God= Control Freak?

Personally, I see no reason, unless you are off to a job interview. That my friend is where religion and parental socialization come to blows. Welcome to A2K!

Re: God= Control Freak?


Hummm....and what could you possibly have been thinking about when you wrote this line?




Is that so?

If you know that, you should know why all these other things are part of your gods scheme.

Perhaps you are just guessing that there is a god -- and you would prefer to guess the god is omnicient, all-powrful, and the supreme lord and master of all things -- but just would prefer not to guess that the god cares about other things -- like shaving or dress codes.



Well, I agree about the shaving part !!! -- but why would he be concerned with such petty day to day dealings as whether or not people mastabate; have sex with same-sex partners; or covet their neighbors wife?

What kind of petty god would do that?




If you have a petty god -- you have a petty god. Picking out one or two things (like dressing and shaving) is even more absurd than honoring a god who is so petty.



QUESTION: Who did you have in mind with this dressing and shaving stuff?

Tabernacle
How and where are you getting this information in dressing and shaving?

I have no idea why, but the God of the Bible was very particular about the garments his priests wore:

Exodus 28
3 Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. 5 Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. 6 "Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen-the work of a skilled craftsman. 7 It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be fastened. 8 Its skillfully woven waistband is to be like it-of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen.

It goes on in detail about the rest of the outfit, including the importance of bells:

31 "Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, 32 with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. 33 Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. 34 The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. 35 Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die.

Ezekiel 44
15 " 'But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD . 16 They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service.
17 " 'When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. 18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. 19 When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that they do not consecrate the people by means of their garments.
20 " 'They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.

He was also particular about the appearance of everyone else:

Leviticus 19
19 Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
27 Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

Deuteronomy 22
11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
12 Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

1 Corinthians 11
6If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.

Despite God's eccentricities humans have free will so I'd not classify the Biblical god as a control freak.

As far as the old testament goes, i'd say god were an adolescent, self-centered, violent and unreasoning monster.

Hummmm...I just realized that you think more of the god of the Bible than I do.

I always was a very tolerant man, Boss . . .

Yer a good guy, Setanta.

No anemia here, this thread has an irony-rich diet . . .

Craven, free will is not something God had to give us. It is inherent in self-aware beings. Free will is rather pointless when your choice is to "do as I command or else!"

The "or else" was spelled out rather dramatically in Deuteronomy 28:

20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

I don't believe in any gods. But if the god of the Bible created man then it would stand to reason that anything inherent to man was given by God.

I too, see no use in "free will" if one choice freely made leads to heaven and the other leads to hell.

As a parent, I want my children to grow and have "free will" but if I see one of them is absolutely going to make a terribly harmful choice, I intervene because I love them and my desire to see them not hurt themselves seems to me to override giving them "free will". Too bad we can't expect the same of our heavenly father.

Parents who let their children go about their merry way and then shrug their shoulders and go, "Well it's their problem I gave them free will" are considered bad parents. Those who on top of that would give them an horrific punishment that was eternal for their mistakes would be considered monsters and would have social services parked at their door 24/7.

When God does it it's part of His plan, though and how dare anyone question it. Bullshit.

That's why I believe in Christ but I don't believe in Christians.

I'm afraid as I grow older I find the concept of God to be the God of the book of Job, using his human creations that he loves so much just as tools to show Satan and prove to someone, himself I guess, that in the end He can come down and still be King Of The Ring, and we are the eggs that get broken in order for Him to make that particular tasty omelet for Himself.

There has to be more to it than that, that's what I keep telling myself. I would not purposely treat my children that way, and I'm just a bear.

By that line of reasoning, the ability to resist temptation and choose to do good was bestowed on some people, but a desire to disobey God's commands and an innate weak character unable to resist evil impulses were given by others by God.

So how can people be blamed for what they do, if their choices were predetermined by God's original design control over the constitution of their souls/brains?


Bear, I agree wholeheartedly abut parenting.