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Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:24 AM May 2015

If you were GOD, how would improve the world?

I can think of all sorts of things I would do to make the world a better place for everyone, and I'll bet that with only a few minutes of thought you can probably come up with a whole bunch of ways to help people and improve the conditions of life on this planet.

Think about it. Think about how much good you could do with god-like power. Think of how many people you could help, how much suffering you could relieve, how much poverty and destitution you could eliminate, how much childhood cancer you could cure, how much evil and just plain meanness you could prevent, how much ignorance you could eradicate.

Think about it.

Think about this too: god supposedly has that power, but doesn't do any of things you and I would do. Doesn't that make us more loving and compassionate than god? What the hell is wrong with god anyway that "he" doesn't do those things, that he doesn't display even the slightest common decency that we, as mere human beings, would certainly exercise if we had the choice and the power. And you worship "him"? Why? Because "he works in mysterious ways?" What the hell does THAT mean? Shame on you.

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If you were GOD, how would improve the world? (Original Post) Binkie The Clown May 2015 OP
Erase and start over Xipe Totec May 2015 #1
No kidding, but maybe that's what's happening Warpy May 2015 #3
"if perfection were ever achieved, it would be too boring to tolerate." cbayer May 2015 #12
So, actually, maybe we're lucky for all the misery in the world. Jackpine Radical May 2015 #56
Oh, if there is a god, I don't think any of this is for it's entertainment. cbayer May 2015 #70
Can a God get bored and still be a god? LostOne4Ever May 2015 #67
I wouldn't think boredom had anything at all to do with perfection or omnipotence. cbayer May 2015 #71
Remake The World Without Religion cantbeserious May 2015 #2
I believe that has been tried by governments previously, Live and Learn May 2015 #5
The Question Was, If One Was God - Not, If One Was Government cantbeserious May 2015 #10
But his assumption is that a god exists. cbayer May 2015 #11
No Religion Does Not Preclude There Being A God - That Is A Human-Based Association cantbeserious May 2015 #13
So what would you call the god thing vis a vis people? cbayer May 2015 #14
Mother Nature - Universal Soul - Wisdom In The Mists - Be Creative cantbeserious May 2015 #15
I can see how all those words could be used to describe someone's god. cbayer May 2015 #17
One Can Acknowledge Existence That Is More Advanced Without Having To Pray To That Existence cantbeserious May 2015 #19
Oh, but religion is so much more than praying cbayer May 2015 #20
That Is Why This One - Acting As God - Would Eliminate It From The World cantbeserious May 2015 #21
Guess you didn't like my advice about eom cbayer May 2015 #22
No - I Choose To Do Things Differently - You Are Free To Proceed As You See Fit cantbeserious May 2015 #23
Ok. eom. cbayer May 2015 #25
I like praying - it's my 840high May 2015 #82
One Can Meditate Without A God cantbeserious May 2015 #92
And one can meditate with one. cbayer May 2015 #94
I like God. 840high May 2015 #96
I would prove I did not exist and vanish in a puff of logic. longship May 2015 #4
Lol, how are you going to prove you don't exist? cbayer May 2015 #18
all powerful gods are not constrained by logic. Warren Stupidity May 2015 #40
There are folks who could declare okasha May 2015 #41
Thanks, my friend. nt longship May 2015 #45
So you believe in an interventional god, at least in your fantasy. cbayer May 2015 #6
For a non believer you seem to be taking this Warren Stupidity May 2015 #9
Not to mention trying to pretend that's NOT the god the vast majority of theists believes in. trotsky May 2015 #16
Superior to which God? phil89 May 2015 #27
Whichever god you have concocted in your head. cbayer May 2015 #28
I'm a Giants fan Cartoonist May 2015 #7
I would erase all psychopaths, and all future ones DerekG May 2015 #8
Abolish death. Warren Stupidity May 2015 #24
Also, centipedes should stay completely out of sight. bvf May 2015 #33
So we all live forever? yeoman6987 May 2015 #37
If you so choose. Warren Stupidity May 2015 #38
I missed the upload feature yeoman6987 May 2015 #43
I'd keep some of the promises in the Bible. merrily May 2015 #26
Rename all the months randr May 2015 #29
Take all the days beyond 28 from existing months, bvf May 2015 #47
