I have judged Bible-God and found him wanting. Hearing no objections from Bible-God, I operate under the assumption that my judgment is correct. He is free to correct me at any time. He knows where I live, he knows all my phone numbers, he knows all my email addresses, and he can PM me here or through Facebook. So far, I have successfully taken his silence as tacit support for my worldview. RAmen.
Do we have the right to judge god?
by mankkeli 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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N.drew
We can't agree on anything, so what is the "we" in the "do we have the right to judge god?"
Do I have the right to judge anyone? Yes
Do you? No
That's just the way it is.
Call me crazy if you want to.
I know who Selah is!
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PSacramento
At best we can and should judge what MAN has made God into.
Of course that God has allowed Himself to be made as such is quite a telling thing BUT one must be careful to just THAT.
I think that it is to do a diservice to God to NOT judge what is said and written about him.
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N.drew
Razziel I like what you say and how. It's the quiet ones who have deepness to communicate. It's funny though, that you mention the feeling of guilt. Who is feeling guilty? There seems to be a gross lack of guilty feelings anywhere where The God is mentioned here on JWN. Has no one else noticed that? Or perhaps sometimes it's just sour grapes.
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Rocky_Girl
We have every right to question God and make judgment calls on what we see as His/Her actions. Abraham and Moses both questioned God's fairness on occasion and, in fact, changed His/Her mind.
I would suggest, however, that anyone judging God think about why they expect God to interfere in our lives and do certain things and why they believe that God is even capable of doing certain things. Who says that God, if S/He exists, is anything close to what humankind imagines.
I question God constantly.
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Ucantnome
Do we have the right to judge god?
God as i understand is all powerful. Creator of everything.
Can I judge whether he acts correctly? Do I have the right to judge his actions? No I don't think I can judge God unless I am God. I think I can judge whether I wish to worship him or not. I think that involves my trust. Trust that he will always act in righteous manner.
Am I righteous? Would I judge him in righteousness if I'm not?
I think I have the right to decide whether I wish to trust God and serve him but not to judge him as if I know better.
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nancy drew
There are so many different ideas on this planet about the god question. Everyone is born into some religion or not so you cannot assume that whatever you were born into is the correct answer just cause your family believes it.
So yes everyone has to make a decision about what to believe and what is truth and so therefore yes we do judge the whole concept.
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Terry
The reason mankind makes "God" such an absolute value is because we define God in terms of our own life and death.
We seek life and avoid death. God has all the power to affect those outcomes.
If we aren't alive we can't value anything or even do anything of value.
All of our personal values actually reflect on our dependance on staying alive.
We must have the freedom to take all the actions required for the support, furtherance and the fulfillment and the enjoyment of our own life. (Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.)
The concept of a “right” pertains only to action—specifically, to freedom of action. It means freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference.
Freedom to act on our own judgment, for our own goals, by our own voluntary, uncoerced choice is the only Freedom worth having.
Having now defined "rights" and indicating the "source" of rights and the necessity of exercising such I'll answer your question!
YES!
If there is a god and that god makes demands upon us which become a matter of life and death...two things become obvious:
1.Being dealt with FAIRLY is our first concern
2.Being actually allowed to freely choose without hindrance, coercion or compulsion is all-important.
Jehovah is the god most of us have becoming all too familiar with.
I judge Jehovah (as represented to me) as a whimsical, mean-spirited and arbitrary character unworthy of my love or worship.
I consign him to the hall of shame reserved for Lex Luthor, the Joker and Professor Moriarity. All of whom are also fictional.
Yes, I adjuge Jehovah as a work of fiction!
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Razziel
(Sorry if I'm off topic from the original post.)
N.drew Nobody talks about guilt, but I think it is a base emotion that motivates a lot of our life decisions, and we disguise it by rationalization. It arises from the thought that someone "cares" for us, or has "done" something for us, giving us a feeling of obligation and responsibility towards that person or entity. If we have feelings or actions that go against that emotion of obligation and responsibility, we feel guilty for it, even if we are in the right. It directly conflicts with self-interest.
For example,
My parents gave me life. If it wasn't for JW's, they would never have met, and I would never have been born. Anytime I say or do something they would not approve of, they do something I do not approve of, or I regret the years of service they've given to the WTS, I feel a prick of guilt because I know without the WTS, I would never have been born. It doesn't matter if I'm right and my parents are wrong, I still feel guilty.
I have a job opportunity with another company that would advance my career. I feel obligated to my current supervisor and job, because they gave me a chance when nobody else would, without which I wouldn't have the opportunity to advance my career with the new position. I have no grievance with them, and when I think of leaving I'm pricked with guilt because of feelings of obligation for the opportunities they've given me.
I could expand examples to situations of fidelity between husband and wife, or relationships with friends, or religion, but it comes down to the same emotions of guilt and self-interest. I have the perceived feeling of obligation to someone or something for such and such reason, and I feel guilty when my actions contradict with that obligation. Or conversely because of self-interest, I am afraid of losing something; friends, a job, a mate, etc., and I don't want to do something that will jeopardize that. Or because of self-interest, I don't let anything come between me and my goal.
Some people are able to disconnect their emotions of self-interest or guilt, but most of us fall somewhere in between. Eventually, we typically end up doing what we really want, but guilt and self-interest keep us indecisive much longer than is necessary and causes us missed opportunities and heartache while we make up our minds.
I don't expect to see much guilt displayed on a message board. The internet is great because you can let your inner personality and ego out. I'm sure (and know because I've met several) that most internet personas have little in common with reality. The internet is one of the few places you can display the personality you really want to be, not how your real life requires you to be.
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xchange
When reading a novel, I can most certainly make judgements on any character in the book. After all, the story and characters are merely a concept in the mind of the author and can be subject to scrutiny.
Do we have a right to judge god? Well, god is just a concept in the minds of humans. Do I have a right to judge or question a cop, a judge, a king? That implies a measure of authority that they have over us. I don't subscribe to the fact that a concept or any myth has any kind of authority over me. In fact, it's ludicrous to think that an idea can have that much control over humans to even consider the question if it's ok for us to judge it.