Is God hypocritical?

Ok, well, for the past couple of weeks I've been studying more about Christianity and what exactly "God's Word" is. So here's something I find a little confusing about our God. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the 10 commandements, does it not say "Thou Shall Not Kill?'.

However, later in the Bible, I believe our God actually breaks this commandment on numerous occasions. I actually have a quote from the Bible where God orders Joshua to peform a murder for him.

"Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded." (Joshua 10:40)

So am I to believe that our God's murder is considered "Justified" while Christians who commit murder are considered "Sinful"? I think if this is our God's definition of "Christian Morals"- then who knows what else can be considered "moral" or "Immoral". This is just leaving me confused as to what exactly it is that God considers "justfied" or "not justfied".

 

if God is a hippie then yes..

 

Its kinda like- "No drivin after dark till your 18." Do ya get it? Your not gonna send the kid out after dark for ice cream. But could ya think of any exceptions? Even our state and fed law's are FULL of amendments, anexes and remedies.

 

Eh.....I personally view a lot of the old testament as metaphorical. In other words, God had to kill the sin in the person, which may or may not mean killing the person, since before Christ there was no way to overlook the sin that's in all of us. However, when Jesus died for the world, he became sort of like the Mega Lamb that was willingly slaughtered by evil in order to render it powerless (if you've ever seen/read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it does a much better job of explaining that part). Therefore, God no longer has to "kill" us in order to make things right again. Now, we just have to "kill" ourselves.

 

UnClEkRaCkEr, I agree. From reading scripture I often arrive at the conclusion that god does things that would we would condemn people for. Consider the simple case of allowing evil. If I was aware that a horrible crime was being committed and was capable of stopping the crime, but I chose not to stop it then I would be morally (and possibly legally) condemnable. But, if we are to view god as all knowing and all powerful, then he is a witness to all horrible crimes and chooses not to stop them. If a man is condemnable for doing this then why should god not be held to that standard as well? Of course the problem goes away if we conclude that god is either unaware or unable to help, but then why call him god?

 

The command is better translated “Thou Shall Not ‘murder’”, So God ordering the death of these ones is a just punishment executed on them and thus is not considered murder.

 

Murder is permitted as long as god supposedly commands it?

Finally, an accurate christian thought.

 

Quite simply, the answer is God has chosen to stop them but on his own time table, not yours. God has chosen the best course of action to solve the problem completely and will not rush in and do a half baked job of it just because you think he's too slow in acting. After all, what do you think the Bible is about? It's the history of what God is doing about solving the problems of mankind and how those problems will be solved for all time.

 

I think you have to get this into perspective - 'thou shalt not kill' could be taken to mean not to kill anything - animals for instance for food, or in OT times, sacrifices. So it can't just be taken on face value. Probably, OWB is correct and it means not to murder.
In those times, it was necessary to be ready to defend oneself and people against warlike cultures etc that lived in that region. So a certain amount of killing was always going to be necessary. God woulod not have been doing the Isrealites any favours by a total ban on killing.

A world where nobody is prepared to kill anyone else for any reason is still a long way off. But I suppose that's what we should aim for. The commandments just give a kind of standard towards which should aspire.

 

olderwaterbrother the fact of the matter is if god does not stop a rapist from raping someone then he has acted too slowly and is morally condemnable for being able but unwilling to prevent that suffering. And if god's plan for solving man's problems involves things like brutal rape and genocide then god's plan is a terrible plan and he is a terrible malevolent god. In a world with an all powerful all knowing being nothing happens that is against that being's will, so if god didn't want people to be tortured and killed in the worst ways imaginable then it would never happen, but it does happen so god must be unwilling or unable to do anything about it, and if he is unwilling then he is morally responsible. Some god it is that cant even live up to the morality of man.

 

Honestly, if you really know how to solve all of mankinds problems better than God does, then why haven't you done so? Does that mean that you are "morally condemnable for being able but unwilling to prevent that suffering"?

In fact mankind has had at least 5000 years to solve their problems, so why instead of the problems being solved, do the problems seem to be getting worse? Doesn't that make all of mankind "morally condemnable" for allowing mankind's suffering?

 

Nice try but in the case you mention it would not be murder.

 

Someone in my family has told me on numerous occasions that she was about to be raped. She tried her best to get him off of her and told him that she had diseases to be used as a deterrent and he expressed that he didn't care. She was in her early teens, so I am thinking that the disease thing, at the time, seemed bogus... especially considering aids wasn't as well known back then.

