Gods and Dogs

If divine “justice” is to have any meaning, its definition must be independent of God’s actions. You can’t have a man claiming to be “just” towards his dogs, then torturing every one of his dogs that barks. In like manner, you can’t have a god claiming to be “just” then claiming the definition of “just” is any divine action such as eternal torment for infractions as natural and unavoidable as selfish thoughts.

Why would it be unjust to torture our dogs when they bark? It’s because nearly every dog barks. They can’t help themselves. We might punish the dogs we love if they, for example, urinate on the floor since dogs can be taught not to urinate on the floor (learning is not possible if we kill them out of wrath), but who would consider it to be “just” to torture until dead any dog who barked?

It is a dog’s “bark nature” to bark. How do we determine this?

The Failures Of Fig Trees

Jesus and I both like figs. But I have never in my life cursed a fig tree.

“And when [Jesus] saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.”

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(Matthew 21:19)

Jesus is hungry. He sees a fig tree. But it has no figs! Now why would a fig tree not have figs? Any decent fig tree ought to know that Jesus would be walking by hungry. It most assuredly deserves to be cursed.

But wait. There is another account that might give us more perspective.

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.”

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(Mark 11:12-14a)

It was not fig-bearing season! But is this an excuse? Not in the mind of Jesus.

It did not matter that Jesus himself, if claims of his deity are accurate, made the fig tree and scheduled its fig-bearing season.

It did not matter that no fig tree, due to the nature of fig trees, had ever borne fruit out of season. This one should have realized the needs of its Lord and have submitted to his will.

Jehovah also made humans if the bible is to be believed. The nature with which he made us is clear from other verses.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”

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(Romans 3:10)

Our nature is to sin. We did not have a choice in this nature. Yet, just as with Jesus and the fig tree, our nature is no excuse in the mind of Jehovah. We rightfully deserve eternal damnation. Most christians believe that one sin committed by a creature with the nature to sin is deserving of eternal damnation. This is a bankrupt and incoherent notion from a bankrupt book of absurd fiction.

The bible is bunk.

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Religious Reasoning

You’ve heard the saying “If there is no god, then everything is permitted.”

Let’s just go with the dubious assumption that any god that exists must be one that grants or withholds permission.
The statement then is a tautology. It is tantamount to saying “If there is no one granting or withholding permission, everything is permitted.” The utterer has said nothing, and nothing has been learned. At this juncture, there are 2 possible directions to take.

1. Try to determine whether or not there is a “permissioner”.
2. Start with the assumption that there must be behaviors that are granted or denied permission, then look for the “permissioner”.

Why start with the assumption in #2? The following statement I have heard far too many times, and seems to be the reason that #2 is the default starting point rather than #1.

“What would prevent you from being a mass murderer if you did not believe in god?”

This rhetorical question is disturbing for the following reasons.

Teeth, Sex And Demons

In a recent TED TALK, Mary Roach discusses the case of a woman who experienced an orgasm whenever she brushed her teeth. Instead of rejoicing over this odd phenomenon, the woman assumed a demon was the cause of such pleasure and replaced her toothbrush with oral rinse.

This may be an extreme case, but millions of other humans also implicate dark spiritual causation when dealing with their own sexual urges. In some cases they may blame some demonic entity, but in most cases, the urges are attached to a culpable “sin nature”. Some religions go so far as to claim “lust” is deserving of eternal damnation.

What is it about our sexuality that makes us feel guilty about our urges and conjure up all manner of spiritual entities in an attempt to cope with and manage our “shameful” sexual selves? Here are a few factors.

Sin Nature? Request For Clarity

The notion of a “sin nature” is, by the admission of most theologians, rather critical to the coherency of Christianity. This is how it’s normally presented. Adam did not have a sin nature. Yet he sinned. As his genetic descendants, we now have a sin nature. It seems this sin nature is somehow different to Adam’s nature before he sinned.

“The result of one trespass was condemnation for all men.”
(Romans 5:18)

Quite clearly the consequences are different. Adam would have lived forever had he not sinned it is claimed. Yet we are condemned to die due to our sinfulness it seems. Yet this says nothing about the sin nature itself.

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
(Psalm 51:5)

I’d like to ask for clarification on the concept of a sin nature. Here are a few questions.

1. Is the sinful newborn (Psalm 51:5) deserving of hellfire?
2. If Adam did not have a sin nature, then how was he able to sin?
   If your answer to this is simply “free will”, then what is the difference between “free will” and a “sin nature”?
3. Suppose we were created without a sin nature like Adam. Would we be less prone to sin?
4. Why did God map our sin nature to genetics (passed on from Adam) rather than just giving everyone free will as he did with Adam?
5. If our sin nature was not our choice, why are we condemned for living according to our nature?

Please give feedback in the comment box below.
Thanks for your responses.

-phil