I’ve been thinking lately about God, assuming He exists. Mainly, I’ve been thinking about the Judeo-Christian biblical conception of God, and asking myself, crazy as this sounds, if He exists, Is God a sociopath?
I pose this question seriously, and apologize in advance for offending anyone by probing this idea. But consider:
You are expected to worship Him.
You are expected to acknowledge His perfection.
You are expected to live by His standards.
You are expected to fear His Judgement.
You are expected to please, not disappoint Him.
You are expected to do penance when you’ve strayed from His rules.
You are expected to be in awe of, and fear, His omniscience.
You are expected to be in awe of, and fear, His omnipotence.
You are expected to prize His love, and fear His wrath.
You are expected to seek, and follow, His guidance.
When He feels unheeded, He licenses Himself to unleash cruel, violent, devastating rages (see the Flood, among countless other examples).
He is a punisher.
He is perfect.
He has no guilt; yet He instills guilt.
He “made,” and he “works,” the world and universe from “above,” sitting in Judgement of all who deviate from Him.
He is infallible.
He is unaccountable.
He is callous—a cause of, and silent witness to, untold violence and suffering in the history of humanity.
He is “entitled—”to judge, and punish, as He likes.
He is controlling to a highly pathological degree, for all the reasons stated above.
He is merciful, so long as you heed Him. Otherwise, He can be merciless.
He expects to be idealized and treated like a God.
He rages, and inflicts the cruelest of punishments, when He feels defied.
His word is the bible.
Now you tell me: If I were describing a human being in these terms, what conclusion would you draw? I suspect, if you weren’t feeling defensive, that you’d conclude that we’re talking about someone with a case of seriously malignant narcissism edging, perhaps, into the realm of sociopathy?
But, of course, I’m describing the Judeo-Christian God.
Think about this: from the earliest age, this is your almighty Father figure. You are taught to worship Him, seek His love, His mercy, accept His perfection and infallibility.
You are taught that His word is final; His wrath is justified; to feel shame before His eyes.
You are taught to have to work hard to earn your way back into His good graces, and to be grateful for His forgiveness.
His judgement is final, and even terrifying.
Now if this is the Father figure we’ve been raised to heed and idealize from birth, is it not fair to wonder how much this relationship—with God—might predispose us to end up with a sociopath?
Does one’s adult relationship with a sociopath not replicate, in certain ways, one’s relationship with God?
I pose this as food for thought, nothing else. But I will follow-up this post in the next several weeks, to further flesh out my thoughts, factoring in, as well, your initial feedback.
(This article is copyrighted (c) 2010 by Steve Becker, LCSW.)
Here is how I see it.
Lots of psychologists and historians have stated that sociopaths have been part of the leadership class (and at times dominating the leadership class) for human civilization going all the way back through recorded time. These leaders were responsible for ‘receiving” laws from deities, appointing priests low and high, and seeing to it sacrifices, tithes, and religious taxes were paid.
Dr. Becker brings up a legitimate question from a historical and psychological point of view. If sociopaths are and have been our leadership class for the most part throughout time, they are largely responsible for the development of our standards of right and wrong, individual and collective, whether we like it or not.
If a mere mortal had flooded the planet, killed off the Canaanites and took their land screaming it was because of their injustice, burned people to death, ect. no one would raise an eyebrow if someone suggested they were psychopathic.
A lot of you have posted how God gives you peace or point out the “good things ” God wants us to do or has done for us. That doesn’t mean anything. Many of your own stories in dealing with the psychopaths include the p doing “nice things” or “good works” and then ended up being nothing more than a way to con you over or a temporary sacrifice to get even more from you than you otherwise would give. I could take every verse in the Bible where we are commanded to give to the poor, turn the other cheek, and so forth and give a reason why a psychopath would tell his followers to do such.
For the sake of argument I want to ask this question to the religious people here.
If the God of the Bible were a sociopath how could you tell?
It may seem like its a trap but it isn’t. You’d have to base your argument on what is good from the Bible in order to decide whether God is good, but the problem is God is responsible (or the people who wrote it claiming to speak for God) for the Bible, and if he is a sociopath then you have been duped into believing evil is good.
