What does the Christian God want from us?

I'll start this with a series of observations and questions.

1. God prefers blood sacrifice to grain sacrifice. He wanted the complete wipe out of the people in the promised land. He needed the blood of Jesus before he could forgive us. Does God want blood?

2. Forgiveness for sin was impossible until someone innocent died. "Daddy I made a bo-bo." "That is alright Dark, we will just kill little Jesus my son so that I can forgive you." "Thank you Daddy for spilling his blood so that I could live forever." Why does God need innocent blood?

3. Jesus says "Love your enemies," yet God will destroy Satan in the end. God says "Do not kill," yet many other times he very clearly commands people to kill those that have been identified as evil. Does God want us to lovingly destroy the enemies we consider evil?

4. Prophets and Jesus liked to compare God to a shepherd of the sheep(his flock). What do shepherds do with sheep?

5. Sin is supposed to end when God completes his work in those that have had faith in his son. Can a person have free will when it becomes impossible to do things God does not like?

These observations and questions are not meant to claim that God is fake or that the Bible is false. These are things I see when reading the Bible, and I am interested in both explanations of my misunderstanding as well as further confusions others have.

The only one I get is #4.



They provide tender loving care for them, and in some cases, eat them—or deliver them to be consumed.

Here's a few more:

Does he really want us to accept things with no evidence? Does he want us to be dumb and weak-willed? Then why give us such great curiosity and imagination. I mean, why tell us we have to believe, instead of just showing up for a monthly conference or something? Seems like the Old Testiment was full of miraculous things occuring and gods voice and angels and such. We could sure use some of that now. Maybe have him give a spanking to certain individuals with far too much power and far to little morality.

Why all the other suns? Why such a big universe? Or do we not believe that there really are billions of suns?

What's up with the platipus?

How in the heck did Jesus dying make our sins forgivable? If anything, it should have had the opposite effect.

If there really was only Adam and Eve, and they had two sons, Cain and Abel, how did the species continue.

Whats with all the mixed messages in the Old Testiment (and some in the new)? Really...do you want us to be killers, lovers or dupes?

Whats up with Satan? He seems to be winning easily. Maybe you should tone down his powers a bit.

Hey God, I wanna know the answer to this too.

it's cute and unique, a cool invention from a loving creator! he exists to show us that there are posibilities and variety and we can love all things regardless of how different they may be to the others...

Or he's a cruel bastard who just thought an otter with a ducks beak and a venemous stinger on its back legs would just be really funnny. And if this 'God' bloke is such a loving creator why are so many of his creations so very bad tempered?

Free will is our gift, it is up to us to do what we will, that includes questioning blind faith, as well as scrweing up ones life... you gotta *be the miracle*

So don't blame God or religion when someone screws up, or does something bad. Blame the person(s) who actully did it. Try to forgive them.. but if is not possible, then try to go easy on 'em :x


Er.. I'm going to go ... do soemthing that wont start a flame war now

Oh, c'mon! These are such easy questions. God knows the answer to these questions, I know, and so do you. You know you do.

Now ask the hard questions.

Anyone here pay attention during communion?
...
Eat his flesh and drink his blood?
How many people did you say were in this cult?

Talk to Schwanson about this one.

-Ghoti

We eat each other's flesh and drink each other's blood every day. The dust of Christ is in you and me, right now. And Confucius. And Buddha. Etc. That's not weird ritual, that's environmental recycling. So we are all members of the cult.

Easy enough. Now, ask the hard questions....

OK, I'll give you a hint:

One of the hard questions is found in Philip K. Dick's brilliant story about religion, Christ-figures, and the minds of humans and aliens - called "Rautavaara's Case", published in 1980.

My question to God would be... why go to all the trouble creating a perfect world for an ungreatful lot of cry babies who are so evil they kill each other for any reason or no reason.
As to the point of blood/death/sacrifice etc... From God's perspective, death is a passing from one reality to another, better reality. Death isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, living was Cain's punishment for killing Abel.

That's easy. Every time He calls me on the telephone it is because I need to send more money to Jerry Falwell. I had heard He moves in "mysterious ways", but with me He's really straightforward and even accepts major credit-cards over the phone.

