No, God does NOT have the right to make rules for us - and here's why . . . .

by nicolaou 53 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  oompa

  why the hell would god even WANT to make rules for people?...zillions of planets, stars, galaxies, angels.......and he wants rules for bags of water and dirt?...........and where are these damm rules?......at least put them inside a pyramid written with his own damm finger for people to go see and make their own damm copy!....even the tablets from moses would be nice...how the hey do you lose something like that!!!.......i mean c'mon.....could there be any WORSE way that to let stubborn and superstitious people make copy after rotting copy of his "rules"???.........these people made gold calves, copper serpents, and constantly were unfaithful and worshiped false gods...yet they were in charge of preserving gods "rules"..........yeah right.......christians the same way.......they changed what they want, and some even supposedly removed gods own name from the new testament?!?!?..........what the fluck else did they change?!?!?!??

  i agree with d-p an nic.....especially the idiocy comment.....

  what parent does not force/enforce rules on kids?!?!?!.........when you have a belt on your ass or a hickory switch on your bare legs....it sure felt like my folks were forcing their rule on me!!!.....same with monthlong grounding!!!..........oompa
• 

  Mickey mouse

  It's a pointless argument however, because no one can prove that God exists and that he is ruling over anyone or anything.

  This is what it boils down to.

  I could equally insist that the only acceptable food for humans is lettuce because there's a giant invisible rabbit in the heavens who demands it.
• 

  undercover

  B. "Obey me / have faith in me, or I will send you to hell / eternally destroy you."

  It does make sense, however, for other humans to say that God has certain rules, and to take on the authority to enforce them.

  There's the crux of the problem. God is defined by those who want to use his assumed power under their authority to control others.

  I agree that for a God to allow free will but then impose restrictions is a paradox. It's like telling a condemned man that he's free to leave the hangman's gallows but not removing the rope. He can only go so for before hanging himself. He's free of the punishment of death, but he's not truly free as he is always in sight of the gallows as a constant reminder.
• 

  bluecanary

  I agree that for a God to allow free will but then impose restrictions is a paradox. It's like telling a condemned man that he's free to leave the hangman's gallows but not removing the rope. He can only go so for before hanging himself. He's free of the punishment of death, but he's not truly free as he is always in sight of the gallows as a constant reminder.

  I like your analogy. I claim it.
• 

  Mickey mouse

  I like your analogy. I claim it.

  It definitely works better than my giant invisible rabbit in the heavens. Frankly that would be freaky!

  
• 

  DaCheech

  I have quite a few Arabic acquantinces, their god tell them that it's ok to smoke, but it's not ok to drink alcohol.

  I am a Jehobah slave, my god told me thru the watchtower that drinking in moderation is ok, but smoking is not.

  God shure's got me scrambled.

  Why is countries like Netherlands with loose morality have less crime?

  but in America where the right wing controls 80% of the country have alot of violent crime?

  God's got me again!
• 

  Pistoff

  How about this:

  If, IF, there is a god, and he made us in our image, then I say he wants us to figure it out for ourselves. After all, arguing inside that frame, no one taught God; no one tells him what to do, but his followers think that he acts ethically. I am not so sure of that, but whatever.

  He expects us then to determine how to ethically treat each other.

  If you believe in him.
• 

  Robdar

  I do not believe God gives us any rules. Nor does he punish us for misbehavior. Misbehavior can have bad consequences though. And so we bring pain upon ourselves and others by not listening to our inner wisdom.
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  One of the wisest things I ever read when I first joined the ex JW community (after running for my life from the borg) was this statement (in ATJ paraphrase) "A powerful god punishes, a more powerful god forgives."

  I never forgot that. I have my own opinions about how god should be, but I use my and many other peoples experiences as parents, good and bad ones.

  Good parents do have rules and guidelines, with the realization that their kids are going to screw them up so many times, and learn so many things from their screw ups. Good parents realize that they aren't there to mold their kids, but to help their children discover who they are as individuals.

  Good parents don't take themselves too seriously when their kids mess up.

  Bad parents are impatient and want to not deal with their kids to the extent that they aren't bothering them. Bad parents want to control at the expense of the kids soul. These can be borderline abusive parents.

  I use the metaphor of a parent, because god is supposed to be our father, which is a totally wasted way to describe god unless we can't use our own experiences of our parents in the matter.

  You can figure this out on your own, dear reader. For my part, if god exists, there can be no way that he is unaware of his lack of being here. Right? When kids call out to their parents, the parents show, or the parents get their ass thrown in jail.

  It's called being delinquent, and it is a damn hard thing to explain away when one tried to talk up a "loving god".

  So if god really does exist, I can't imagine him having rules, as he doesn't seem to care a bit about their enforcement. It appears that at best, he wants his kids to figure out things on their own.

  Of course, that is only a theory, assuming god even exists.
• 

  Satanus

  Thing is, 99% of the species that have ever existed have gone extinct, and that, long before humans started messing around. Bringing the concept of a god w rules into that picture doesn't speak very well for him. In fact, we may be better off without him, if he actually did exist.

  S