Which god? bvf May 2015 #30
My first thought was rock May 2015 #31
I'd increase the self-insight of every human. rug May 2015 #32
I'd make everyone just as smart as me Binkie The Clown May 2015 #34
You're due for a good talking-to. bvf May 2015 #36
I would make the Mets win. hrmjustin May 2015 #35
Then you are attributing the beliefs of their opponents bvf May 2015 #39
Tell him to get back to me. hrmjustin May 2015 #42
You win some, you lose some. bvf May 2015 #44
I don't pray for sports. hrmjustin May 2015 #46
Just the same. bvf May 2015 #48
Yes i would agree. hrmjustin May 2015 #49
Then you may as well call the prayer room bvf May 2015 #50
Call it what you will but i think the divine touches our souls but hrmjustin May 2015 #51
"..I don't think the divine decides what happens here." bvf May 2015 #52
Praising the divine, asking for mercy, and giving thanks for life. hrmjustin May 2015 #53
Asking for mercy?? bvf May 2015 #55
Mercy for our sins.. hrmjustin May 2015 #58
Now, or when we die? bvf May 2015 #60
All of this is a hope. hrmjustin May 2015 #62
And if they're not forgiven, then what? bvf May 2015 #63
That is up to God. hrmjustin May 2015 #64
I already acknowledged that. bvf May 2015 #65
Lovely talking to you and enjoy your day. hrmjustin May 2015 #66
Lovely. bvf May 2015 #69
"You're just pushing bullshit further back into your own brain" cleanhippie May 2015 #74
Please god, don't set me on fire after I die. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #76
Your opinion. hrmjustin May 2015 #77
Fanatics treat facts as if they were opinions, Binkie The Clown May 2015 #80
Are you calling me a fanatic? hrmjustin May 2015 #81
No, just making an observation about fanatics in general. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #89
i would call the police. hrmjustin May 2015 #93
But it's OK for "god" to abuse people that same way? n/t Binkie The Clown May 2015 #97
Lol abuse! hrmjustin May 2015 #98
Glorp is glorp. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #100
God's ways are higher than ours. hrmjustin May 2015 #101
The CIA's ways are always higher than ours. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #102
I never said such a thing and you know it. hrmjustin May 2015 #103
TTFN. Until next we meet. n/t Binkie The Clown May 2015 #104
I'm not mocking you, but you really believe this nonsense, don't you? mr blur May 2015 #110
I feel the same way about you. hrmjustin May 2015 #111
Everything is God WDIM May 2015 #54
We use words to draw distinctions. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #57
Nothing is meaningless. WDIM May 2015 #108
So everything loves us? Binkie The Clown May 2015 #112
"We create the world we live in through choice.' Warren Stupidity May 2015 #68
Well based on my own experiences WDIM May 2015 #109
Replace the "Golden Rule" with the "Golden Guarantee". "What you do unto others SHALL be done GoneFishin May 2015 #59
End Alzheimers Disease and Cancer AnnieBW May 2015 #61
I would make Ice Cream that didn't require freezing. cbayer May 2015 #72
Is that because you're homeless? bvf May 2015 #73
... trotsky May 2015 #118
If I were God... AtheistCrusader May 2015 #75
Get rid of destructive species and that would be us. Cleita May 2015 #78
I would quit creating republicans gopiscrap May 2015 #79
As long as Third Way/New Democrats are around, that won't do much. merrily May 2015 #88
How about time out chairs for world leaders? jwirr May 2015 #83
The Fletcher Memorial Home. bvf May 2015 #87
I'd give everybody Time-Machines. Now that would be REALLY entertaining. BlueJazz May 2015 #84
Pot in every chicken! immoderate May 2015 #85
I'm glad you don't have God's power. Omnith May 2015 #86
So your god likes killing people with tornadoes and earthquakes Binkie The Clown May 2015 #91
I would trust Binkie as a god over your god, your god is an amoral monster. n/t Humanist_Activist May 2015 #106
Um, the planet really is over-populated already. truebluegreen May 2015 #107
Joseph Heller wrote a paragraph or two about you in "Catch-22" Act_of_Reparation May 2015 #113
Do people have agency (free will) in heaven? n/t trotsky May 2015 #117
Curse the NY Yankees so they become a last place team bluestateguy May 2015 #90
Hamburger trees. sammythecat May 2015 #95
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Binkie The Clown May 2015 #99
A few things... Humanist_Activist May 2015 #105
Include all vermin in the Rapture Starboard Tack May 2015 #114
If I do not exist, how to improve the world? Yorktown May 2015 #115
Make it heaven. Iggo May 2015 #116