The only way you can get out of this is to affirm there is an objective right and wrong value system not dependent upon God, and while God may 100% agree with this system, he is not over it but is himself subject to it.
Also, I want to note I am not deliberately trying to make the Christians here angry. I apologize if I come across that way.
I am Muslim and for the sake of argument the questions could be applied to Allah and the Quran.
And to be honest I think Dr. Becker and the historians and psychologists are perfectly within their professional rights to ask such questions.
Hey Blueskies, I’m not sure you’re aiming at me with your comments. Just in case it seems like it, let me be clear that I’m not saying I’m crediting sociopaths for my growth. I see that they’ve been a useful catalyst, but they’re still plain evil, by my definition of evil. The growth that I experience comes from ME making the effort, and waking up, with all the costs that that implies. It comes from me being able to look at myself like I never did before, and being devastated enough by them to make doing so my only way to survive. My growth comes from me being able to see things in ways I never did before.
My experience with the Spaths got that much needed process rolling.
If you don’t want to mix spirtuality and spaths, that’s cool. But I want to go on record saying that for many people, it does raise issues that have everything to do with spirituality, as well as spaths just being irregular (stunted) humans. I take your point that spaths are like animals (I see them as reptilian, but whatever). But it’s still a spiritual experience for me, as much as it is a psychological, emotional and physical one. I’m cleaning house on all levels, thank you very much 🙂
Psyche
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
http://www.womenexplode.com
Hi Sherry,
I got labeled the crazy one, too. And I know just what you mean about being stuck in the cage. It’s horrible, and feels like it should end, and that after all you’ve been through, you should be set free, but then it doesn’t happen. . . .
I’m not always sure what to make of that either. I do know that getting strong on the inside acts like a shield against the evil that they send our way. I know that finding my purpose in life, and building my life as I want it to be are my responsibilities, and that doing that is part of what’s going to bring me more peace and fulfillment. It’s hard for me to break that old habit of living my life through other people, and waiting for salvation from the outside that never comes (my parents had trained me to be like that).
I’m so sorry you’ve got PTSD. I know you’re not asking for advice, so I don’t want to give any, but I do hope you find some more relief, and a way to build a life that you really love. I hope you find a way out of that cage, it sure as hell doesn’t sound like anyone’s going to make the way for you, sounds like they’re just making you a bit more comfy in hell. 🙁
xo, Psyche
I’ve been thinking lately about God, assuming He exists. Mainly, I’ve been thinking about the Judeo-Christian biblical conception of God, and asking myself, crazy as this sounds, if He exists, Is God a sociopath?
I pose this question seriously, and apologize in advance for offending anyone by probing this idea. But consider:
You are expected to worship Him……….. Worship is doing what is right
You are expected to acknowledge His perfection….. Since He is , whats the Problem
You are expected to live by His standards……… since He made the World He can certianly make the Rules
You are expected to fear His Judgement…………… Well if He is that powerful, that would be a pretty good idea
You are expected to please, not disappoint Him…………… To please Him is to do The right thing
You are expected to do penance when you’ve strayed from His rules……… Only in works oriented Religions
You are expected to be in awe of, and fear, His omniscience. ,,,,,,, DUH!!
You are expected to be in awe of, and fear, His omnipotence,,,,,,,Duh
You are expected to prize His love, and fear His wrath. ……….. the same as you would for any powerful King
You are expected to seek, and follow, His guidance.,,,,,,,,,, well If He is smart enough to make the Universe,,,,,,DUH
When He feels unheeded, He licenses Himself to unleash cruel, violentce devastating rages (see the Flood, among countless other examples).
He is a punisher.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, maybe He should be nice to Hitler, Stalin and Mao
He is perfect.,,,,,, Yes
He has no guilt; yet He instills guilt……………. you become guilty when you do not do right
He “made,” and he “works,” the world and universe from “above,” sitting in Judgement of all who deviate from Him. ,,,,,,,,,, redudant
He is infallible…… Yes
He is unaccountable,,,,,,,,,, Yes
He is callous—a cause of, and silent witness to, untold violence and suffering in the history of humanity…………. Did He cause Hitler,Stalin and Mao
He is “entitled—”to judge, and punish, as He likes.,,,,,,,, Duh,, redundant
He is controlling to a highly pathological degree, for all the reasons stated above.
