Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Christian perversion of justice

What is the definition of justice? I only ask this question because it seems that believers in the Christian or Muslim deities have no idea what this word means nor how to interpret its use. According to my trusty Sage dictionary and thesaurus justice is defined as: 'Judgement involved in the determination of rights and the assignment of rewards and punishments.' Now based on this definition; what does it mean to be just? Once again Sage defines this word as: 'Free from favoritism, self-interest, bias, or deception; conforming with established standards or rules.'

This is the recognized meaning of what it means to be just and to serve justice. If we were to analyze the biblical deities behavior towards man as a whole I would have to say that he fails to even come close to this definition. What is the difference between Hitler trying to exterminate an entire race of people through genocide and God trying to exterminate the entire human race? In my opinion, there is none. In fact, I believe based on reading Mein Kampf and other works by Hitler that he believed that he was acting with God's favor, and in trying to exterminate the Jews he was taking a page from the biblical deities biography the bible.

I have said many times that the idea or concept of sin was a human invention, and that it did not exist in a secular world. Sin is defined as an offense against God; basically anything you do that offends or goes against the teachings of the bible as interpreted by the mentally handicapped believers of the various sorts is a sin. The fact that God does not exist means that sin does not exist either. Now before you theists all get your panties in a bunch about that statement; let me make something clear. When I say that God does not exist I speak for myself. I am convinced "to my own satisfaction" that there is no God. I can't prove or disprove it; but my experiences and research from both the perspective of a believer, and now an atheist have led me to believe and accept with one hundred percent certainty that he does not exist.

Now let's put the biblical God to a test as to whether or not he is just. By the way theists define the words just and justice to mean whatever God says it means in the bible they are not operating from the established dictionary definition. The bible teaches in Genesis chapter three that Adam and Eve had sinned against God by eating of the forbidden fruit which by the way happened to be from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It wasn't just the act of defiance that was a sin; it was also the idea of defying God since he does not like to be contradicted.

As a result of their disobedience (sin); Adam and Eve were cursed with a sinful nature which apparently is inheritable by all subsequent generations of humans, the animals are cursed as well although I don't know what they could've done to deserve that, and so was the land. And because of this one couples disobedience we are all born outside of God's love and grace unless we repent and accept him as our Lord and savior.

Now let's bring this fictional situation down to earth. The first question is do you think that God acted justly in punishing the whole of the natural world for the disobedience of one couple? I think not! If we were to compare the idea of sin to a genetic disorder we would see that in some instances genetic disorders are isolated and do not affect the entire family of a group of people. When it does it often skips a generation or two. But unlike God genes are not conscious entities and only function on a biochemical level in a very natural way. The idea of sin is akin to genetic disorders with the exception that sin is a conscious decision to disobey God. And that unlike genetic disorders God imposes that sin on everyone regardless of your innocence or guilt. With God no one is innocent!

24 and all are justified by the free gift of his grace through being set free in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 (NJB).

If a person commits a crime he/she is solely responsible for that crime. This also applies to others involved in the crime such as abetters and co-conspirators. Under the definition of justice they all must be judged and the punishment must fit the crime. But imagine a judge who decides that the offenders entire family be held accountable for his/her crime. His father for providing the semen, his mother for conceiving him, and the rest of earlier generations to the present for providing the means for his/her future birth. Let's imagine that his/her crime was so heinous that it demanded the death penalty and that the offenders entire family must now be executed. Would you think that this judge was a just man? If you did, then my opinion is that you seek immediate psychiatric help.

The biblical God's idea of justice is in my opinion perverted and quite frankly far from just. What makes God any different from the judge in our hypothetical situation? The idea that he created us does not give him the right to destroy us at the drop of a hat, and any theist that disagrees with this statement is delusional. Justice in the Christian sense is what God says it is and is therefore subjective and not objective. It is subjective to the whims and mood swings of the imaginary guy in the sky as I so affectionately like to refer to him.