Warpy

(110,915 posts)
3. No kidding, but maybe that's what's happening
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:54 AM
May 2015

The big bang expanding and then contracting, the next big bang being another experiment in a series of how to put a universe together. The laws of physics at least look to be reasonably stable in this one. I guess dealing with the messier aspects of life is being put off until some future experiment in universe building.

Then again, if perfection were ever achieved, it would be too boring to tolerate.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
12. "if perfection were ever achieved, it would be too boring to tolerate."
Sun May 24, 2015, 09:27 AM
May 2015

Exactly, and a bored god could be a very dangerous god.

Jackpine Radical

(45,274 posts)
56. So, actually, maybe we're lucky for all the misery in the world.
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:23 PM
May 2015

It entertains a sadistic God and keeps him from wiping us all out in a fit of boredom.

Explains a lot of the Old Testament too.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
70. Oh, if there is a god, I don't think any of this is for it's entertainment.
Sun May 24, 2015, 06:20 PM
May 2015

There is also lots of joy and singing and dancing and lovemaking going on, but I have difficulty believing that it would ever entertain a god like entity.

People seem to enjoy stories about misery more than they do about joy. That may also explain a lot of the old testament.

LostOne4Ever

(9,267 posts)
67. Can a God get bored and still be a god?
Sun May 24, 2015, 04:52 PM
May 2015

Doesn't getting bored imply imperfection? Or non-omnipotence?

Similarly, doesn't not being able to get bored imply the same thing.

I feel like Austin Powers discussing time travel here...

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
71. I wouldn't think boredom had anything at all to do with perfection or omnipotence.
Sun May 24, 2015, 06:21 PM
May 2015

If anything, i would think being perfect would inevitably lead to boredom.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
11. But his assumption is that a god exists.
Sun May 24, 2015, 09:24 AM
May 2015

How do you, as god, remake a world that includes you but doesn't include religion?

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
17. I can see how all those words could be used to describe someone's god.
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:00 AM
May 2015

It would indicate a belief in something superhuman, no? At least a belief is something larger or more encompassing.

If one felt reverence for this thing and honored it as something greater than us, that's beginning to look a lot like religion.

Perhaps it is just the negative aspects of religion you would like to see eliminated?

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
20. Oh, but religion is so much more than praying
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:11 AM
May 2015

BTW, this may come across as snarky, but it's meant to be helpful. The purpose of "eom" is to let someone know there is no text in the message box, so they don't have to bother looking there.

It only makes sense if you put it in the reply title.

longship

(40,416 posts)
4. I would prove I did not exist and vanish in a puff of logic.
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:53 AM
May 2015

Whenever such questions are put forth, one has to go to the authoritative source, Douglas Adams.

After all...

BTW, yes bartender, I will have a refill of my Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and another one for my mate as well. And a round of ginnon tonicks for the house.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
18. Lol, how are you going to prove you don't exist?
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:01 AM
May 2015

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!".

You're going to need more than just a refill on the Gargle Blaster to accomplish that.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
6. So you believe in an interventional god, at least in your fantasy.
Sun May 24, 2015, 07:26 AM
May 2015

What would you do exactly? I want concrete examples.

I want to know how you would be so much superior to god? Do you think people would worship you?

Who is it you are shaming?

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
9. For a non believer you seem to be taking this
Sun May 24, 2015, 09:03 AM
May 2015

very personally.

Anyone who claims to believe in an all powerful creator deity should be ashamed of their ridiculous god.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
16. Not to mention trying to pretend that's NOT the god the vast majority of theists believes in.
Sun May 24, 2015, 09:52 AM
May 2015

But then again, when one's agenda is to defend religious belief at all costs, and attack anyone who asks questions that undermine its foundations, you see some pretty funny stuff.

 

phil89

(1,043 posts)
27. Superior to which God?
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:59 AM
May 2015

i am more moral than any God who allows suffering that could he could stop. I would stop suffering. Not too complicated huh?

