The Sadistic God

OK... So I will illustrate my problems with the Christian "God" in this topic. Feel free to help correct my argument and point out any flaws.

Time-line, Refer to throughout the argument for clarification.

Genesis---------------------Your Life------Eventually Your Death----Afterlife

So, God creates the Earth because he feels like it some day. But let me remind you that God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient... Meaning he is all powerful, everywhere, and all knowing. So all knowing God creates the Earth and humans, but God knows that your lifewill come. And lets say your life sucks, this is all God's fault because He created humans, most people blindly state "These are just his trials".... Bull **** they are... After all of your life you eventually die, no? Well God creates all humans with the knowledge that the majority will fail, but this is not because they are not pure, but instead because God sets those (who fail) up for failure, He knows there out come, He knows that they will not pass his trails... So does this not make God a sadist for setting up people to go to Hell?

If this argument is correct then either: God is not all knowing, not perfect, or just a sadist.

And lets say your life sucks, this is all God's fault because He created humansCredeGunhound

[QUOTE="CredeGunhound"]And lets say your life sucks, this is all God's fault because He created humansChiliDragon

Well, I think that creating something that someone else uses is a bit different than creating, well, everything.  If General Motors also created the things who drive their cars, then they would ultimately be responsible for the aspects of the things that create the possibility of getting into an accident.

This very problem was actually the reason why I ultimately was unable to accept the Christian God as a viable possibility when I still believed that the Bible said he would damn most of the world to be tormented in hell for all eternity.

[QUOTE="CredeGunhound"]And lets say your life sucks, this is all God's fault because He created humansChiliDragon

Although, they could be considered at least partly responsible if they deliberately neglected to include a safety feature that could prevent all car crashes...Funky_Llama

There's always a flaw in design. By definition, if there is a flaw in design, the creator, if there is one, is either a lazy designer or an imperfect one. Theists will often use some alternative method to describe flaws, such as the original sin. However, this brings up the question: how does original sin exist if it's not the work of God?

@CredeGunhunter: I pretty much agree, assuming that "God" does exist. The problem with this stipulation is that it assumes God exists.

I think it all depends on whether or not there is free will. If there is no free will, and everything is ultimately dictated by God, then it is not absurd to call him sadistic. But if there is free will, if God gave us the ability to choose how to live our lives, then is it God who is responsible for man's choices, or is it man?-Sun_Tzu-

I've asked myself that exact same question regarding whether or not there is free will, and to be honest I really can't figure out any justification for an answer in the affirmative.  Humans are as affected by cause and effect as anything else in the world.  We do things for a reason: because we feel that what we choose to do will bring us the closest to achieving our desires in life.  And we certainly don't have direct control over what those desires are.  As a result, it seems to me that humans are not truly choosing anything, but instead are just going acting predictably based on the combination of their background and the new stimuli that they have received.

It's for this reason that I also only support punishment for the purposes of either rehabilitation, deterrence, or protection of society from the person in question - I don't believe that there exists such a concept of someone truly "deserving" something that serves no purpose other than to make that person suffer.

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]I think it all depends on whether or not there is free will. If there is no free will, and everything is ultimately dictated by God, then it is not absurd to call him sadistic. But if there is free will, if God gave us the ability to choose how to live our lives, then is it God who is responsible for man's choices, or is it man?GabuEx

I've asked myself that exact same question regarding whether or not there is free will, and to be honest I really can't figure out any justification for an answer in the affirmative.  Humans are as affected by cause and effect as anything else in the world.  We do things for a reason: because we feel that what we choose to do will bring us the closest to achieving our desires in life.  And we certainly don't have direct control over what those desires are.  As a result, it seems to me that humans are not truly choosing anything, but instead are just going acting predictably based on the combination of their background and the new stimuli that they have received.

It's for this reason that I also only support punishment for the purposes of either rehabilitation, deterrence, or protection of society from the person in question - I don't believe that there exists such a concept of someone truly "deserving" something that serves no purpose other than to make that person suffer.

Then the question "What is free will?" arises. Is free will to be defined as a decision made without being based on prior events and conditions (such as desires, background, ect.), or is it the ability to have chosen differently had the decider had been under different conditions?

I chose to reply to your post because I had a desire to reply to your post. But had I not had that desire to reply I could of easily not have replied at all.