Better still, I know He listens because everytime he repeats my card number back for verification He's always right. And I know He is the Lord because He always remembers my name and when I last sent Him money and how much I sent Him; omniscience is way cool!

You know, some people: my accountant, my banker, my former friends and family , the utility companies, my heroin dealer, and so on have tried to tell me that it is not the Lord that is calling me. But I know they are wrong because my faith is unshakable; so don't even bother, especially since the Lord has told me Himself that these heathens will go to hell for causing me to doubt Him. That's so cool!

God is way cool; I guess that's why there are so many believers.

The Old Testament in one sentence:

God despaired of ever teaching his dirty desert children good hygiene.

What's your version?

Even the devil is a believer =)

Your problem is you are confusing several Gods with each other. There is old Testament God, New Testament God, Jesus, etc. and all are different, comprising essentially different religions.

The easiest example to point to is the fact that many of Jesus's sayings and beliefs directly conflict with the personality of "God" in the Old Testament, leaving one with the conclusion that the original "God" would not be a good candidate to be "saved" by Jesus and thus gain entry to his own "Heaven."

IMO if the statements, rules, etc. of each of these religions did not conflict, then that would be unusual.

He just wants his Drama. Just like everyone else.

This whole thead is reminding me of the "To Serve Man" episoide of the Twilight Zone...

The Bible... IT'S A COOKBOOK!

The Devil? Oh, I don't know, Kevn. I have a lot of Sympathy for Malachi.

Malachi's just pleased to introduce himself, because he's a man of wealth and taste. He's been around Second Life a long, long time, and stole many noobie's soul and faith. He was around when Philip Linden had his moment of doubt and pain. And made damned sure that Prokofy washed his hands and sealed his fate.

He's pleased to meet you, and hopes you guess his name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of his game, of course.

He stuck around Ahern, until he saw it was a time for a change. AR'd the mentors and their syncophants, Chip Midnight screamed in vain. () Malachi rode a tank and held a general's rank when Kathy Yamamoto's blitzkrieg raged, and all of Jessie stank.

But he's just pleased to meet you, and hopes you guess his name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of his game, of course.

He watched with glee while forum kings and queens fought for ten months for the drama they made. He shouted out, Who killed Burning Life this year! when after all, it was you and me....

So let Malachi please introduce himself; he's a man of wealth and taste. And he lays traps for forum troubadours who get iced before they reach their first birthday.

He's pleased to meet you, and he hopes you've guessed his name....

The Devil? Oh, I don't know, Kevn. I have a lot of Sympathy for Malachi.

Malachi's just pleased to introduce himself, because he's a man of wealth and taste. He's been around Second Life a long, long time, and stole many noobie's soul and faith. He was around when Philip Linden had his moment of doubt and pain. And made damned sure that Prokofy washed his hands and sealed his fate.

He's pleased to meet you, and hopes you guess his name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of his game, of course.

He stuck around Ahern, until he saw it was a time for a change. AR'd the mentors and their syncophants, Chip Midnight screamed in vain. () Malachi rode a tank and held a general's rank when Kathy Yamamoto's blitzkrieg raged, and all of Jessie stank.

But he's just pleased to meet you, and hopes you guess his name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of his game, of course.

He watched with glee while forum kings and queens fought for ten months for the drama they made. He shouted out, Who killed Burning Life this year! when after all, it was you and me....

So let Malachi please introduce himself; he's a man of wealth and taste. And he lays traps for forum troubadours who get iced before they reach their first birthday.

He's pleased to meet you, and he hopes you've guessed his name....

DNA is the tenderizer and were all just soaking in it for awhile. LOL

I love that TZ episode BTW

Also the one where this guy is looking for a secretary at a temporary agency and they show him all these beautiful, skilled women and he's shakes his head, no, no, no, not that one. Then he see's this rather slow looking, robust lady walk in the room to do the filing and asks for her.

Where upon they ask him if he would like them to send her over and he says no...

and takes out his knife and fork and says...

I'll eat her here.

That episode has me rolling on the floor every time I see it.

hehe, a classic!
Tthe comic book version is even better.

Hehe. Very nice!