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
28. Whichever god you have concocted in your head.
Sun May 24, 2015, 11:11 AM
May 2015

What is that god like? I suspect he is one that you could quite easily see yourself as superior to, as he's probably not a very nice fella at all.

Am I wrong?

And actually, it is very complicated. Let's just take medicine. Preventing suffering is not always the most moral thing to do. Sometimes one must inflict pain in order to achieve a higher goal. Sometimes one must allow suffering in order to increase longer term prognosis.

The simplistic approach of "I would stop suffering so I am more moral than god" wouldn't even work in a small pediatrics ward, let alone for the whole of humanity.

Cartoonist

(7,298 posts)
7. I'm a Giants fan
Sun May 24, 2015, 08:09 AM
May 2015

But I would let the Cubs win a World Series once. What has God got against them anyway? I know I've seen some of their batters make the sign of the cross.

DerekG

(2,935 posts)
8. I would erase all psychopaths, and all future ones
Sun May 24, 2015, 08:41 AM
May 2015

I've done lots of reading about psychopathy. They constitute between 1-2% of the population, feel no empathy or remorse, and wreak havoc upon their respective families, communities and societies. They run the gamut from drug pusher, hitman and serial killer to politician and CEO.

If I were god, I'd erase them from the timeline. Basically saying to everyone else, "You have to sort out your own business, but I won't burden you with irredeemable monsters."

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
24. Abolish death.
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:19 AM
May 2015

Give each sentient being the ability to upload one's consciousness into God's Cloud, and to continue to experience existence there and optionally download into a meat puppet again. God of course has redundant servers and storage so that no calamity can eliminate our precious selves.

Abolish disease.

Abolish poverty.

No fucking ticks. They are gone. Mosquitoes can stick around but they don't bite, have to eat fruit or some other shit instead.

We actually don't need gods for any of this. Except the ticks and mosquitoes.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
33. Also, centipedes should stay completely out of sight.
Sun May 24, 2015, 12:56 PM
May 2015

They can still perform their biological functions, but I don't want to see them. Ever.

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
38. If you so choose.
Sun May 24, 2015, 01:26 PM
May 2015

You get to upload your consciousness into god's version of Azure or AWS. You have to do this regularly or it could be embarrassing if your last backup was when you were 12. If your current meat puppet gets hosed, you can either activate a clone (I forgot to mention the clones) and download into that, or just continue -body free - as a net consciousness.

However this planet has a time limit that is considerably less than "forever" as does our galaxy as does the universe. So no.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
26. I'd keep some of the promises in the Bible.
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:57 AM
May 2015

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


Isaiah 2:4 King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition



Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.


III John 1:2, id.

randr

(12,408 posts)
29. Rename all the months
Sun May 24, 2015, 11:12 AM
May 2015

and move Leap Day next to July 4th or Labor Day; make it a day free of taxes and interest.
Just for starters.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
47. Take all the days beyond 28 from existing months,
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:08 PM
May 2015

Add them together to make a new month, and make the remaining day something like "World Day."

I remember seeing this seriously proposed, though I'm too lazy right now to provide a link.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
30. Which god?
Sun May 24, 2015, 11:51 AM
May 2015
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_deities

And "improve the world" by whose standards?

My own? My deluded believers?

Either way, you're bound to fuck things up for a lot of Earthlings.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
39. Then you are attributing the beliefs of their opponents
Sun May 24, 2015, 01:27 PM
May 2015

to a false god.

Thor has more important things to do--sorry.



 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
50. Then you may as well call the prayer room
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:34 PM
May 2015

"The Casino," no?

Not to get meta here, but isn't that what you're really saying?

 

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts)
51. Call it what you will but i think the divine touches our souls but
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:37 PM
May 2015

I don't think the divine decides what happens here.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
52. "..I don't think the divine decides what happens here."
Sun May 24, 2015, 02:46 PM
May 2015

Then explain prayer, if you don't believe in intercession.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
55. Asking for mercy??
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:23 PM
May 2015

No, that's not seeking intervention at all.

Unless you're asking for an imaginary being not to send you to hell, the concept of which you reject, IIRC.

Otherwise, mercy how?

