this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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I am not an atheist, I genuinely believe that God exists and he is evil, like a toddler who fries little ants with a lens.

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

I call it, god, the Tyrant.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 8 points 10 months ago

The term you’re looking for is Evilgodism

[–] KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

A toddler who fries ants with a lens isn't evil, though.
At least not more evil than most toddlers.

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[–] shrugal@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)

Isn't the god supposed to define what good and evil even is, and wouldn't therefore any monotheistic god be "good" by definition?!

[–] Kelly@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's only one (narrow) definition of a god.

To take a well known example, is Loki "good"?

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's the definition monotheism employs though, and Loki is from a polytheistic pantheon.

[–] Kelly@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

All good, The comment I replied to has been edited to specify monotheism after I wrote my reply.

[–] shrugal@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

Yea sorry for that, I had the same thought as you right after I posted my comment.

[–] BreakDecks@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

There is no reason to believe that a higher power cares about the concepts of good and evil to begin with. Taking a walk through the woods seems like a morally neutral activity, but all of the insects you crush along the way might view you as evil for what you do to them.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Somewhat off-topic, but there's this line of thought, which multiple Christian thinkers have come up with throughout the centuries, called the Ontological Argument. It basically tries to prove the existence of the Christian God with only pure logic, no axioms involved.

Proofs without axioms don't exist elsewhere, so take the following with a massive grain of salt, but basically it goes:

God is a maximally good being. Existence of a maximally good being is itself good. Therefore, God must exist.

Aside from this being circular reasoning, it also involves a massive axiom: The existence and definition of good vs. bad.

But with your point, we can advance the argument even further:

Defining what's good is good.

That way, we get twice the circular reasoning, but no axioms anymore. πŸ™ƒ

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[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

My limited experience with going to Church of God places indicated to me that they hold this belief, but I do jot know the term for it. They didn't pray to god, they prayed to Jesus, specifically. And cried for him. And thanked him. And apologized to him. And so on. All to Jesus, not god, who are apparently different.

The idea of the Trinity is not the same across all "Christian" religions, see Arianism for example of an early split.

[–] TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I'd never heard of them, but I looked them up, and I don't see anything in their declaration of beliefs to suggest that they think that God is bad or evil. They just seem to have an emphasis on praying to Jesus, but they seem to have pretty standard Christian belief that God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost are all parts of the same being.

I am not sure how aligned all of the different Church of God denominations are in their beliefs, but the main website for them seems to be pretty standard Christian stuff.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

You're right, I just mentioned them as an example of splits about exactly what has gone on with the differing beliefs about trinity interpretation. I don't recall that they believed in an evil god. I do recall that some interpretations have other feelings and operate as such.

The Arians and the Church of God are probably not really connected to what op is getting at. I'm definitely not a theologist haha! Maybe I should stay oiy of this...

[–] Kindness@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)
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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 4 points 10 months ago

Adaptus Ministorum

[–] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

They certainly didn't start out this way, but the terms gnosticism and manichaeism are now both used loosely for this depending on the context.

[–] InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (6 children)

There is no god, but if there was one, the only logical conclusion is that he’s evil. So whatever you call it, your religion is the most sane one I’ve ever heard about

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[–] PlantDadManGuy@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)
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