Does God Work People Like Puppets To Make Them Do Good?
Ranked #6,047 in Culture & Society, #126,849 overall
HERE'S WHAT I THINK
Does God Work People Like Puppets To Make Them Do Good?
Many people insist on giving God (specifically Yahweh) credit for everything good that people do. This implies that people cannot do good things unless God possesses them and uses them as puppets for the purpose of doing good.
Personally, I don't think any Gods or Goddesses are real so I think that all things good and evil that humans do come from the humans doing them and those who have influenced them. I think humans have the capacity to do good without being controlled by a supernatural influence. I think that humans have free will.
What do you think? Can humans do good things without being controlled by God or is a supernatural influence required?
image created by Dora Pete
What Inspired This Discussion Page
I believe humans can do good without being controlled by an outside force
I write about my experiences with homelessness on Squidoo. On one page I bit back the pain and horror of the experience and wrote about how an amazingly brave and compassionate homeless man rescued me after I was raped and assaulted. Someone chose to use this knowledge to come to my main page on atheism and to use it to evangelize. I see this as evangelism because the comment did not appear on the page with the story about this amazing man, but on an unrelated page of mine about atheism. The person brushed off the actual man's role in saving me and brushed off his very existence, dehumanizing him, by saying he was an angel from God. He wasn't. Justus was a man, a human being who risked his freedom to bring a bleeding delirious girl to the hospital.I think it is dehumanizing to give God credit for everything good people do and to, on the flip side, give all credit for any bad things people do to the people who did them. It's a statement asserting that humans can never do good, only evil. It demeans the sacrifice, compassion and humanity of people who choose to do good things.
I think that humans are responsible for both good and bad. I don't think that God controls people like puppets to make them do good. I suspect that even if I thought God were real, I wouldn't believe humans were not capable of good on their own. Why would they be worth saving if they weren't? Why would something that is only evil unless possessed by God something worthy of saving or even allowing to live?
Does God Work People Like Puppets To Make Them Do Good?
Is God responsible for all kind, compassionate, and good things we do? Or are we responsible for choosing to do what is kind, compassionate, and good just as we are responsible for choosing to do things that are not?
Does God Work People Like Puppets To Make Them Do Good?
Yes, all good comes from God.
karmicchristian says:
All things comes from from the god 'within'. I would not say much more than that (here)!
No, humans are responsible for their own thoughts and actions.
swathy joy says:
no what we do depends upon us. it comes out from ones self .yes there exist a divine power which is inside us which guides us but ultimately the decision lies upon us...........
JustOneGuy says:
No. We are responsible for the good we do as well as the bad we do. The man who helped you was a good man. The person who raped and brutalized you was a bad person, a predator. Justus, the man who helped you was not a predator. Good people take care of themselves and sometimes other people too. Goodness does not require helping others but it does require loving life and seeing the good in one's self. Good people can identify with those who have been harmed by others because the results of human predation have affected all good people and all of us have been exposed to it in one form or another. And there are many forms of human predation. Good people do not prey upon other people.
Mike Gastin says:
God certainly does not work people like puppets! What is the fun in that, a planet full of people to control? It's much more enriching for all parties when they engage each other out of choice and the application of each party's respective will. Let's give God more credit than being a simple puppet-master.
GabrielaFargasch says:
We are born with free will to anything...... Good or "Evil" things.......... I do believe however, that for every action there is a consequence. If we choose to be "good" and do good, chances are we will attract more "good" things.... If we choose to become "evil" people and do evil things, chances are we are going to attract evil people into our lives as well........... But we are definitely not puppets.......
spirituality says:
This is an ancient theological question, but I agree: it's offensive to make the person who does something good irrelevant to the act of good - by laying the responsibility on Jesus, or God or whatever.
RELATED NEWS: FODDER FOR ARGUING MORE
- Studies say atheists, believers both do good, but for different reasons
- Atheists and others who don't adhere to a religion often say they can be good without God. Now, three new studies appear to back them up. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley conducted three experiments that show less religious people ...
- Beliefs in God around the world: Do you have doubts?
- Only 3 percent of Americans say they don't believe in God. As we've discussed before, there is a vocal but very small minority of Americans who are ?good without God.? This percentage is lower in only three nations: Chile, Cyprus and the Philippines.
- The great debate of 2012: Corvino and Gallagher discuss same-sex marriage
- Instead, the focus is on whether legalizing same-sex marriages is good for society or bad for society - with two vastly different answers. While Corvino acknowledges that it is difficult to engage in the debate without addressing the theological ...
- Obama's God Complex
- Zimmerman, the captain of a Neighbourhood Watch group, pursued Trayvon because he said that he thought he was acting ?suspicious? and was ?up to no good?. And that is exactly the same excuse used by President Barack Obama as he justifies ticking off ...
Is God Responsible For The Bad As Well As The Good?
Links That Support My View
Humans are good without God in control
If you believe that humans are responsible for their good actions as well as their bad ones, add a link to help support that belief.
1
Is God Omniscient ? If so, do we have free will?
If God exists, He is all knowing.That means that i more...0 points
Do You Think We Are Evil Without God In Control?
Abusive comments that contain profanity will not be published. Besides, how can you prove your point about God making you good if you do that kind of thing?
-
-
JustOneGuy
Dec 18, 2011 @ 1:15 am | delete
- No, that is unfair to the people who lived before there was a belief in God or people who have never heard of God. Goodness comes from performing the three primary virtues which are: choice, seeking the truth in all things, and creating a survival identity. If we fail to perform those fundamental virtues we are not going to be able to help anyone at all. If society protected my ability to exercise my primary virtues, humanity would get out of the dark ages. I think that Freedom could be defined as being able to exercise the primary virtues without being impeded by another person. If God actually exists, he'd want us to be as we were designed to be - and that means responsible for ourselves and our actions and willing to help others when we choose to. I cannot help all those who need help so I have to choose if I can and then who will be the recipient. But goodness comes from exercising one's primary virtues and never impeding another's ability to do so either. We have the choice to be predator or producer. Predators destroy freedom. Producers require it.
-
-
-
karmicchristian
Jul 7, 2011 @ 1:10 pm | delete
- As long as any question is projected 'outwards' for an answer - 'nothing' would be forthcoming (belief in nothing is atheism!). Project the projectile (question) -inwards and you will 'see' or 'realize' the inner 'infinity'! :) Wish you well in your quest. Blessed be.
-
-
-
spirituality Oct 19, 2010 @ 2:05 pm | delete
- Personally I don't think it's an either me or the divine that acts - it's me IN the divine - but then again, my version of spirituality doesn't include a personal God. I do think we are evil when there is nothing divine in us, on the other hand - any good we show, proves the Divine is present in us - for which we are personally responsible.
-
About the Author
by Kylyssa
I am a "retired" florist turned freelance writer. I enjoy cooking, keeping saltwater fish, and baking fun cakes. I have had some unusual life-experien... more »
- 101 featured lenses
- Winner of 21 trophies!
- Top lens » What I Learned While Being Homeless
Explore related pages
- Atheist Charities Atheist Charities
- An Atheist View An Atheist View
- Is God Just Pretend? Is God Just Pretend?
- New Atheism | Common Questions and Misunderstandings About Atheism New Atheism | Common Questions and Misunderstandings About Atheism
- Nathaniel Branden Nathaniel Branden
- Polls About Atheists and Atheism Polls About Atheists and Atheism
Can We Be Good Without God?: Biology, Behavior, and the Need to Believe
Amazon Price: $13.05 (as of 05/31/2012)
Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of God's Sovereignty and Free Will
Amazon Price: $8.03 (as of 05/31/2012)