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
60. Now, or when we die?
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:48 PM
May 2015

If "now, " then you definitely believe that your god intervenes.

If after death, you think that your god admits some people into what you think as "heaven," and others, not.

 

bvf

(6,604 posts)
65. I already acknowledged that.
Sun May 24, 2015, 04:41 PM
May 2015

Last edited Sun May 24, 2015, 05:22 PM - Edit history (1)

See #55.

So what does your god do to dispense with those undeserving of his "mercy"?

Don't tell me: It's a "mystery," right?

You're just pushing bullshit further back into your own brain. Sorry you don't see that.

cleanhippie

(19,705 posts)
74. "You're just pushing bullshit further back into your own brain"
Sun May 24, 2015, 10:50 PM
May 2015

I think it's better described as pushing rational thought further back. It's the bullshit that gets moved to the front and used instead.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
76. Please god, don't set me on fire after I die.
Sun May 24, 2015, 11:05 PM
May 2015

Praising, begging for mercy. That's what you do to placate an evil captor. Why would I want a god that demands that I grovel? If he wanted humans to grovel he should have made grovelling their basic instinct instead of something they find repellent.

What would you think if you were a kindergarten teacher and one of your students told you that his father threatens him with fire and demands that the child bow down to him and beg for mercy. You'd think, my god, that parent is one sick son-of-a-bitch. Well, guess what. The Biblical Chrisitan god is, indeed, one sick son-of-a-bitch.

As for thanking god for life, what would you do if you hadn't been given life? Nothing! Not one thing! You wouldn't regret not having life because there would be no "you" to do any regretting. Thanking god for life is just an existential joke. It's like a Zen koan. Who were you before your parents were born? Who would you be if you hadn't been born? If you don't see the goofiness of thanking god for giving you life then you are missing the subtle, but very real self-contradicting absurdity of it.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
80. Fanatics treat facts as if they were opinions,
Sun May 24, 2015, 11:13 PM
May 2015

and opinions as if they were facts.

Exactly what would YOUR reaction be if a kindergarten child came to you and told you his father was threatening him with fire and demanding that he bow down and beg for mercy every day? What would YOU think of that parent? (I don't expect you to actually answer, but to evade the question with some waffling side-step. But I would like to hear an honest answer from you. One not conditioned by your reflexive fear of hell fire.)

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
89. No, just making an observation about fanatics in general.
Mon May 25, 2015, 02:06 AM
May 2015

Perhaps I should use the shortened form "fan", and say merely that you appear to be a fan of god.

But more important, you didn't answer the question about how you would react to the kindergarten pupil who told you his horror story.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
100. Glorp is glorp.
Mon May 25, 2015, 01:48 PM
May 2015

Your utterance is meaningless. It is without content. It is semantically empty.

Are you trying to say that abuse is not abuse when god does it?

"If the Government Does It, It's 'Legal'"

So I guess that applies to torture as well. Torture is just fine if god or the government does it. Is that what you're saying?

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
102. The CIA's ways are always higher than ours.
Mon May 25, 2015, 02:00 PM
May 2015

What horse manure!

All you are saying is that "It's OK if god tortures people, because god's ways are higher than ours."

What does that even mean "higher"? Might makes right? Is that what you are saying? God is almighty so anything he does is alrighty. Even when he does reprehensible things.

That's nothing more than making excuses for why it's OK for god to torture people. Any god worth his salt wouldn't need for people to make excuses for him. And sure as hell wouldn't need or want to torture anybody.

Only a make-believe god invented by ignorant iron age desert goat herders would act like that. The people that invented your god believed the earth was flat. Would you trust a surgeon with your life if he believed the earth is flat? Would you trust the "ancient doctors" who used blood letting and leaches to treat disease? But you trust some ignorant goat herders you never met and know nothing about. You trust those anonymous goat herders so much that you believe their fairy tales are real. That's just so sad.

 

mr blur

(7,753 posts)
110. I'm not mocking you, but you really believe this nonsense, don't you?
Mon May 25, 2015, 05:49 PM
May 2015

I mean, really?

Oh there are those here who pretend to, there are those who are afraid to admit that they don't, there are the Faitheists who desperately wish that they could, there are the RCC hardliners who are so afraid of dealing with real life that they support child rapists rather than face the dark alone . . . and then there's you, the Real Thing. I don't know whether to admire you or feel sorry for you.

