I don't see the authority over God as being evil, any more than bureaucrats who run research institutions in our world are evil.
So--a bureaucrat insists a scientist abandon a family member to people who will torture him to death. Luckily, the scientist has a family member who is willing. You're okay with the bureaucrat who demands this? You're okay with the scientist who agrees?
And again, if you seriously believe that God Is Not Really In Charge--the Bureaucrat Can Yank His Funding At Any Time, I'm okay with that, and if you seriously believe that words like evil and cruel can't apply to God (because God is amoral, like volcanoes, maybe?), and if you seriously believe that God is more on a level with Albert Einstein as regards knowledge and power, okay. This are some fairly nonstandard beliefs about God, but I can hardly argue that you *don't* believe these things, and it's not like there's any way to settle the question.
And of course arguing about God is more like arguing about fairies than arguing about pigeons. If we have a disagreement over how strong a pigeon is, that can be settled to everyone's complete satisfaction. If we have an argument over how strong God is, not so much.
So I'm not sure where to go from here, except to say that all I know about God are the stories people tell me. And from most of the stories--if you look at what he actually does, and has people do--he's one unpleasant entity. And the more I watch the intellectual gyrations required to turn things around and make him look good, the more I wonder, why all the effort? It's like people are afraid he'll smash them if they don't butter him up.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 07:47 pm (UTC)I don't see the authority over God as being evil, any more than bureaucrats who run research institutions in our world are evil.
So--a bureaucrat insists a scientist abandon a family member to people who will torture him to death. Luckily, the scientist has a family member who is willing. You're okay with the bureaucrat who demands this? You're okay with the scientist who agrees?
And again, if you seriously believe that God Is Not Really In Charge--the Bureaucrat Can Yank His Funding At Any Time, I'm okay with that, and if you seriously believe that words like evil and cruel can't apply to God (because God is amoral, like volcanoes, maybe?), and if you seriously believe that God is more on a level with Albert Einstein as regards knowledge and power, okay. This are some fairly nonstandard beliefs about God, but I can hardly argue that you *don't* believe these things, and it's not like there's any way to settle the question.
And of course arguing about God is more like arguing about fairies than arguing about pigeons. If we have a disagreement over how strong a pigeon is, that can be settled to everyone's complete satisfaction. If we have an argument over how strong God is, not so much.
So I'm not sure where to go from here, except to say that all I know about God are the stories people tell me. And from most of the stories--if you look at what he actually does, and has people do--he's one unpleasant entity. And the more I watch the intellectual gyrations required to turn things around and make him look good, the more I wonder, why all the effort? It's like people are afraid he'll smash them if they don't butter him up.
Which wouldn't be consistent with a good entity.