Is it just that anyone who refuses to believe in this deity; who by the way, has provided absolutely no evidence whatsoever of his existence are condemned to an eternity in hell? My sin is that I don't believe in mythological fairy tales or imaginary deities. Otherwise I consider myself to be a good person who looks after his family the best I can and stays out of trouble. I help out others when I am able and like anyone else I have a few flaws (nobody's perfect).. I might think impure thoughts from time to time or even laugh at a theist or two about their twisted idea of reason and logic. But I don't think that this merits my torment in hell after I am dead. These are the sick and twisted ideas of the psychotic authors of the bible and other so called holy texts.

Man has shown more love, compassion, and care than the biblical God could ever hope to attain. We have erred along the way but along with being human we have demonstrated in some cultures the proper use of justice and law. God's law as described in the scriptures is not justice and its giver although he is fictional would be nothing more than a despotic psychotic megalomaniac and a tyrant!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Omnipotence makes sense of the impossible!

17 "Ah, Lord Yahweh, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. To you nothing is impossible.  Jeremiah 32:17 (NJB).


Although liberal Christians claim to not take the entire bible literally, most of them do accept that the miraculous deeds of Christ were actual events that occurred in history. It has always perplexed me as to how anyone could believe in the tales as they are told in the bible when it is clear that they are utterly ridiculous, and for the most part, contain so many elements of impossible fantastical exploits.

The answer to my question is clearly outlined in the two texts cited at the beginning of this post. Regardless of the context they both make one claim that can explain every biblical impossibility; that for God nothing is impossible. This my friends is where the great equalizer faith comes in. God apparently can do anything, and according to the scriptures there is nothing that he could not do.

But I think I have found one thing in particular that the biblical God cannot do! He can't seem to genuinely forgive anyone for any offense against him. He commands of each and every one of us to forgive our enemies etc. Matthew 6:14-15. In the O.T. God by his own admission used to punish those that offended him and their sons to the third and fourth generations in Exodus 20 verse 5. He later retracted this rule but it shows just was a hateful and vindictive being this God is, that is; if he existed at all.

In my world when someone offends me or does something to the point where he/she loses my trust or friendship I am always willing to forgive. But you have to realize that their so called "atonement" is reflected in them changing their ways. They have to earn my trust and respect once more through their actions. I am a firm believer that everybody deserves a second and sometimes even a third chance. Of course there are times when it is best to just rid yourself of negative people and influences in your life but in my case those time are rare.

Vicarious suffering as it is promoted in the bible is the most offensive and insulting system of atonement ever conceived. Imagine having a delinquent sibling with a love for mayhem and criminal acts of violence. One day he decides he wants to try his hand at rape and goes after some poor innocent woman whom he randomly targeted off the street. In the process of carrying out his sick fantasy he ends up killing the woman. After a lengthy trial he is sentenced to life in prison for the brutality of his crime and labeled a social deviant by the system. But you decide that he deserves a second chance and are willing to take his sentence upon yourself; even though you are in college with a great future ahead of you. The court agrees that you should stand in his place and serve his life sentence for him while he is set free. I ask you my dear Christian; where is the justice in this?

If you answered that the above analogy demonstrates an injustice, then you must also agree that Christ bearing upon himself all the sins (imaginary offenses against God) of humanity and then dying in your stead is just as wrong. God's own rules and lust for blood could not be overlooked in the case of humanity. If we were to take the story of Adam and Eve as literal then we are all born with a burden of sin and a debt to God.

Although our more modern believers now state that the garden tale was not to be taken literally, I tend to disagree. Why would they construct a genealogy for Adam if it were not meant to be taken literally? Why are we given a lifespan for Adam who supposedly died at the age of 930 years old! The bible has talking animals, people who can fly to the heavens or ride chariots of fire, people who can walk on water, parting seas and rivers, rocks that produce water, and feeding multitudes with a few loaves and fishes. Although all these things are impossible the answer is simple my friend: Nothing is impossible for God!