Oh wait, yes I do.

WDIM

(1,662 posts)
54. Everything is God
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:16 PM
May 2015

And God is everything. Like the cells in our bodies are part of us we are part of god. We are all brothers and sisters and we are all truly one.

We create the world we live in through choice. The amount of education we have, the house we live in, the job we have, the clothes we wear, our friends, the only thing we dont chose is our bloodline family. But we do chose how our relationship is with them.

Everything is a choice even our compulsions and our nervous habits. Our reactions and our actions are our choice. We cant control the actions of others but through attitude, education, and our own actions we can influence the actions of others.

Working together as a whole human beings can be both god and the devil. Creators and destroyers. Unfortunately there are some that still justify their destruction amd inhumanity they chose to inflict on their brothers and sisters.

My actions would be and are to uplift my own consciousness and to educate others and live by example of how i want the world to be.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
57. We use words to draw distinctions.
Sun May 24, 2015, 03:27 PM
May 2015

We call a hammer "hammer", but we don't call a hammer "horse", because it's important to draw distinctions between horses and hammers. To say "God is everything" is to say that "god" is another word for "everything". But we already have a perfectly good word for everything, namely "everything". To say that "god" is "everything" is to say there is no distinction between "god" and "everything", which is to say that we don't need the word "god" to draw a distinction since no distinction exists.

Another way to put it is that to say "god is everything" is a statement without content or meaning. It's like saying "A hammer is a hammer." That this doesn't mean anything is evidenced by the statement "A glorp is a glorp." Well, then, what is a glorp? We don't know because the statement "A glorp is a glorp." doesn't tell us anything at all, just as the statement "A hammer is a hammer." tells us nothing.

To say "God is everything is equivalent to saying "Everything is god", which is equivalent to saying "Everything is everything." which is equivalent to saying "God is god." None of those statements has any meaning, because none of them tells us anything that lets us make any kind of distinction between "god" and "everything". And if that's truly the case then anything said about "god" could just as easily be said about "anything", which, of course, makes it ridiculous to say things like "Everything loves us." and "Everything gets angry when we sin." and "Everything is looking down on us from heaven."

In short, to say "God is everything" makes everything we can say about "god" meaningless.

WDIM

(1,662 posts)
108. Nothing is meaningless.
Mon May 25, 2015, 05:16 PM
May 2015

Everything is meaningful and god is everything and i agree with your analysis except it makes everything meaningful and that is the whole point.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
112. So everything loves us?
Mon May 25, 2015, 10:01 PM
May 2015

Everything's son died on the cross for our sins?
Everything promises us heaven if we behave?
Everything threatens us with hellfire and damnation if we don't bow down and worship everything?

WDIM

(1,662 posts)
109. Well based on my own experiences
Mon May 25, 2015, 05:23 PM
May 2015

I have to admit my actions and choices i made have brought me to the point i stand today.

We cant control our starting point and we cant control the will of others but our own choices influence our life more than anything else.

AnnieBW

(10,350 posts)
61. End Alzheimers Disease and Cancer
Sun May 24, 2015, 04:01 PM
May 2015

I mean, valar morghulis and all that. But Alzheimers and cancer are both terrible ways to go.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
72. I would make Ice Cream that didn't require freezing.
Sun May 24, 2015, 07:16 PM
May 2015

I love ice cream but because of limited refrigeration capacity, I don't get to have it that much.

If god really loved me, he would make ice cream that would stay frozen without a freezer.

I am sure he could do it.

Omnith

(171 posts)
86. I'm glad you don't have God's power.
Mon May 25, 2015, 12:12 AM
May 2015

Or anyone else for that matter. Only God can be trusted with it. I rather like my agency and I'm glad God doesn't take it away and force everyone to be "nice" that's slavery of the worse kind. And as for curing every desease and there never being a natural disaster, well that's mortality without it the planet really would be over populated. You should understand everything God does is for the benefit of his children. We are on earth to get a body among other things. Your understanding and perspective is nothing like Gods.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
91. So your god likes killing people with tornadoes and earthquakes
Mon May 25, 2015, 03:03 AM
May 2015

and bone cancer and and war and ....

