whats in it for god?

[joko]

what does god get out of this arrangement?

of us living, worshipping him, dying, then going to heaven and living it up...

by 'worship' what he actually gets is people sitting in old churches mumbling some words, a bit of singing, lighting candles and basically asking him for something.
and then, he gets the souls of EVERYONE who dies cluttering up heaven, living it up, and actually giving him nothing much else really....

so whats the point of that?

so whats the point of being brought into existence just for that?

why would he bother with it all?

whats in it for him?


its basically like having a needy relative who just takes takes takes and gives nothing in return except to once a week tell you how great you are... who then moves in and wont leave, for all eternity

and an arrogant megalomaniac relative that demands your adoration to feel good - even if its just a bit of mumbling and begging, and who threatens to punishes you if you dont do as you're told ...

[EvianBaby]

Replace the word God with celebs. The same still applies.

[sunny-dave]

"I'm a God - Get me out of Here" ??

Today Buddha is in the bushtucker trial - will he eat the creepy crawlies so that Jesus can have some ointment for those nasty nail holes .... ?

[LazyGun]

If you read Terry Pratchett, he will explain, quite convincingly I think, that gods derive muscle, clout and lnfluence from having believers. One of my favourite TP books is Small Gods, for which this is a central point :)

The other image that comes persistently to mind when asking what god gets out of all this devotional behaviour is a scene from the Peter Cooke / Dudley Moore version of "Bedazzled" I think it was - Dud asks the same question of Peters Cookes Lucifer - So PC illustrates his point by asking Dud to participate in an imaginary example. Peter Cooke sits atop a red post box and says I am god - worship me - so Dud prances around the pillar box a-singing and a-praying to Cooke for a few minutes, then gets bored and asks Peter Cooke if he could have a go - and Peter, as Lucifer, says - thats just what I said, and look what happened to me! :)

[Old_Geezer]

What makes you think God gets anything out of it or needs to ?

Seems to me God asks for nothing. I've yet to hear the booming voice and big hand in the sky.

It is surely you, if anyone, who benefits from having the ear of such a powerful entity, and who wishes, therefore, to please them.

[joko]

lol. yes but celebs actually get some benefits from it - money, success, nice things etc

lazygun, yes i have read lots of pratchett - years ago now though, so cant remember the ins an outs.

thing is though, what does he want clout and muscle etc for? - what does he do that would need that from humans? how would it benefit him?

to my knowledge he doesnt do much except sit around being worshipped and occasionally whip up a storm or something

[LazyGun]

@Joko - Well, again taking Pratchetts advice on this- mostly ego-stroking :)
- the muscle and clout guarantees a degree of immortality and offers the ability to cow or crush the numerous competing gods :)

The principal god of TPs Small Gods was taught wisdom and humility by his human prophet, rather ironically.....

[maggiebee]

And just why would God need money, nice things etc? I feel he already has all the success he needs - love him or hate him - at least everyone is talking about him!

[LazyGun]

I would not take too much comfort from the discussion maggie - I am talking about hypotheticals and speculation. something significantly different to an acknowledgement of existence of the abrahamic god that is common currency :)

If only the deists had stuck with the old style norse or greek panapoly of gods, with all the love and sex interests, jealousy, power plays, politics etc. Now that was a kind of real world ancient tymes version of Dallas! Thats what religion needs - a good, racy soap opera :)

[maggiebee]

"love and sex interests, jealousy, power plays, politics etc." They're all in the Bible LG. Very racy in some parts.

[naomi24]

//whats in it for god?//

Adulation. In human terms we'd call him a control freak and a bullying attention seeker, and up until recently it's worked for him. Poor soul is losing his grip now though. Bet he wishes he’d never created education. ;o)

[keyplus90]

Once again, for most of you god does not exist. So what is the worry about all of the other stuff? Or in your own words, "what is the point in asking a question about something that is not there for you?

[beso]

Religion isn't about what is in it for God but what is in it for the oligarchy of the church, power over the masses.

[Le Chat]

keyplus - The question is not negated just because the poster may or may not believe in God.
Joko can ask any question he/she likes.

[naomi24]

Keyplus, it would appear that you don't know what's in it for God either, so you can hardly complain at the question. I'm sure it's one a lot of people find interesting and would like answered.

[wildwood]

Whats In It For God?

Absolute power lording it over others. Not unlike bullies, tyrants and some sexual abusers.

[Snafu03]

this is a very good question. I was only pondering this the other day.

maybe God will cease to exist if people dont believe in him?

[Snafu03]

sorry, theres more! If we are to believe from a creationist point of view God obviously wanted to create this universe and all thats in it. Maybe he doesnt want his creation to lose sight of him?

[joko]

thanks le chat... you are correct - I can and will ask any question I like - i dont beleiev in lots of things... doesnt mean i cannot talk about them - but i didnt answer keyplus, because i dont believe in him.

I also know that it was just a blatant attempt to deflect the question, with a non-question - because he has no decent answer...obviously