Do you think God is authoritarian?

[Belacqua]

[The Grand Nudger]

The apologetic among us would like to insist that the christian god is very much that god - were that true...then the world we have and christianity as it is today is already a product of the god of classical theism. This..is what that looks like. Started authoritarian..and despite so much change since everywhere else, remains so.

It may be the case that theistic gods are authoritarian because this is their basic function to societies - before which we see no strong evidence of belief in any such type of god. That authoritarian societies, particularly early in world orders, by their nature outcompeted societies less rigidly organized - and so their gods survived as they did as other ideas about gods which lacked authoritarian content died as the other societies did. We can repeat this thought experiment for factions within societies and for sub sects within the same overall god tradition.

When it wasn't outright genocide and there's no real ambiguity, ofc.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

72 years and I'm still amazed that adult fairy tales have such an impact on society. And disgusted.

[Pat Mustard]

Let me explain; I personally, like most of us, believe God does not exist, with the way he is described to be being so faulty and all. Now, God is described as being all-loving, yet he is mostly human mentally as many have described him as, including his actions of punishment on humans and all. Just like those who still support Donald J. Trump, even with all the bad things he has done, people just look past the faults of a nonexistent being, whether it be in his interactions with humans and their affairs or as a being with many paradoxes and still follow him, anyway, saying he is perfect. Thing is, God was conceived by humans, so there are bound to be faults in what he is as described by humans, and with that, perfection, contrary to what people who first thought of him long ago, is subjective and relative. Now...

Do you think God is more like an authoritarian figure, and absolute monarchy, and a dictatorship; if in a subtle way? I mean, even though I say he is just a mental predisposition humans have, a psychological need, people act like they need to follow him, and are rather brainwashed by others who believe in him as they talk them into following him despite his nonexistence. This is just like those who still follow Trump, or more so, it is like those who can't stand up to Trump. These people are manipulated to the point that they think God can do no wrong. With all that, despite God being described as all-loving (which has contradictions, anyway), he has a big hold on a lot of people in the world. Yes, a nonexistent being has a hold on lots of people in the world. And that all includes the fact that God is said to have given humans free will, yet it is also said that humans must follow God if they don't want to go to Hell. 

While God being authoritarian may not be a regime of fear but rather people thinking everything is okay and everything is good, it is, in a way, like people's minds were brainwashed by God, just like what an authoritarian leader would do. Not only does that take away from free will (which, as myself and some people believe here, does not exist anyway), but it takes away from people being smart, being sapient, as humans are supposed to be. To me, it is as if this God being is making people dumb, even though he granted humans the gift of intelligence, to make sure they don't stop following him, all for his own gain. In fact, I would even accuse God of being like the Devil in that regard, being an entity that seems good and perfect, but is just using humans for his own gain. It does not help that God does nothing and does not seem to care about most of the bad things happening to people (including good people), like wars, murder and all. Again, he has a grip on a lot of people despite being nonexistent. He is more like a dictator, if a subtle one,  who asks for people's support and yet gives nothing in return a lot of the time. He is said to be good and perfect, but in the end, he is no different from people like Trump or any authoritarian person.

Do you see what I mean here? If so, what do you all think of this?

More so, what I am trying to ask from all this is...

Don't you all find it funny that a nonexistent being like God has a hold on so many people in this world, in a way like an authoritarian person?

The fictional being depicted in the bible is definitely authoritarian. There is good set of reasons to also say it has the mentality of a spoilt toddler.

And, as a result, the vast majority of the variations on the abrahamic religions are themselves authoritarian.

[no one]

Spoilt mentally challenged toddler.

[ShinyCrystals]

With all these replies and what they are saying, I must ask…

How many Christians, or any religious group for that matter, realize they are following an authoritarian and nonexistent being like God (or other gods depending on the religion)? Do they even care, and are they maybe blind to the authoritarian side of such being(s)? I ask because the authoritarian thing conflicts with freedom, which most people value, and I think those who follow such beings(s) don’t seem to know that. Following God or gods can’t logically be a good exception to humans having or exercising freedom, especially with such beings being authoritarian.

[Mister Agenda]

If they realized God (gods) was nonexistent they would be atheists....

[ShinyCrystals]

If they realized God (gods) was nonexistent they would be atheists....

Yeah, true. Though I was focusing more on whether people realized or cared if God (gods) were authoritarian, which I think they do not.

[h4ym4n]

[Thumpalumpacus]

With all these replies and what they are saying, I must ask…

How many Christians, or any religious group for that matter, realize they are following an authoritarian and nonexistent being like God (or other gods depending on the religion)? Do they even care, and are they maybe blind to the authoritarian side of such being(s)? I ask because the authoritarian thing conflicts with freedom, which most people value, and I think those who follow such beings(s) don’t seem to know that. Following God or gods can’t logically be a good exception to humans having or exercising freedom, especially with such beings being authoritarian.

Look at the metaphors they use: they are a herd of sheep to be led by the Shepherd. They are clay on the Potter's wheel. This rather speaks to their sense of being helpless nonagents, to be shaped by their lord. I bet they don't see God as authoritarian because they have voluntarily surrendered a good part of their agency.