And you say I can't be trusted with god's power. Looks like god can't be trusted with it either.

No, god, according to you, doesn't force you to be nice, he just threatens to burn you for eternity if you're not nice. But, hey, that's not forcing you, is it?

Suppose I held a gun to your head and said "Do what I say or I will blow your brains out." Do you have free will? Sure you do. Will you refuse to do as I demand? I don't know.

But being nice because god threatens to torture you for eternity seems like a piss-poor reason to be nice.

The CIA tortures people and we get all up in arms because we all know torture is evil, But god tortures people and we're like, "Oh, that's cool. He's god, after all, and if we criticize him he might torture us too! So we back down and make excuses for god no matter what kind of depraved monster he is." (Clearly, that kind of god simply can't exist if you believe in love, compassion, and justice.)

And, for the record, I'm an adult, not a f*cking "child" of any abusive father-figure god. When I was a child, I did believe in god (and Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy). Then I grew up. You may like to think of yourself as a child, but I'll pass on that particular religious perversion, thank you just the same.

Is their such a thing as a god? Honestly, I don't know. I can't know. But what I do know for sure is that the Jewish/Christian/Muslim version of god is a twisted, hideous, cruel and inhumane creature with no redeeming qualities. That is a god that either lacks the power to prevent brain cancer in children, or has the power but doesn't give a damn that children suffer and die that way. That's monstrous. There's no other word for it. And all believers can say in god's defense is "he works in mysterious ways." Bullshit. There's nothing mysterious about children suffering and dying before they even have the chance to live their lives. That's not mysterious, its cruel and horrific.

 

truebluegreen

(9,033 posts)
107. Um, the planet really is over-populated already.
Mon May 25, 2015, 02:43 PM
May 2015

As for understanding and perspective riddle me this:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

--Epicurus

Act_of_Reparation

(9,116 posts)
113. Joseph Heller wrote a paragraph or two about you in "Catch-22"
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:07 AM
May 2015
“Pain?” Lieutenant Scheisskopf’s wife pounced upon the word victoriously. “Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.”

“And who created the dangers?” Yossarian demanded. He laughed caustically. “Oh, He was really being charitable to us when He gave us pain! Why couldn’t He have used a doorbell instead to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person’s forehead. Any jukebox manufacturer worth his salt could have done that. Why couldn’t He?”

“People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes in the middle of their foreheads.”

“They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony or stupefied with morphine, don’t they? What a colossal, immortal blunderer! When you consider the opportunity and power He had to really do a job, and then look at the stupid, ugly little mess He made of it instead, His sheer incompetence is almost staggering. It’s obvious He never met a payroll. Why, no self-respecting businessman would hire a bungler like Him as even a shipping clerk!”


If death is the best solution God can conjure against overpopulation, I am thoroughly unimpressed.

sammythecat

(3,568 posts)
95. Hamburger trees.
Mon May 25, 2015, 10:40 AM
May 2015

Seriously, why the hell not? And maybe he could sit his divine ass down for a spell and study some responsible parents and pet owners right here on earth and do the same. You know, a little active participation. Actions speak louder than words.

Or else just sell this whole godawful mess to some angel who might actually give a shit.

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
99. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
Mon May 25, 2015, 01:44 PM
May 2015

I agree. Why should it be so hard to find food and shelter. If I were god there would be no hunger or homelessness. I guess the "real" god doesn't care about stuff like that.

 

Humanist_Activist

(7,670 posts)
105. A few things...
Mon May 25, 2015, 02:16 PM
May 2015

First, eliminate viruses and prions. Make it impossible for bacteria to negatively impact the health of multi-cellular organisms.

Since we are talking about a fantasy world, other issues, make it physically painful for one sapient to harm another. Strengthen DNA to make harmful(cancerous, etc.) changes in it impossible. Eliminate all harmful mutations in all genomes. In addition, harmful parasiticism will no longer be allowed.

Hmm, natural disasters will no longer happen.

Running out of ideas, but eliminating disease and suffering seem to be up there.

 

Yorktown

(2,884 posts)
115. If I do not exist, how to improve the world?
Tue May 26, 2015, 09:29 AM
May 2015

(answering the OP: If you were GOD, how would improve the world?)

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