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.)
Good morning everyone!
Haven’t been able to post much this past week and I find this post to be very interesting. There’s some really good stuff on here!
Shana31, I went to the link and listened to Keith Urban. GREAT song! Thanks for the link! I have also read some of your other posts on here and love what you have said.
I am, as someone mentioned, a recovering Cathaholic. I say that because I grew up in a VERY Catholic home, went to a Catholic school, the priest used to come over and have dinner on Christmas Eve, the whole nine yards. The God I knew was intimidating and one to fear.
My break with the Catholic Church came when I was 18 and was marrying someone of another faith. I was told I would be excommunicated and for the first time in my life, I stood up to the all that I had been taught, including a HUGE FEAR of God and told the priest that was fine with me, I didn’t see the point in going to confession anyways, and I still don’t. I also told that priest I thought it very weird that I had to sit in a closet, talking to a man sitting in a closest who was wearing a dress! I could talk to God all on my own, thank you very much! I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, it’s not meant to do that. And I was only 18! 🙂
I understand today that while I’m not into organized religion, I’m VERY much into God. (and I still believe I don’t need a priest to talk to God). At the same time, I DO respect those who have organized religion in their life as this is part of their relationship with God. I also believe that each of us have a very personal relationship with God or whomever you choose to call your Higher Power, be in Confucius, Buddha, etc… and I respect that relationship that another has with whomever they choose to call their Higher Power.
Over the years, many years, I have come to believe that God is all about love, faith, healing and compassion. He exists wherever I go and when I turn to him, it’s not with that fear I once had, it’s with faith and trust He will help me over the next hurdle and I keep a gratitude list as well. I also believe he puts people, places and things in our lives exactly when we need them. I believe very firmly that it was God who helped me out of the mess I was in with the ex-spath and that He is still helping me daily. One of the things I’ve come to learn on a personal level is that all you have to do is ASK and He is there. And He’s often there when we don’t even realize it. I believe God loves us, no matter what’s going on in our life or the choices we’ve made. The God I know today is very forgiving and that’s a lesson in and of itself.
Steve, I love this article because it’s thought provoking and I’m into that! 🙂 Anything that stimulates one’s mind and soul is a good thing.
anitasee, RIGHT ON! I loved your well thought out post on here. I will copy and paste that.
alicia, I hope you choose not to leave because you’ve given much to others here on LF and perhaps you don’t realize that. I’ve read a lot of what you’ve written and I know it’s helped me!
witsend, I understand the feelings you wrote about on here. Sending you serenity and peace.
Hugs to all, Cat
Just like I suspected – the thread has decended into an Ole Time Gosple Revivial hour with lashing of “burn the Heretics!” on the side. Anything to avoid the black and white sociopathic underlying message in the Judeo-Christian.
There are way too many Christian Fundies on this board. Basically it creates a situtation were aethists and non-Christians are instantly margininalised by the posters and their Bible fetish.
Shame really.
Rainy overcast day here in NJ!
Everyone has their own beliefs based on what we are taught and what we CHOOSE to beleive in. Religion is a highly controversial subject…always will be.
I grew up strict Catholic, school and all. Lots of fear…lots of “sick” abusive staff in the congregation.
Once I became educated and studied the different religions, I came to the conclusion for myself, that I do not believe in “organized religion” of any sort.
Just like we feel,listen to our “gut feelings” now about people, my “gut feeling” KNOWS their is a higher power. However, that power , in my opinion, is not “out there” somewhere…
Its WITHIN all of us….for us to live by. I don”t believe that some “God” created man…rather man created “God” ..”out there”.
We all have this “higher power” (GOD) within us…and if we use it….have faith is “ourselves” (the power within), we can NEVER go wrong.
Miracles happen when we use this “power within” and follow it. I can write a book on the miracles in my life.
Now, when we go against our “gut feeling” (God within), that is when we bring anguish and despair and evil into our lives.
I believe that we create our own reality and we bring people and experiences into our lives for a reason….to learn lessons.
“God” , our power within….is powerful. So, when we pray, or tap into our “inner self”….and trust ourselves…we never go wrong.
So, thats my opinion….believe in yourself..whats within you…trust your “gut” instinct….
This is God.
All of the history, and stories, and theories…of Jesus, Buddah, Allah……really all lead to the same thing…One powerful spirit that we call God.
Ok, so lets go bottom line here- who isn’t a sociopath?
Well, the answer is its a sliding scale. These are characteristics and they measure high, medium and low.
Now that we have the Almighty on the same scale and God is reading off the charts, the world is truly a giant witch hunt. And lots of words are spilled on lots of pages, but what is the result?
We’re playing games and intellectual arguments with one of the big hooks the disordered use. And we’re playing with the fire of one of the biggest tools there is for people in addiction to lean on (yes I said it and I mean to the addiction to the kind of love that they offer).
Why are we stepping into the vortex? Something’s not right.
“it aint fittin’ it ain’t fittin’ it jes ain’t fittin”
I don’t want to play in an international debate over religion. There are really legitimate forums for that (Go to United Religions Initiative on the web).
Its bad enough to be looking for vampires under every bush but to take the whole thing to this level of ridiculous ought really to be popping some corks IMHO….
We’re only talking about 5% of the population! That means 95% is NOT pathological. On a statistical basis alone, that means most of the Universe (including GOD) isn’t in the pool.
What ever you practice, what ever you appeal to, whatever you believe, it mostly good- not mostly disordered.
Now, I’m going to put my hissy fit in a salt circle and manifest an ice cream sundae!
Frank Lee
You have some nerve and audacity to reduce the complex and personal responses down to
“an Ole Time Gosple Revivial hour with lashing of “burn the Heretics!”
maybe you are being funny and having a joke but please do not over estimate your intelligence and wit…the people here have spoken, and from the heart….it’s a deeply personal area and one that demands respect, maturity and a tolerance for wide ranging brilliant and diverse view points…it seems to me you think you are the answer, you know more than us and quite frank lee you dont….
Frank Lee,
I really enjoyed your post.
Yes, I think you have to look at the history of Christianity and is migration.
Fascinating. Thanks for that. I often see what appears to be that ancient conflict in modern times.
And haven’t seen much in modern psychology that the Egyptians and Chinese didn’t already know but explain a little differently….
Reminds me of……
AND did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Frank, wow, you’ve got it all figured out! You’re so smart! I just don’t know how love fraud survived all these years without you!! It’s a miracle!! To think that all this time people have been communicating, healing, and respecting each other, without you here to direct everything… it’s just unbelievable!! Sorry we haven’t lived up to your “standards”, sorry we “disapointed’ you and “strayed” from your rules, I know you feel “entitled” to your opinion but please don’t throw anymore of you “wrath” upon us, don’t “judge” us.
White wig and black robe?
Wow this has to be the most disturbing post I have read here. Jesus said that God is able to raise up stones to worship him. Maybe we should take some time to thank him for the world which he made, the life he has blessed us with, and for the air we breathe. And yes this is the argument Satan gave to Eve. FrankLee and others are saying this is good? I could go on here, but I tend to think of God as forgiving because he does allow people to curse him; to think badly of him; etc. He causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust, and puts our sins far away from us to remember them no more; hardly sounds like psychopathic to me. I think there are probably other more deserving targets for criticism- to put it lightly.
Oh, Frank Lee, comprehend this truth of Jesus’. Being, living, relying and relishing one’s cerebral is the ultimate CARNAL act! Jesus told us to stay HUMBLE in order to comprehend His spiritual teachings. To transcend the ego in order to develop our spiritual nature is what He teaches.
To refuse to get this is the REAL shame.