While she was about to get raped, the man for whatever reason, stopped and changed his mind I like to think that God intervened in some way. Either that someone from my family touched up on some sort of inner mechanism to get him to stop (something designed by God), or his angels interceded in some way, or maybe the guy just had a heart.

But the thing is if God just did everything for us, then what value would their be in our being? If God took away our free will in one instance, then why not extend that to everything we do in our lives? What if we owned a parrot, and we placed protective gear on him, and took away every single risk, and whenever the parrot wanted to do something risky that we don't like, we will grab them and put them inside a box. When a parent does everything in their power to take their child's free will away, people usually look down on that and tell them to just let their children be and choose what's best for them. But that doesn't mean that the parent can't give them advice or give them a hand sometimes, but it depends on so many conditions. If God has free will, then so should we.

Then why not create us to be perfect? First what do we mean by perfect, and second how do we know we didn't already have a paradise and lost it?

And like it has been mentioned, we have to choose our moves wisely, same goes for God.

 

I can see your point. But to be fair, people are not in the same leagues as God. God would seem much more capable than people.

But you're right, we aren't morally condemnable just because we are not acting as supermen 24/7.

We can always take Al Gore's lead and act as a superman, but that usually ends up causing more problems than it solves. (Al Gore creating a commotion over something that he isn't 100% sure on and can end up worsening the crisis).

 

This is exactly what I was talking about, people are not in the same league as God. People with their limited knowledge, wisdom and experience keep trying to fix mankind's problems and have put mankind on the brink of extinction and then blame God for not fixing things the way they would fix them. God is much more capable than people. God knows exactly what he's doing. So instead of putting mankind on the brink of extinction, God will fix mankind's problems forever.

 

*DISCLAIMER*
I'm a complete asshole about the Christian church. I understand that. I'm sorry if what I say offends you, but it is what I believe. However, I think faith can be a beautiful thing and can help desperate people through desperate times. I just do not think that those same people should condemn my actions because they are living a boring life.

Yes, the Christian god is extremely hypocritical.

He breaks many of his own commandments numerous times throughout the bible. Many Christians I know are selective about what they believe within the religion. They are also choosy about how they represent god.

I have two qualms with Christianity personally:

1. God is all-forgiving

If that is true, what is with all the need for forgiveness and condemnation? If I'm to prideful to confess, that's a sin, but wait! God is all-forgiving and my sin of pride is already forgiven.

I could go out and burn down an orphanage but God already forgave that sin. This fucked up logic really gets to me

2. God hates queers

The idea that homosexuality is a sin (Even animals are gay) has always irked me, not because I'm gay myself but because I've never viewed myself as different from homosexuals (After all, they are human just like me).

And then the Christian church has the nerve to think that they can reverse and undo what nature has done? To think that because Father Douchebag touches Little Timmy the alter-boy you can stick Father Douchebag into a center that will magically make him like pussy again?

hell, even Noah was a homo. He had gay incestuous sex with his son because he was drunk.

The whole idea of an old, white, male, sitting on a cloud making silent judgements about people is ridiculous. Wake up, take a cold shower, and start living with reality. There is no god, there is no heaven, there is no hell. All we have on this earth is our one life. So light up a doobie, pop a pill, bang whatever you want, and just have a good time.

A friend once told me, the closer science gets to heaven, the further it gets away.

 

Offended? Not in the least, perhaps more amazed, amazed how people who know almost nothing about the Bible can actually think they can prove it wrong by just making stuff up.

Nice comment but a little proof would nice.

Interestingly neither is true.

God is not all-forgiving, seeing as Adam and Eve, also Satan have never been forgiven.

Sorry but not true.

It seems it’s your logic that is, well, messed up.

It is not “queers” god hates but homosexual activity, seeing as some of the founding members of the Christian church had at one time been homosexuals.

interestingly rapists and murders are also human, does calling what they do a sin also irk you?

First, nature didn’t do it, people make choices, what with free will and all, a person makes a decision whether or not to act on their thoughts and feelings. That goes for rapists and murders, as well as for homosexuals and “Father Douchebag”.

I don’t have any idea where you got this from, certainly not the Bible.

Oh wait, maybe this is where you got it; “So light up a doobie, pop a pill, bang whatever you want, and just have a good time.”

Perhaps you should take your own advice; “Wake up, take a cold shower, and start living with reality” and maybe a little less of this advice; light up a doobie, pop a pill, bang whatever you want, and just have a good time, would help you recognize that reality.

