Keenspace Sermon: Is God Omnibenevolent?
A few notes...
Being nude isn't evil. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil gives one a conscience, and with a conscience comes shame. Being ashamed is not the same as having done evil. God didn't say "Who told you that you were being evil?"
God is omnipotent in the sense that this world is his construct which he has 100% control over. You say "bah, god, physics", I say god made physics.
I don't know what omnibenevolent really means; I believe that God has motivations. He is as perfect in his motivations as we would need to be to be judged "perfect" on Judgement Day. A lot of people believe that God is the result of a similar "upbringing" as we are getting now.
You might compare Satan to God to understand why the world sucks, why it has to suck. It's said that Lucifer's plan for the earth was that there would be no suffering, only mindless worshipping automation. All would be forced to pay adulation to God, and to Lucifer as their direct overseer. Something like that. Lucifer's idea was born of lack of experience. He didn't realize how much that would suck, and how little that would prepare usuns to rule on high. Ever had a boss who never worked an honest day in his life? God's been through all this crap. He knows it sucks. But he also knows that strife what don't kill you, makes you stronger. And he also knows that luminous beings are we, not this crude matter, so Nothing kills you, so Everything makes you stronger.
Benevolence in that context is kind of meaningless. When this life is over, all that will matter is what you learned, what you can take from it. Scars won't matter, even if you lost limbs, doesn't really matter. Not after.
I also think that religion itself doesn't really matter. I could be really wrong on a lot of points, but so what? If I'm right that there is a being or beings who put us here to learn and grow (considering that that is what we spend most of our lives doing, it seems a fair assumption), and to be responsible (considering for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in this created world, it seems logical... or why would it be that way?), I think the most important thing is just to be excellent to one another.
Baptism and things like that, even if they are truly godsent, are just ways to show faith and respect, and really can't matter That Much if you are really just a good person. Which you aren't. Asshat.
Being nude isn't evil. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil gives one a conscience, and with a conscience comes shame. Being ashamed is not the same as having done evil. God didn't say "Who told you that you were being evil?"
God is omnipotent in the sense that this world is his construct which he has 100% control over. You say "bah, god, physics", I say god made physics.
I don't know what omnibenevolent really means; I believe that God has motivations. He is as perfect in his motivations as we would need to be to be judged "perfect" on Judgement Day. A lot of people believe that God is the result of a similar "upbringing" as we are getting now.
You might compare Satan to God to understand why the world sucks, why it has to suck. It's said that Lucifer's plan for the earth was that there would be no suffering, only mindless worshipping automation. All would be forced to pay adulation to God, and to Lucifer as their direct overseer. Something like that. Lucifer's idea was born of lack of experience. He didn't realize how much that would suck, and how little that would prepare usuns to rule on high. Ever had a boss who never worked an honest day in his life? God's been through all this crap. He knows it sucks. But he also knows that strife what don't kill you, makes you stronger. And he also knows that luminous beings are we, not this crude matter, so Nothing kills you, so Everything makes you stronger.
Benevolence in that context is kind of meaningless. When this life is over, all that will matter is what you learned, what you can take from it. Scars won't matter, even if you lost limbs, doesn't really matter. Not after.
I also think that religion itself doesn't really matter. I could be really wrong on a lot of points, but so what? If I'm right that there is a being or beings who put us here to learn and grow (considering that that is what we spend most of our lives doing, it seems a fair assumption), and to be responsible (considering for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in this created world, it seems logical... or why would it be that way?), I think the most important thing is just to be excellent to one another.
Baptism and things like that, even if they are truly godsent, are just ways to show faith and respect, and really can't matter That Much if you are really just a good person. Which you aren't. Asshat.