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.)
SisterWiniChristianOvertime =When you went out for the debate team you brought along your Bible. God Bless Ya -!
Henry, the Bible is the most fascinating book I’ve ever studied. The more I experience life, the more of His wisdom comes flowing from the pages. As with any truth, seek and ye shall find.
Mmmmmmhhh, what I learned as a Christian:
As a practicing Christian I am saying to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that I agree to obey the law of the land, pay my taxes, obey the 10 Commandments, (1. Not to have any other God’s before me, (e.g. my own ego, money, power, prestige, promotions in work, sex, drink, drugs etc.), 2. I shall not carve any image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 3. I shall not take the name of the LORD my God in vain.’ (e.g., respect what was taught to me as a Christian aka to be a functioning member of society via the wisdom He taught me) 4. I will remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.’ (e.g. respect who He is that taught me the freedom to be the best that I can be), 5. I will Honor my father and mother, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, family members and neighbors. (self explanatory – so I can pass down a positive functioning mindset to future generations), 6. I shall not murder (so you don’t have to fear me if you pish me off), 7. I shall not commit adultery (not only does this mean that I won’t cheat with your spouse and take your special everything from you, it also means I won’t change in midstream by joining another organization that thrives on conning and deceiving others, 8. I will not steal from you, (self explanatory), 9. I promise to never bear false witness against you to get my own way (also, self explanatory) and 10. I will not covet my neighbor’s possessions or loved ones (self explanatory).
I also promise that as a functioning member of society by learning Jesus’ Contrary Virtues of practicing Humility versus staying selfish, self centered, prideful, I also acknowledge that I learned what it is to be Kind versus resorting to being Jealous/Envious of others (what they do, what they have). I promise to Abstain versus being a selfish, Gluttonous individual that will drive others over the edge, I promise I will respect my Chastity versus selling/using my body (LUST) to get what I want, when I want, any time I want, caring less who bites the dust. I will practice Patience versus whining, throwing a temper tantrum to get my way because of anger and frustration and/or any other deceptive means. I will Give when I can, What I can, If I can ” Liberally versus Doing and Keeping all for myself (Greed), and finally, I promise society that will work instead of slothing off at someone’s/anyone’s expense. I will learn and practice the Cardinal virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude/Courage, and Justice. I will maintain what I learned about the Theological virtues of Love, Hope, Faith. I will maintain the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy into my life, that of Feeding the hungry, Giving drink to the thirsty, provide Shelter to strangers, Clothe the naked, Visit the sick, Minister to prisoners (preferably when they served their time and are released back into society) and Bury the dead.
Yes, I can see how what I listed above about what I learned (step by step) as a Christian would bother others in society.
Amen.
Here is an article written by a self-confessed sociopath.
http://www.sociopathworld.com/2010/07/orthodox-sociopathy-part-1.html
Unfortunately, Wini, you are assuming that others do not have the capability of acting in a moral way without the aid of Bible. But that isn’t true at all.
Any moral person will act morally with or without the Bible, and any immoral person will act immorally with or without the Bible. I am not going to run out and rob a bank and steal someone’s car or have sex with a married man just because I am skeptical about the Bible. I still have a moral code- even without a written set of rules.
And likewise, there are many among us who tout being believers but we find out all too often just how willing they are to sin and then repent, and some of their sins are worse than a non-believer’s sins. Just because the Bible was in their lives did not make them any less willing to sin- because it has more to do with a person’s morality than it does that they believe in the Bible.
You may say that the Bible may help people not sin when maybe they would have. That may be true- but at the same time, people who believe may be more willing to sin because they know they can repent and be forgiven.
Most of the catholic priests who raped young boys here in Ireland, during police investigations it came out constantly in court that the victims were told it would be a sin and “God would punish them” if they did not suck on Fr O’Malley’s willy. I am not making a joke. Actual lines like that came out in court.
Such actions would not be possible without the sociopath God of the bible and his wrath. The first thing any child raised in a Judeo-Christian culture is “do as the boss says or he’ll destroy you.” The message is loud and clear and constant. In fact I would argue that it is the underlying message of all organised religions.
Frank Lee,
I don’t think God would claim the Catholic religion either. For one thing they have perpetrated very heinous crimes against many including true believers. Jesus had his strongest criticism for the religous leaders, and by the way even told them that they were of the devil. I was going to also list of character traits that I know of God; you can read these too in the Bible, but it would be too long here to be complete. Here is a partial list.