I’m not sure what your friend had in mind but I can assure you that God has no fear of mankind’s science.

 

I'm amazed at the amount Christians pick and choose things from the bible to prove their point while ignorning parts of the bible that disprove it.

While what I did say was an exaggeration, just look at "Thou shalt not kill." How many times does your god kill because of people disobeying him? The great flood? Sodom and Grimorahh?Elijah/Elisha (whatever) and the bears? Do as I say but not as I do?

1. Your god is a perfect being, it has complete understanding of reality. Do perfect beings hold grudges? Do perfect beings condemn us to the fiery pits of hell because we don't do things their way?

If your god ISN'T all forgiving, then it is a childish god. Petty and selfish.

2. Maybe you should have a little more understanding of the bible yourself, read below about Leviticus 20-13

Maybe your god needs to stop holding a grudge against Satan and Adam/Eve. Maybe it should take the first-step in building a better bond with both parties?

Hell if god can cure an amputee I'll have no doubt that it exists and I'll go to church again.

How is it not true? Give me more than just your opinion.

Duh, that's the point of it.

Leviticus 20-13
"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

Of course your god doesn't hate homosexuals, just the act. Let us put them to death anyway for good measure.

Not at all, rapists and murders spread discomfort, anguish, and pain. Acts that spread this in my eyes are morally wrong. Depends on circumstances as well, it's a cultural and social thing.

Homosexuality harms no one. Give me one case of homosexuality harming someone.

People are born the way they are. Homosexuality is not a choice, but a part of who someone is. You cannot just wish it away because you think it is unnatural. Rapist and murders are born the same way everyone else is but something in their mind is different.

In nature, homosexual relations are normal. There are gay dogs, gay monkeys, and even gay sea animals. While it is not productive in the sense that it creates babies, it is not evil. It is part of nature.

I was misinformed, noah infact did not have incestuous relations with his son. What did happen was noah got plastered, fell asleep naked, his son Ham walked in, saw his father naked, and then bragged about it to his brothers.

While I was wrong about this, there are countless cases of incestuous relations within the bible. I can list several if you want.

I do live with my own advice. I take responsibility for my actions and live with them. I do not wish away my mistakes by asking an imaginary being to forgive them. As for the do drugs and have sex with whoever part, I'm just stressing that there is no god sitting in the sky making silent judgements about me. There are two sources of authority in my life: My own moral code and the police/government that run the society I live in.

First, heaven was just above the clouds. Angels and spirits walk on them, that is why we can't see them.

Then, when we breached the clouds, heaven moved into outer space.

When we breached outer space, heaven became an abstract place and idea.

God does not fear science because he does not exist.

 

What disproves it?

Some are saying that it's thou shalt not murder.

Hell is the common grave of mankind, also known as Sheol. It's a different kind of grudge. Being sinless, God's judgments are pure.

I am looking into why this was why it was, but from what I get from this is that the chosen people were vitally important to God's plan and wanted to prevent any form of corruption within the groups. They were already contending with occultists. The Gospels reconcile this later on.

I agree with you and people have been debating for centuries on what these acts are that helps to spread these.

The topic is being discussed here. But I'll leave this article here. You can say the same for the dangers of heterosexual sex, which is partly why I believe that the God of the Bible considers sex outside the marriage bed as a sin. I am sure there are more reasons than the health risk, but that's beside the point atm.

That's still highly debatable. But that topic is being discussed here.

Still debatable. They aren't sure if behaviors changes the shape of the brain or the brain was just born that way. Being overly aggressive can increase the part of the brain that is responsible for aggressive behavior.

Also, that assumes that just because someone is born a certain way then that means that person's actions of murder are spelled out for them and not something they can learn to take control over.

True, many animals in the animal kingdom do have homosexual relations for various reasons. The Bonobos have sex with each other for the purpose of social bonding, but that still does not prove whether or not it is natural for humans.

Drunks can end up accomplishing great things... just look at Craig Furguson

I thought you said that we were supposed to be tolerant of homosexual behavior, so I don't understand this response.

Sure.

Well, to be fair, the government is becoming more and more corrupt every day. Sooner or later, it'll become untrustworthy, if it hasn't already. Our own moral codes can be useful, but what we think is effective can end up being ineffective.

You still have to prove that he is imaginary. But in my personal experience, I could not notice God until I humbled myself. This goes for everyone. You can't have it any other way.

Hmm.