In article <1452@tekfdi.TEK.COM>, bobb@tekfdi.TEK.COM (Robert Bales) writes:
>> Let's not forget the big one, Job, who was doing his "God-damned" best
>> (ha ha) and being tortured for it.
>
> Also, don't forget that Job was tortured by Satan, not by God. Yes, God gave
> his permission, but why?  In my opinion, mankind, through Adam and Eve,
> decided to do things Satan's way. Since man apparently wanted it that way,
> Satan was given certain rights. In his treatment of Job, he was just
> exercising those rights.

        Let's look at this very carefully now, since we will certainly acquire
insight into the mind of the God whorshiper by analyzing these statements.

        Who is Satan? I have professed the belief that Satan and God are really
one and the same, that Satan is simply a pseudonym that the evil monster, the
so-called benevolent God, uses when torturing human beings. In this way, He can
point a finger at the imaginary playmate Satan and say ``He did it, he's the
bad one, not me!'' Yet at the same time, because He ``rescues'' people from the
misfortunes He causes Himself, He accrues whorship from His followers who do
not associate Him with the evil that caused the problem in the first place.

        I have been criticized for this belief, by those who say I have no
proof for my claims. (Oddly enough, they certainly have no more proof for their
claims than I do for mine!) I have cited the numerous instances of outright
contradictory statements by God, of deliberate destruction of people based only
on His word that they are ``evil'' (evil only because they don't whorship Him!)
This is at least as impressive as my critics' own claims of God's goodness.

        But even if you choose not to accept the fact that God and Satan are
the same being, look at your own scriptures. I asked you before, Who is Satan?
Satan is, roughly speaking, according to the very words you believe as true, an
employee of God. He works for God. He does His bidding. Who set things up so
that human beings would be ``tested'' as to their ``goodness'' based on a scale
God does not allow Himself to be judged on? Who says we need to be so tested?
By whose standards are we being judged? Does the judge live up to His own
standards, or does He boast ``I am God, I do what I please?''

        No, we cannot accept this nonsense that it wasn't God who tortured Job,
but Satan. God instructed Satan to do this. He made the rules by which Satan
was to work. He went so far as to wager with Satan about the outcome of the
trials and tribulations He would (some would say indirectly) put this person
through. Let us not forget that others were hurt and killed as part of this for
no reason at all. (As if torturing Job in and of itself did have some ``good''
reason behind it!) Are we to be next? Who knows when this malicious pig, God,
will wreak havoc on our own lives? Will we meekly follow like sheep the way
Rick Miller suggests in his article, offering up our own families to be raped
or slaughtered because God's agents are ``more important'' than we are?

        What exactly does Bob mean when he says ``mankind decided to do things
Satan's way'' starting with Adam and Eve? All Adam and Eve did was to choose to
make their own decisions and not follow God's arbitrary and capricious will.
For doing this, this ``friend'' of mankind decided to make all human life
miserable through unnecessary toil and suffering. What is wrong with what Adam
and Eve did, other than that it went against what God wanted? Why do people
rationalize away all the obvious evil God engages in in order to preserve some
concept of a ``benevolent father'' deity? Remember now, God set things up so
that we would have curious minds, then He placed the tree in the garden and
told us not to touch it just on his say-so. What did He expect to happen? How
can we accept the idea that a God who places urges and desires in our bodies,
and who then tells us not to live out any of those urges and desires lest we be
punished for doing so, is ``benevolent?'' It is very clear that we can come to
no other conclusion than that God is a pig monster who seeks to torture us for
His amusement, and that He is certainly not worthy of our whorship.
--
Be well,

Paul Zimmerman