God is: love, light, kind, full of compassion, slow to anger, a strong tower, a defender of the fatherless, widow, poor, etc…, a help in times of trouble, full of mercy, forgiving, just, right, our rescue, comforter, deliverer, refuge, righteous, no darkness. You get the point. I believe that there are thousands of terms that I could list, and this is just from the top of my head.
People do other things to people in the name of religion, but that does not mean that they are endorsed by God. Back to Hitler, he even claimed he was helping God get rid of the Jews. Wow I didn’t know God wanted that. Jesus was Jewish- God’s son. Do you think he was all in for this? Here is a link that might help explain how people can misinterpret God’s character based on things like these and Old Testament stories.
http://godscharacter.com/article.php/20091102113717623
teacher123 says – “I don’t think God would claim the Catholic religion either. ”
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Or any religion for that matter.
It’s like the old story of all the leaders of all the world religions got together to decide which one was the one true faith. In the end, to settle the matter once and for all they all asked God which was the true relgion and God replied. “I really don’t care.”
The point of Christianity is to present the face of Christ to others and I don’t think the way to do it is to be merciless about beating people up with Bibles and then yelling hahaha I win at the end of each exercise.
I think that the comedians got it right when they did the skit on everybody wearing a sign. from now on when I see a Christian coming, I’m going to cross the street.
its too much. The churches and organizations are corrupt and non of the Judeo christian religions have any respect for the earth on which we live.
I thing that the Native Americans who practiced Medicine wheel “get it”/ But that’s not something you just convert over to and get a sign for your forehead.
No Faith is.
But thumping the Bible louder and louder doesn’t prove that Christ died on the Cross and didn’t in fact spend his retirement in Kashmir.
Live what you believe. Show your best to your fellows and expect that what you do will return to you multiplied.
How hard is it? How many words does it take?
Does the one who dies with the most words by their name have most Faith? And in What?
I’m betting on the Butterfly in Bejing……
Argh – Argh all this stuff about 1 belief or another is driving me nuts….. This doesn’t seem what LF is about to me. Forgive my bluntness, I’ve been holdin’ off for days thinking it wud all die down…………….is there not another site about these things that is more directly appropriate? I really appreciate v.v.v. much that everyone has been so kind to me here on LF but this ‘belief-based’ sparring feels v. detrimental somehow. Again I am hoping for indulgence a little as I’m not particularly a subtle character (to say the least). Please – isn’t this a site for targets of sociopathic abuse?????????????
The debate has been really cool etc – but it’s about GOD not sociopaths, narcissists or pschopaths! Is that why we’re here????
Blessings and asking for understanding (as I do wander off topic myself sometimes v.often).
Delta1 x
Sharon C, I wrote what I learned from Christianity because so many posts were not only knocking Christianity, but, “religion” in general. That it was all dogma to control the masses. That Christians can’t think outside the box (aka prevented from free thinking (LOL). That this Christian did this and that Christian did that through history. Personally, I had absolutely nothing to do with any of the wars this world endured, nor did I have anything to do with Hitler and the way he thought, or didn’t think. However, I am aware that Hitler and most of his elite practiced worshiping the Devil which is the complete opposite of the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ. I didn’t have anything to do with those actions either, nor do I have anything to do with the current war our country is embroiled in today except I support our troops and pray that they come home safely soon … because they are fighting for our freedom. Therefore, to condemn the entire practicing Christian community on the antics of a few throughout history makes absolutely no sense to me.
As for your statement about who acts morally and who doesn’t and what I assume or don’t assume. Wow, it must be nice to be a mind reader. I have this question to pose to you … How do you suppose the masses even know about moral actions or non moral actions if they weren’t taught what morality is in the first place? It’s obvious that moral information was taught to them by the church … handed down from generation to generation? FACT: our ancestors attended church on a weekly basis. Church was their socializing and the way of life for them. Our ancestors didn’t have TV, cars, telephones, the Internet. They attended church so they could gather with community, hear the news of the day, learn how to live in harmony with each other as neighbors that will watch your back if you watch there’s (Rely on each other etc.) Something for which I believe most who condemned the church today, never think about nor care how we all got here today. If the churches didn’t teach ethics and morality, then were does everyone assume our ethical and moral standards came from?