Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: lindborg@cs.washington.edu (Jeff Lindborg) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Nature of God (was Re: Could Jesus have sinned?) Message-ID: Date: 15 Jun 91 06:18:06 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Washington Computer Science Lines: 47 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article mark@drd.com (Mark Lawrence) writes: >In article lindborg@cs.washington.edu (Jeff Lindborg) writes: >>so instead of not giving us a choice to love him, he gives us the >>ever-popular "love me or else" concept. Oh so much better to be >>sure. Is love derived of fear of punishment any better than love >>that is forced? >> >>You are still left with a petty, spiteful, God who seems more bent >>on revenge and hatred than anything else... >Only, perhaps, if one is bent on perceiving Him that way. I've known >children who, as a result of mistreatment or bad parenting, seem to be >incapable of viewing any action taken in their behalf by someone else >without suspicion and distrust. Could you blame the child for not trusting anyone? Having worked with several children who come from 'distrupted' homes (a nice way of saying their parents were unfit bastards) I've run into this a number of times. >A guardian of such a child could take >any number of actions for the child's benefit. The child could perceive >such actions as petty, spiteful, done for revenge and perhaps as an >expression of hatred. Again, what do you expect? >On the other hand, a child secure in the love of a parent or lovers >secure in their love for one another have no reason to distrust the >motivations of the actions taken in their behalf. This is a very good analogy. The child here would be us and the parent would, of course, be God. Now the abused child who would/could not trust their adult couterparts because of poor early experience would be like someone who would/could not trust/believe in God, right? That child (sinner) would go to hell. Bingo. Now you're starting to catch on! Any religious system that contains eternal punishment of any kind for any reason is inherently intollerant and dangerous... not to mention just a bit silly. Jeff Lindborg "Religion begins where intelligence ends." D.