The Boodthirsty Deity of the Aztecs Huitzilopochtli
One alternative to the atheist amoral world view (see part 1) in which the moral question regarding suffering and death of children is written off as ignorance….. is that there really are objective standards of ‘ought-ness’ in the universe… and that having feelings of injustice are not silly delusions… not mere evolutionary expedients… but valid. Ie that such feelings are an awareness that some experiences and realities ‘ought not to be thus.’
If we accept this second view to be correct, immediately we must ask then how are we to know what is truly moral and what is not?
What is the standard by which we may rightly judge events, actions, and cultures as being Good or Evil… how do we escape mere subjectivity and cultural relativism?
And what about ‘Natural evils’ like floods and disease and distinct issues from Man made evils?
It is this second type of question which most people struggle with, and it raises the prospect that though indeed God may exist yet still he may not be Good at all!
Was the universe created by a malevolent being?
Is God a capricious tyrant?
I want to focus on this second line of questioning today. I will only touch on the Human factor in respect to evil in the world…‘why does God allow men to commit evil actions?’… by simply saying we are freewill moral agents and that as such we are free to live good lives or to be evil… and yet inspite of the apparant ‘licence’ we have to commit evil that I believe that one day we shall give an account… justice will prevail.
Does ‘Shit happen’ because God is not Good?
Aztec Human sacrifice to apease the Gods.
The Aztecs believed The Gods were in fact blood thirsty monsters!
They believed that if they did not satisfy their demand for Blood by plentiful human sacrifices that the Gods themselves would sleight their thirst by visiting them with Natural calamities… famine, Earthquakes, disease, etc.
This is their explanation for why ‘evil shit happens’… Satan is god!
That is a horrible thing to contemplate… and believe!
It actually vindicates monstrously barbaric behavior!
The Aztecs used to prey on their neighbors and feed them to the God’s.
There is a rationale here: either slay people to appease the Blood thirsty Gods… or suffer Plagues, pestilence, and disaster!
Some atheists will argue that this sort of barbarism is representative of religion in general. Ie Absurd superstitions which inspire Evil actions. And while I have already discussed the paucity of the atheist position, I confess that if I thought that Aztec-type rationale and practice definitively represents all religion… I would have never have forsaken Atheism! I could not worship such Monsters!
While I know that belief in a cold and indifferent universe cannot put moral restraints upon Human depravity, tyranny, and barbarism, I also know it does not expressly encourage it! Nor does it postulate a malevolent universe as does the Religion of Mexico.
Important Note: The Idea of Blood sacrifice is a common theme amoung the religions of mankind.
It is very possible this is evidence of an acient common origin from which many Deviations and dark perversions have occured as mankind has spread out around the Globe… drifting into darkness.
This Anthropolocical rationale fits in well with the Bible story.
Thus an original knowledge of Noahs animal sacrifice on Ararat… which pleased God… has been perverted into the abominable Human sacrifice of the Aztecs… and Their Blood thirsty Gods.
I will now argue that such a narrow description of Religion by Atheists as being a universal Evil… is one-eyed and naive. I hope that I can present an alternative description of God and alternative explanation for why Natural calamities fall upon the innocent, the Just, and the unjust alike.
Sinner or Saint? A Victim of the Eruption of Versuvius.
There was a lot of sin and vice at Pompeii, yet this was true of many other cities too.
Why was Pompeii destroyed? Man, woman, and child?
First, before I get into the main argument as I find in the Bible, I want to say that It is not at all easy to isolate and distinguish what may be deemed to be Natural calamities, from the actions and responsibilities of Man.
Many of the ‘Natural disasters’ which befall us, and have caused Men to blaspheme and shake their fists at heaven, are actually a consequence of human ignorance and error.
Eg. Was It God’s fault that Men Built Pompey at the foot of Versuvius?
Was it God’s fault That the CTV Building collapsed in Christchurch killing hundreds of people… or is the chief blame to be place upon human error and bad design?
Even with things like plagues, floods, and diseases, mankind must take some responsibility for his own foolishness, unsanitary conditions and practices.
How many children suffer and die of Famine simply because of the Lust for political power?
When we realize this, blaming God for a huge percentage of the suffering and death of children, and ‘good people’ is misdirected indignation… He is being unjustly accused.
In the light of such reasoning, is it possible that God is neither indifferent or malicious?
Now we are getting to the Nitty gritty!
What makes many people refuse to believe in a Good God is this final kind of rationale… The apparent indifference of God. In spite of all human folly, and wickedness… ultimately Does not the fact that God allows the good and innocent to suffer still make him responsible for it all?
Why does he not intervene?
To avoid stretching this question out to far I will present the Christian answer to the problem of evil in the world in part 3. I hope to do it with economy, and so I am sure there will no doubt be questions that remain… yet hopefully they will fall within the framework of what I present in the next post.
So you think that God will torture billions of people for eternity?
If … the answer to that is sadly … yes … then …
I believe I can, yet Richard ‘The Truth’ must not be mere whim… ie It must take account of Grim reality, and not be merely a Fairy story where everyone lives ‘happily ever after’.
Morality means Our actions *have consequences*… Bad actions produce negitive consequences…. and justice demands the account be ballanced. Evil really is Evil. It is a serious problem, which requires a serious responce. I will be making these points and others as I develope the Arguement. I will not rush this. I will lay down some general principles and thoughts… yet I can see that there will still be questions and challanges, which I will deal with as they arise… this may require many more ‘parts’ to this issue.
