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.)
Petra60
I am not as you say angry at any one. And I am strong in my faith. You say that I am angry yet it is you who attacked me saying who are you the one that is right? Many who are arguing on the other side of this felt compelled to give their version of the history of the world. And I did not see to argue my case with a book of useless knowledge. If you say to treat others with kindness how about believers? Here is another point though before leaving. What if you had good father who loved you and treated you with respect? Would you expect to change your mind about him because of someone else’s opinion? Many people find healing in God- not just me. To say that he is sociopathic goes against all that I know and believe. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this. I respect your opinion I just didn’t agree with it. And yes thankfully we don’t all have to believe the same way to get along. I am thankful to this site for allowing me to benefit, and hopefully I can contribute to better some as well.
Petra 60.
Very well said. Your post are always thought provoking to me. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Steve,
You have just listed traits that could describe an impatient and cruel dog owner!
A sociopath, would also be purposefully deceitful, and a chronic liar who boasts about being/doing many things that he’s never done. (GOD, well he’s done it all and then some.)
A S also fabricates and spreads gossip to deliberately tear down others reputations while making himself at least feel superior.
God is like a movie goer. He watches, but doesn’t control the outcome…even though he could. Sociopaths, on the other hand, MUST control everything they possibly can.
Sorry Steve, God fails the Sociopath test, at least by my definition.
Steve:
Just checked in so I haven’t read the replies. Can’t wait to read over them.
I have struggled with these traits of God and have no conclusion of my own.
Recently while cleaning out old paperwork I ran across “OLD” medical records.
I have been at different times in my life diagnosed with:
Depression
Borderline Disorder
Anxiety Disorder
Histrionic Disorder
Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder
At first I was horrified by my findings.
Then, I realized they were relative to where I was in my life journey.
The diagnosis was for the purpose of medical insurance.
I have been working with a LSW for the last 10 years.
She always pulled me away from trying to put myself in the frame of “anything” DSMV. I understand now why she does this.
Haha, I can laugh at this right now because yes, I have been Histrionic and Obsessive Compulsive when I was in marriage counseling with the N husband. He was diagnosed with Depression. Well you know what. YES, he was depressed I was wanting to be seen and heard and I was obsessing about it. Worst money I ever spent. 50 minutes stressing the interaction of BS with the husband and marriage counselor and 10 minutes about (ME/US). Finally I realized I was getting screwed by both and quit. He was always happy to go, imagine/ all the attention on him.
Steve, your post is thought provoking and I am glad you have thrown it out for thought.
I look forward to reading your follow-up and other posters comments.
Signed, Sotired
I received the following in an email today from a friend. It seems appropriate when talking about spirituality.
This explains how I feel inside. Maybe others can relate.
NAILS IN THE FENCE
Make sure you
read all the way down to the last sentence.
More importantly the very last sentence
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, ‘You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.. But It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Remember that friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open
their hearts to us.’
It’s National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a
FRIEND, even if it means sending it
back to the person who sent it to you! If it comes back to you, you will then know you have a circle of friends.
YOU ARE MY FRIEND AND I AM HONORED!
Now send this to every friend you have!! And to your family (they need to know that you love them too).
Please forgive me if I have ever left a ‘hole’ in your fence..
IM concused,
Loved that.. very good analogy …
http://www.womenexplode.com
Teacher – I am sorry if you felt I was attacking you. I was speaking in general terms – perhaps to all those people who have judged me for being an atheist…but, I was also responding to all of the posts in response to Steve’s question…and there were a lot of them.
Thank you Witsend for the compliment. If anything I try to be thought provoking.
Petra60,
Ok I guess we are getting somewhere. I also apologize if I seem to be brash. If though someone said to you all atheists are psychopaths would you approve? That is the equivalent of saying to a Christian is God a psychopath. I don’t think the article was either brave or in good taste. But hey that is just me.
Teacher123, you’re being much too polite. Why not explain the “Mark of the Beast” … how many are deceived by guess who? Satan.
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Revelation 16: 2
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 19: 20
Teacher123, I think the whole vein of Steve’s post was for us to consider that the traits that he outlined for God’s personality were devised by man and were not to be construed as a diagnosis that God is a sociopath. The God that I know is agape – with agape, there is no room or need for control. Agape just “is.”
Brightest blessings!