With the Christmas Season upon us again it is inevitable that we hear that Christ is the reason for the season. And since that is true for Christians it is again inevitable that in my listening to various religious stations I hear again how Jesus came to die for our sins.
Now I have already done a blog that covered some of the moral problems I had and still have with the whole traditional Christian concept of salvation – “God’s Plan of Salvation – Neither Just Nor Merciful”. However in listening to a program about why Jesus had to come and die for our sins and about how we were all doomed without Jesus’ intervention I had an inspiration.
My inspiration came in the form of an idea for a metaphor illustrating the basis for many of my moral problems with God’s plan of salvation.
Imagine, if you will, that there existed a great, powerful, and rich King. Imagine that he wished all of his subjects to share of his riches but they first had to prove themselves worthy of it. At first his kingdom was small and all within it followed his laws and never questioned them.
Then came that dreaded day, the day that his subjects disobeyed his laws.
Because of this disobedience he banished his subjects to the outer reaches of his kingdom; an area of rock and heat, devoid of wealth and ease. He banished them and their children for all eternity with only one chance of redeeming themselves and finding themselves once again in the land of plenty.
The chance consisted of negotiating a huge maze – 100 miles to a side – that he had constructed between their barren lands and the King’s fruitful lands. Only one path leads to the King and his rewards. All other paths will eventually lead to nasty and prolonged deaths.
Each of the King’s subjects must travel through the maze. They have no choice. They are neither asked nor consulted about whether they wish to cross the maze or not. There is no option that allows them to avoid it. Given the size of the maze and its complexity all know that they will never reach the other side and will die horribly somewhere within the maze.
After several years of this the King grew compassionate towards his subjects and sent his son into the Maze to lead them out. However no one knew exactly who the son was or what he looked like and the King did not try to make it plain enough so that even the densest would know him.
Further he did not tell all of his subjects about his son coming but instead told only a small group of people and left it to them to gradually spread the word through the now huge population on the wrong side of the maze.
My question is would this King be considered a good and moral King?
I think not.
And why?
Because the King had power over everything from what constitutes disobedience, what the punishment should be, who should suffer for it, and the process for redemption.
And the specific problems with this King and his choices?
He required that the children should also inherit the punishment for the disobedience of the parents.
He set up an impossible barrier for those seeking to be with him again and then required that all must go through it.
He did not clearly communicate in a timely manner who his son was.
Because of this system countless numbers of people unnecessarily suffered and died.
I could take this metaphor further (I think) but this suffices for my purpose, although I do reserve the right to develop it further as flight, fancy, and time allow.
Anyway, it suffices to show the basic problem with God’s plan of salvation being accounted as evidence of a good God. God created the standards. God created the punishment. God decided on who should suffer the consequences of one couple’s actions. God created the maze and requires all to pass through it; those who fail to pass through are then punished eternally in hell,
God sent his son Jesus to guide us through the maze – but most who heard did not believe Jesus the son. From the few that did know him there have arisen many often contradictory messages on how to follow the son through the maze.
Further since Jesus came only to a small population during a small sliver of time most of the world had already developed their own ideas of how to cross the maze. Ideas that are still followed today by most of the world.
All of which means this God’s method of salvation has failed to save the vast majority of humanity and that since God set the punishment for failure as eternal damnation and suffering then most of humanity is tormented forever.
ottom line: I do not see how a person can reconcile the idea of a moral and competent God and the idea of an omniscient, omnipotent God. If one exists the other does not.
Now, given the recent tempest that was stirred up by a local organization of atheists buying ad space on our local bus system and putting up “Millions Are Good Without God” I am very much aware that any Christians who might wander to my site and read this will look upon this as an especially heinous attack on them during one of their most important holidays.
It is not meant as such.
Instead it is the expression of a metaphor inspired by the Christmas message, one that, I believe, helps further understanding for those who seek it of why I find the whole Christian concept of salvation so morally bankrupt.
Besides, I just posted a blog that hits overly aggressive atheists and figure I need to re-establish my atheist credentials. :>)
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