damnation
You hear it all the time, after someone tells an off-color or heretical joke: "Yep, I'm going to hell."
I've always wondered why God comes across as humorless.
Does God really has no sense of humor, and if you pick on Him, he'll damn you to eternal suffering?
I've always found this possibility hard to believe. If I was all-knowing and all-seeing, I'd be laughing all the time. Of course, it's possible that knowing everything and seeing everything would make one really, really susceptible to being insulted. But jeez, do you really think that being omnipotent really makes you unable to take a joke? You think God has more things to do with His time then to police up everyone who picks fun? Even if it is one making fun of Him? I would probably just sit back and relax, confident in the fact that no matter what joke some mere moral told, I was still infinitely more powerful than him, regardless of whether or not I could detect the humor in what he said. But I am confident that God has the perfect sense of humor and has the perfect ability to take a joke.
It's more likely, I believe, therefore, that our concept of a vindictive and humorless God comes from the damnation peddlers -- those whose business it is to "sell" us on the concept of the seriousness of the possibility of eternal damnation, and therefore a God who can, in fact, will, push the button on your sorry ass and sentence you to everlasting suffering. If God can't laugh, in fact, won't laugh if you make fun of Him, He will get pissed instead and banish you to hell. Therefore, in order to prevent this, you must keep coming back every Sunday, to prevent the possibility of damnation. It's a big business, and damnation peddlers really want us to believe this or they'd be out of a job. It apparently works for a lot of people.
I just choose to ignore the advertising.
I've always wondered why God comes across as humorless.
Does God really has no sense of humor, and if you pick on Him, he'll damn you to eternal suffering?
I've always found this possibility hard to believe. If I was all-knowing and all-seeing, I'd be laughing all the time. Of course, it's possible that knowing everything and seeing everything would make one really, really susceptible to being insulted. But jeez, do you really think that being omnipotent really makes you unable to take a joke? You think God has more things to do with His time then to police up everyone who picks fun? Even if it is one making fun of Him? I would probably just sit back and relax, confident in the fact that no matter what joke some mere moral told, I was still infinitely more powerful than him, regardless of whether or not I could detect the humor in what he said. But I am confident that God has the perfect sense of humor and has the perfect ability to take a joke.
It's more likely, I believe, therefore, that our concept of a vindictive and humorless God comes from the damnation peddlers -- those whose business it is to "sell" us on the concept of the seriousness of the possibility of eternal damnation, and therefore a God who can, in fact, will, push the button on your sorry ass and sentence you to everlasting suffering. If God can't laugh, in fact, won't laugh if you make fun of Him, He will get pissed instead and banish you to hell. Therefore, in order to prevent this, you must keep coming back every Sunday, to prevent the possibility of damnation. It's a big business, and damnation peddlers really want us to believe this or they'd be out of a job. It apparently works for a lot of people.
I just choose to ignore the advertising.