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From: garys@bunkerb.UUCP (Gary Samuelson)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: What should God be like?
Message-ID: <291@bunkerb.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 11-Feb-84 14:30:53 EST
Article-I.D.: bunkerb.291
Posted: Sat Feb 11 14:30:53 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Feb-84 21:54:11 EST
Lines: 30

Many have said that the God described in the Bible, and especially the
Pentateuch, is not worthy of worship, because he is despicably evil.

Now, if you have decided, as some have, that you would not worship
any God, no matter what, then this question is not directed to you.
But, if you believe that, although the God of the Bible is not worthy
of worship, some other God might be, tell me: What would a God worthy
of worship be like?  Apparently, to please everybody, God would have
to act within the following constraints:

1.  God should in no way restrict the human right to make free
    choices, or, through threats or bribes, attempt to impose
    his will on others; BUT God should not allow war, murder,
    rape, theft, or tailgating.

2.  God should have made the world a much nicer, safer place in
    which to live.  Earthquakes, violent storms, sickness, and
    hangnails simply have no place in a perfect world; BUT God
    must provide challenges to be overcome and problems to be
    solved, or humans will become too bored.

3.  God must regularly provide miracles to prove his existence to
    skeptics; BUT God must not interfere with the orderly course
    of events, since that would make scientific knowledge impossible.
    (Regular miracles would also make it impossible to distinguish
    between the miraculous and the normal.)

So I put it to you: What should God be like?

Gary Samuelson