He is merciful, so long as you heed Him. Otherwise, He can be merciless.
He expects to be idealized and treated like a God.,,,,,,,,,,,, how is He controling??? check your Theology!!!,,, He was and is Merciful to all ,,,,even those who hated Him
He rages, and inflicts the cruelest of punishments, when He feels defied.,,,, redundant
His word is the bible. Duh!!!
Now you tell me: If I were describing a human being in these terms, what conclusion would you draw? I suspect, if you weren’t feeling defensive, that you’d conclude that we’re talking about someone with a case of seriously malignant narcissism edging, perhaps, into the realm of sociopathy?
But, of course, I’m describing the Judeo-Christian God.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you forgot mention even one good thing ,,,,,,,,,, ex,, if it were not for God working in history you would not have the freedom to write this article
Think about this: from the earliest age, this is your almighty Father figure. You are taught to worship Him, seek His love, His mercy, accept His perfection and infallibility.
You are taught that His word is final; His wrath is justified; to feel shame before His eyes.
You are taught to have to work hard to earn your way back into His good graces, and to be grateful for His forgiveness. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, only in a man made religion ,
His judgement is final, and even terrifying.
Now if this is the Father figure we’ve been raised to heed and idealize from birth, is it not fair to wonder how much this relationship—with God—might predispose us to end up with a sociopath?
Does one’s adult relationship with a sociopath not replicate, in certain ways, one’s relationship with God?
I pose this as food for thought, nothing else. But I will follow-up this post in the next several weeks, to further flesh out my thoughts, factoring in, as well, your initial feedback. ,,,,,,,,,,, it seems to me you were brought up in a man made sociapath religion ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I wonder if you ever read the Bible for yourself ,,,,,,,,, !!!
(This article is copyrighted (c) 2010 by Steve Becker, LCSW.)
I never read the bible. I was raised in the Catholic Church. I was church organist from age 13-14 through 18?
I gotta agree that I saw a lot of “Mens ways” in the churches teachings.
Obey your husband: He didn’t know how to run a household and I should have obeyed him?
He is merciful, so long as you heed Him. Otherwise, He can be merciless:. I should smile after he pulled a fast one on me. Otherwise he will be PISSED OFF and make me suffer. While screaming that he does everything for me, and I am difficult.
I never was a good Catholic.
I remember a story about Jesus. He visited a home of two sisters. One sister slaved over supper. The other sister visited with Jesus. The sister slaving over supper complained to Jesus about her sisters lack of help. Jesus told her that her sister chose the better opportunity.
As a child I thought…. oh gee, I choose the better opportunity too. I’ll visit with him, and supper will be…. we will eat flour and salt. Cause I’m too busy chatting to make bread.
Anyway, yeah I get the post…
Jeannie812, actually the Bible wasn’t written for men to take the lead. It was written so that men and women knew they were equal (aka partners in marriage to share life’s journey). Man is the glory of God and woman is the Glory of man. Both were made for God’s pleasure, as was the animals, trees, oceans, etc. Women were made to be a helper to man … ensuring that men would follow Jesus’ spiritual teachings and not continue living on the carnal level. Therefore, God trusted women more on this issue. He gave us the duties of being overseers of His word … But of course, over the centuries … all the scriptures were twisted and contorted by the control freaks staying in a carnal mindset. That’s why he instructed us to stay humble. Without going humble, you can read His words all you want … you won’t get it.
I don’t think God needs any defense, but I feel He does like those who speak up for Him. One thing the argument fails on in the beginning is that you assume God to be like a man (sociopath). The Bible says that God is not a man that He should lie. That is one reason He didn’t want any statues created from man’s limited imagination to represent Him. Another thing is that it is silly to assume that God is a silent witness to suffering. Don’t you think he hurts for those that hurt? If you do believe in God you should also believe that there is a judgement coming where even every word men speak will be recompensed. I don’t think Hitler would like that very much; probably worse than Jesse Owens winning Olympic Gold; or bombs raining down on Berlin. If you read the Bible to the end there is a new heaven and earth as well, where there are no more tears (not Johnson and Johnson) with light and heat supplied by God- no need for a Sun and Moon. If you look at the Bible history without hope of the final outcome you might come to a distorted and crazy conclusion.