

Nothing is above criticism unless it satisfies all possible desires that can exist. 

If god does that then it would be impossible for us to be having this discussion.

Yeah no that's totally wrong.

[Belacqua]

Can God be objectively good despite criticism against Him/Her/It?

The answer is "yes." 

Here I'm going by classical theology, not Bible literalism. Some people on this forum don't like me to do this; they only want to talk about the God of Ken Ham, not the God of Dante. But the God of Dante makes sense, whereas the God of Ken Ham doesn't. 

This is according to classical theology:

God is the good. God is not a physical object, a changing entity, or an emotional sky-daddy. God is the good itself. God is an idea, in the way that Plato's Forms are ideas. 

The universe is moved by God, though God takes no action. This is because all of us wish to move toward the good. God causes the world to move because he is an object of desire -- in the end, the only real object of desire. 

We may not be aware of what the good is. This is because the good is not something we can perceive with the senses. Good is intelligible, not sensible. And many things which are intelligible are difficult, at first, to grasp. 

So, what is good for you? We could make a list: health, happiness, peace, etc. All of these are portions of the good which we can experience in our lives, and form a portion of, or reflection of, or emanation of, God. 

Take health as an example. It is good for you to live in a way that leads to the best health possible. Why would anyone not do this? Because they are misled by poor advice, or because their love of the unhealthy is too strong, or because their love of the healthy is too weak. God "wants" you to do what is most healthy for you, because God is the good, and aiming toward the good is aiming toward God. In every case, God's "desire" is what is best for you. (These words are in scare quotes because God's "wants" or "desires" are not like people's. Since God lacks nothing, he himself wants nothing. When we say God "wants" X, it means that X is the best thing for you to do, to aim at the good.) 

It may be that your love of what is unhealthy is too strong -- say you are addicted to cigarettes. Then you would criticize the best way of living, and say it's boring or lacks pleasure. But it's still the best way of living, even if you criticize it, even if you, at the moment, hate it.

[The Grand Nudger]

The god of dante makes no more sense than the god of ham.

[Ahriman]

The god of dante makes no more sense than the god of ham.

Your point?

[The Grand Nudger]

Point? That we try to rehabilitate gods for any number of reasons. Bel might think that god needs to be smarter - you made this thread to explicitly rehabilitate your own ideas about gods.

The very fact that we have to rehabilitate them powerfully argues that our rehabilitative efforts are imprudent. Just come up with some non batshit way to say what we really mean, because it's clear that even for the afflicted "gods" aint it.

[Fake Messiah]

So, what is good for you? We could make a list: health, happiness, peace, etc. All of these are portions of the good which we can experience in our lives, and form a portion of, or reflection of, or emanation of, God. 

Take health as an example. It is good for you to live in a way that leads to the best health possible. Why would anyone not do this? Because they are misled by poor advice, or because their love of the unhealthy is too strong, or because their love of the healthy is too weak. God "wants" you to do what is most healthy for you, because God is the good, and aiming toward the good is aiming toward God. In every case, God's "desire" is what is best for you. (These words are in scare quotes because God's "wants" or "desires" are not like people's. Since God lacks nothing, he himself wants nothing. When we say God "wants" X, it means that X is the best thing for you to do, to aim at the good.) 

It may be that your love of what is unhealthy is too strong -- say you are addicted to cigarettes. Then you would criticize the best way of living, and say it's boring or lacks pleasure. But it's still the best way of living, even if you criticize it, even if you, at the moment, hate it.

Except, people a lot of time don't have control over if they'll get sick or not. Some people get born already sick and even die at an early age or live a life of suffering, and some want to live a healthy life but don't know how - like in the past when people didn't know how the bubonic plague was transmitted.

[Ahriman]

I don't care if cigarettes are bad for you. I'm still going to smoke them. At least they don't affect my mental health like weed does.

[Angrboda]

The god of dante makes no more sense than the god of ham.

The question is not whether the god of Dante makes sense but rather whether he is good.