I think you need to ask yourself if you want the truth,… or do you want a fairytale ending? Will you *trust* in God’s Goodness, even if things dont pan out as you would wish? Must you chop up the Bible and disguard the pieces that you dont like?
That’s exactly right, Tim.
We are *finite* beings. Our sins are *finite*. Justice demands *finite* negative consequences. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, I think that I must, if I am to live with a clean conscience. I don’t like, e.g., Leviticus 20:10 and Leviticus 20:13.
Must you rightly divide the word of truth and disregard the Dispensations that you don’t like?! 😉
You err… our actions can have eternal consequences.
As for chopping out verses you don’t like… standing as Judge of God Almighty, would it not be wiser for the clay to defer such matters to the Potters superior wisdom in faith of his character despite your own inability to reconcile the dilemma?
That Law was a part of God’s covenant with the Jews.
They *Asked for the Law* So God Gave it to them.
God is not the author of Confusion Richard.
God made sex.
He made Male and Female.
Why would you think that he would be ‘cool’ about Men sodomising each other?
That is so obviously/ definitively *a perversion*… and a testament to Mankind’s fallen Nature.
They (the Jews) did not *have to* be a part of the covenant if they did not wish …they could leave.
And It Interests me that ‘Bible haters’ tend to focus on the ‘Anti-sodomy’ laws of The OT…. love to make out that the OT is ‘Homophobic’…. when it is not. They tend to focus on those prohibitions while avoiding the anti-adultery portions… which also carried the death penalty. I think this is because most people… like you… strongly feel adultery is wrong.
And it is easier for many people to see the chaos and misery caused by adultery rather than by Homosexuality… yet Both are deviations from the Ideal, and both distain the Divine Order, and both result in Human misery. (Sodomy is not healthy… the anus is not a Vagina….*Fact*)
Yet ultimately Not one Jew kept the Law. ‘All have sinned and come chort of the Gory of God) …. *and this was why God laid down strict laws on holiness*… To reveal Mans Wickedness and need for Divine grace…. Need for a Savior!
Which is why God was manifest in the flesh….and went to the cross… he took our sins upon himself. In short The Old testament demonstrates the need for the New Testament. Thus today God is still holy, and we ought not to be Homosexuals, or Adulterers, yet because Justice has been fully served for thoughs whom will humble themselves… confess their need and desire for the Salvation which is in Christ … if we should fall into sin (eg homosexuality/ adultery) we will physically reap what we have sown… yet shall still be saved from Damnation because we are now under grace… not the Law. And this is the good news which we are to preach to sinners! That God loves them, and sent Christ to save them from Damnation. The Gospel is Libertarian! We have been set free from *the Law*… thus Christianity differs from Judaism in that St Paul calls Christians to voluntarily live holy lives… out of their love for God. Unlike the OT Jewish Legalism whereby ‘salvation’/ acceptance by God Demanded Works!…not merely faith, ie strict obedience to his laws.
So as a Dispensationalist Christian Libertarian I don’t have to say that *Leviticus is evil….and must not be Divine Law* I know it is Divine. I know it is Righteous. Yet I am grateful not to be under such a severe covenant with the Holy God! *Thanks to Christ*
Under St Paul’s Gospel I know God is gracious and has blotted out that Law.
Thus The Bible hater who isolates the Levitical laws from the Work of Christ and the St Paul’s Gospel… and in isolation attempts to call God a Moral monster *Fails on many counts!*
1. Those practices are sinful and destructive in and of themselves.
2. They fail to understand why God gave the Law. (as a schoolmaster)
3. They annex them from the Love and work of Christ to redeem us sinners.
Only this way can they deceive people/ (and themselves) into thinking God is a merciless tyrant.
And ultimately they expose their true evil heart of rebellion against a holy and judging God… and their Satanic desire to pervert what God has created…and “Do what thou wilt”…. The Law of Satan…. Alistair Crowley
This is an attempt to say that God Must accept *Mans perverse standards*… or be found a tyrant. That makes Man Sovereign over God!
What a monstrous universe that would be!
And let me state for the record that Lesbianism is also a deviation.
And those of us Heterosexual Males whom have lusted over Lesbian porn, or encouraged lesbian acts during group sex… are as sexually perverted as the woman who ingauge in it. Thus We are under the same condemnation. Only through Christ will we be saved from the Judgement of God which we deserve.
The Bible is not ‘Homophobic’. It treats *all sin* as wickedness, and *we are all under condemnation*, and we all equally need the salvation which is in Christ. Not one Adulthuman being born of sinful Adam, will walk into Heaven, by his own righteousness. Even Enoch and Elijah whom did not taste death will only be made whole by the work of Christ. We all have a simple choice which will determine out eternal destiny. Life in Gods presence, or Life in darkess and separation…
It is interesting that Christ himself exposed the truth that the Law placed All under condemnation and need of mercy and forgiveness.
He exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees themselves in respect to desiring the Death of sinners like adulterers when he said “Let He who is without sin caste the first stone”.
(And please dont attempt to tell me that is not a legitimate scripture!… I don’t give a Rats arse about what Bible doubting scholars and textual critics like Glenn Peoples think… and his ‘Evidence’ that this scripture is ‘a late addition’. To think his argument holds any water, and ought to be believed over and above the promises of God to preserve his word *Pure* for all generations is absolute foolishness. The ‘evidence’ he presents is miles away from being conclusive!
If there was any scripture in the Bible with The stamp of Christ authorship on it ….it must be this scripture!