Fearful - Why is it tolerent to destroy all of the fearful?
Does that include those who obey the bible and fear god?
Why the Binary choice?This is what religion does to people. Limits their thinking. Gives them half-baked brains. I solve computer problems for a living and I am not religiously small-minded so I have a pretty well-exercised brain.
Imagine a being who wants a bunch of lesser, many times purely stupid, sometimes terribly violent beings to love him. Why a perfect being would want such a thing, I don't know. But like the believers, let's pretend. Now, let's say he decides to set up a universe like this: There are three parts to this universe. One where god lives called Godville, one called Freeland, and the last one called Assburg. Then, he comes up with this terribly messy and random process where these lesser beings will juice all over one another in order to bring another lesser being that can't take care of itself into existence, screaming and crying, pushed painfully through a too-small birth canal that sometimes have to be PRECUT with a scissors and sometimes has to be routed around completely with surgery. With this wickedly bizarre process of reproduction designed, he puts a man and a woman in Freeland and tells them to have a great time. He DOES NOT trick them and then curse them with a test involving a tree and a talking lizard. He does not create viruses. He creates a temperate environment that is set up for them with plenty of food and water. It's basically a heaven, like a spring day in Northern California, where people don't have to worry and don't need heaters or air conditioners. There is no death, no first death, no second death, none of that bullshit. Death simply doesn't exist. We live forever without ever having to worry about saving up money for our funeral. People simply cannot kill each other. It's impossible. There is no wailing, no mourning. Only the constant joy of having those around that we love, forever. Well, on and off, anyway. Any person needs a break from any other person from time to time.
There is no gate at all between Godville and Freeland. People are free to come and go at will, kind of like the door to my apartment. If you are a person who I enjoy being around, you are welcome any time to come on in and hang out. God, who apparently wants to have company, like I do sometimes, would invite all the people from Freeland to come and see him any time we like. I would love to visit with this guy if he existed. I'm not sure what he would get out of a relationship with me, but I supposed I'd like to have at least one conversation with the creator of all things. As long as he wasn't a jerk. Who wants to hang out with a jerk? If the guy was loving and kind, I would probably love him. Why wouldn't I? I love people who aren't nearly as great a God is supposed to be. It's not like I have some kind of problem loving. And I would probably love a creator all the more if he didn't put us all through the pain of life. You know, all the death, fear, worry. Why wouldn't I love a being who would create an existence without the need for insurance and lawyers?
Doesn't all that sound great? Now, let's continue to pretend that this god has this fetish for free-will. That is, he doesn't want to keep any lesser being from doing anything that that lesser being wants to do. Let's take child rape for an example. I'm not sure why some people end up with a desire to rape a child. It seems to me that that kind of thing could be programmed out of the system or dealt with somehow before the desire comes to fruition. One of the questions I would like to ask god is why do people have desires to do such terrible things? If I build a computer in which some internal parts end up destroying other internal parts, that would be a crappy design. What causes people to become so destructive? Why does God allow whatever causes this to happen? I have heard that such things will never happen in heaven. So, what will god do to people that he hasn't done yet that will keep them from such desires? Or will they still have such desires and somehow be kept from acting on them?
You see, I have a lot of questions for God. Too bad the guy is not interested in answering them.
Anyway, god has this thing for free-will so he allows people to rape each other in Freeland, kids included. Well, actually, he doesn't allow it to happen. But he allows the free-will to go far enough to where it has basically happened, but before the damage is done. In the case of child rape, he lets the rapist plan his attack and head on out to commit the act. Sometimes a terrible act happens pretty spontaneously, I think. In those situations, since god is quick, and since he knows everything, he knows that when the rapist suddenly pulls his van over after seeing the cute 11 year old walking alone down the street, he knows that this guy has something bad in mind here and that he means to act on his impulse. Any act that we consider a crime or sin has some period of planning and pre-acting. This is the period where this god would know what's about to go down and the time when this god would act.
Assburg. Not exactly a place of eternal torment. Actually, it looks a LOT like Freeland. No, it looks exactly like Freeland. Really pretty place. Well, it starts out that way. There is a wall around Assburg that no lesser being can penetrate. People cannot travel into or out of Assburg on their own accord. Only God can move people into and out of there. So, when a person in Freeland is about to commit some grave act, before any damage is actually done, but after the person has started the action, God plucks the person from Freeland and plops them down into Assburg. So, Assburg is basically a free land whose occupants are the people who just can't seem to play nicely with others in Freeland.
Now, God explains this set up to everyone. Not through a book written by other people with questionable moralities, poorly-written stories, and confusing metaphor. No. Whenever a person is born and old enough to understand, he brings the person over into Godville and explains the situation clearly to him. Face to face. No metaphor. No crap speak. Plain and simple. Like this: "Hi. I am your creator. I look forward to being a friend of yours. You are free to come and go into Godville as much as you want, forever. You can stay as long as you like, or you can go back to Freeland any time you want. It's an open-door policy. The great thing is YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE TO BE MY FRIEND OR NOT, WITHOUT THREAT OR FEAR OF CONSEQUENCES. It's the ultimate free-will, which I love. No coercion. No fear of torment or non-existence. Come and go as you like. Also, please be kind to others, always. No one likes an asshole. If you choose to act out asshole behavior, I will put you in Assburg. I don't do this out of some immature need for justice, revenge, or power. I do it simply to protect the innocent. The problem with Assburg is that you will have to live with the other people who have attempted to harm others. Plus, you can't come and visit me or your loved ones in Godville or Freeland. I'm sure this knowledge will be enough of a deterrent for you. But, if it's not, the great thing is that if you do get sent to Assburg, you can come back any time. I just need to see that you are truly sorry. Then I will bring you back. Of course, if you act up again, back you go. Now, do you have any questions for me?"
It seems to me that this scenario is far, far superior to both the real universe that we live in AND to the silly universes that the religions have imagined. Too bad, things aren't this way. Imagine kids being free to play outside while adults get to take a nap. Imagine no need for hospitals, emergency services, therapy. Imagine no worry about managing money or where you're going to live or what you're going to eat. I mean a REAL worryless existence. Not the fake worryless existence that the Christians try to sell where they still have to worry, but they pretend that they don't because they think that god's got their ass covered.
Christianity is silly.
Of course, we wouldn't even need Assburg at all if we could figure out what causes people to act so terribly. If we could fix this problem at it's source, we would only need Godville and Freeland. I suspect that the cause of terrible human behavior is their inability to deal with a terribly harsh and unforgiving environment. This is all a problem of design, if the universe was designed. People simply can't handle a very difficult life and the result is destructive reaction. If there is a god, it's his bad design that results in people doing lousy things. It's god's fault a raped child has to be in therapy all her life. It's senseless to believe that a loving god exists who would allow such a thing to happen to a child. And, to believe that all that is OK because later that girl will get to be in heaven IF she chooses to do whatever it is that god requires to get into heaven is terribly, immorally unsympathetic to this girl. What happens in this life matters too, even if the Christians want to pretend that it doesn't.
