Why is God such a jerk?

[Azrael]

Tbaron I thnk you hit the nail at least closer to the head that either DWill or Star Burst.

the purpose of this thread, which I started was to provide a discussion which was linked to the 'Evil Bible Stories' which atheists frequently cite as a means of rejecting God. We got a bit side tracked because in conjuction with the thread we also examined some of those objectionable stories. The problem was that many of the participants were more interested in debating whether the population of the ancient world could support the statistics of the story and diverted attentiona away from the main point. Bummer, but that is a frequent tactic employed against believer lead discussions.

As for Star Bursts comment, he used to spout numerous quotes from Ben Franklin but was instructed that he was a victim of the atheist legends machine (like urban myths).

If anyone here is a victim of an Urban Myth and legend its you my friend your still waiting on a 2000 year old God man to reappear. As far as Franklin goes when the situation warrants it I will use him or Jefferson or any of the rest of the Deist of that period.

[NoAmount]

I am an atheist... but I really don't feel the need to convince other people that there is no god.

In a younger time, i had been a devout Catholic. If for anything, I find solace in the thought that god exists, or some creature exists. That was my thinking. I find comfort in believing.

But that was years ago, before I opened my mind and accepted the truth that for me, god may not exist at all.

bu I respect the fact that people might have other ideas than I do and they hold on to that for their reasons.

[Zuly]

deep blue, you might find Robert Wright's book, The Evolution of God to be interesting. Of course, Wright is talking about a being that has to in the end be called fictional, but there is in that character growth towards a more enlightened moral outlook (though still in somewhat narrow Christian confines). It's as if Darth Vader, mentioned by Frank, is coming to see the oneness of humanity.

Sounds to me like what evolves is not god but humans' thinking about god.

I think that's what Wright talks about, the moral growth of humans, which in turn changes the perception of god. God was created in our own image, as such, he develops in cadence with humans.