Who Is Obtuse? God Or Man?

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   Emile Rposted 11 years ago

   The debate rages here on Hub Pages over the existence of God, the morality of God and the horror of stories within the Bible. Atheists bemoan the insensitivity of a deity who would flood the earth, burn cities and terrorize an entire Egyptian population. Has humanity missed the point? If so, why?
   
   Think about a few of the stories in the Old Testament.
   
   A guy kills his brother. God brands him to identify him as a murderer who has offended God. Does it stop murder?
   
   The whole world turns evil, except for a guy beloved of a deity. Said deity decides to start fresh, getting rid of the evil. Does what we perceive as evil stop?
   
   A guy gets a promise that his descendants will become a great nation. The guy makes some serious missteps in judgment during the course of his life.  Does it affect the outcome? Is there cosmic retribution for our perception of wrong?
   
   Two cities suffer the effects of cosmic retribution for not caring for strangers. Does it cause humanity to care?
   
   An entire ethnic group, enslaved for hundreds of years, is rescued by a deity. Led through the wilderness and fed by a deity. Given land flowering with milk and honey by a deity. Are they grateful? Do they follow the most basic instructions given (written in stone); or do they use in excess of 600 to justify rape, murder and mayhem?
   
   Over the course of the years, that nation is given everything it asks for, forgiven repeatedly. A deity begs it to love it as that nation is loved. Does it have any effect on behavior patterns? Does that nation of people care for one another, or does it splinter and fall into civil war?
   
   The lessons I see are pretty glaring. We live in a world we have the power to mold into whatever we want. We have always lived in that world. If the Old Testament is true, all God ever did was create an opportunity which was never acted on. Never appreciated. Expectations were always that God would fix the mess, and often blamed when humanity ran headlong toward disaster.
   
   Why do some portions of humanity continue to blame a deity for stories whose purpose is to show that we need to fix ourselves; that we are the root of and the only permanent solution to our own problems? Why do other portions call on that deity to, once again, step in to shepherd humanity away from impending disaster we are all responsible for? Why do we all attempt to find external reasons for the problems of the world and never look at our own contribution?

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      Disappearingheadposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I read a book on Jewish theology written by a Jewish scholar in 1913. According to Jewish tradition, the Earth was made incomplete, and man was created to complete the world by doing good deeds, by looking after his fellow man and community. It is as you say, that the Father creates the opportunities for man to fix the world himself. This contrasts with Christian beliefs that man is useless and can do nothing, which I think ultimately leads to Christians thinking everything can be solved by prayer. When the results don't come, it is assumed that the person has insufficient faith; or that the devil is to blame; or that God has allowed the mess to happen for some unfathomable reason.

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   Renee Abbottposted 11 years ago

   The gods as well as humans possess a 'shadow' self and a 'light' self. We all do. Until we learn to integrate these two polarize sides, life will continue as it is. Perhaps we as humans are actually gods trying to bring the shadow and light in as one? I do not know, all I know is imho i am responsible completely for my reality. I am not permitted to blame a god or a human or anything else. It makes life much easier when you can’t blame others, yet you need to be kind with yourself as well.

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      Emile Rposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I like your philosophy.

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