How does one stop hating God? How does one stop hating?

[Waiting for the Verdict]

What do you think? Is it justifiable to forgive God, even if He hasn't wronged you? Has God wronged us all, simply by creating us? Is it even meaningful to say God is good? Can he be, by human standards?

 

[Fledge]

If God hasn't wronged you, then there is nothing to forgive him for.

Since "good" would be in a state of constant flux without God, then asking whether God can be good by our standards seems rather pointless. Sometimes people would say that He is good, and then in a few hundred years they would say that He is evil.

 

[UberLutheran]

Speaking as one who grew up in a violent home, and attended a church where the Word of God became a weapon to be used against others -- I know what it feels like to reach the point of hating God.

I never stopped believing in God -- I just concluded if He was anything like my earthly father, God was vindictive and probably evil.

I had to literally un-learn and re-learn about God and discard almost all that I learned about God in my childhood to end up with a relationship with God which I could use!

This is not an easy project, nor is it something you will be able to accomplish tonight, or this month, or even this year. If you are painstaking and diligent about this process -- and willing to examine everything (including your own motives for things you've done), you WILL receive results.

Just keep an open mind.

 

[AngelusSax]

I know that I, at one point, had a couple of days, right after my dad left us for another woman (he's back now, long story, too long for here), that I thought "Either God doesn't exist, or he's vindictave."

Then I had a car wreck. Now you might think that was a point where I'd lose even more faith. I didn't. At the time, I just was kinda dazed... then I heard that I "should" have been killed in the wreck.

Rather than focus on the wreck itself, I focused on the fact I was alive to tell the tale, and I must have a "guardian angel" watching over me, and God must not be as bad or as non-real as I was thinking.

Now, for me, that was my definitive "aha!" moment. That moment of real realization that God is real, and He actually is good. And then I discovered that, God wasn't the one needing forgiving... I was.

Now, for me it was a clear moment. Others will need a process, like the one UL stated. But God knows what we need, whether a moment, a day, a year, or a decade or two... and God will give us what we need when we need it.

 

[PastorJason]

I had a similar situation to UberLutheran's. I grew to associate God only with vindictiveness, anger, wrath, and making me feel guilty for being a normal child. My family's belief system caused me much violence and abuse.

Finally, two things happened in my life that made my faith crack, shake, and ultimately crumble. Things that made me hate God, turn my back on God, stop believing for a while, because that was the only way I thought I could get back at God.

But when I got over myself enough, and it took a long time, and started listening again, I hear the voice of God, and felt God comforting me in my long mourning. I had refused God that chance before. I didn't have to forgive God. God understood why I did what I did and forgave me anyway.

Like UberLutheran, it took me a long time (and continues to) for me to relearn and reimage God, as I came to know that the God of my upbringing was not the God of scripture, God of love, grace, and forgiveness. It took me a long time to come back to a relationship with God that worked for me. I spent years in exile before turning back to God. I don't wish it on anyone, but I understand why people leave to wander in the wilderness.

 

[Im_A]

What do you think? Is it justifiable to forgive God, even if He hasn't wronged you? Has God wronged us all, simply by creating us? Is it even meaningful to say God is good? Can he be, by human standards?

well first you have to pinpoint, imperical ways God has wronged us. and that is a debateable set of questions. i mean some bring up the Old Testament. that's an illogical statement, one because, the stuff that happened in the Old Testament did not happen in a culture like ours, thus the human standards was different, and thuse we have no logical way of judging the actions of God based on actions that happened in a culture that is not like our own. two, if one believe that the things in the Old Testament was of parables/legends, then that means one cannot be mad at God for stuff in legends.

if an infinite being is judged by finite standards, then dare i say, we are off by a long shot. God Bless you Waiting!

 

[Waiting for the Verdict]

well first you have to pinpoint, imperical ways God has wronged us. and that is a debateable set of questions. i mean some bring up the Old Testament. that's an illogical statement, one because, the stuff that happened in the Old Testament did not happen in a culture like ours, thus the human standards was different, and thuse we have no logical way of judging the actions of God based on actions that happened in a culture that is not like our own. two, if one believe that the things in the Old Testament was of parables/legends, then that means one cannot be mad at God for stuff in legends.

if an infinite being is judged by finite standards, then dare i say, we are off by a long shot. God Bless you Waiting!

My problem is that my image of God the father, despite my Universalist leanings, is heavily influenced by my OT roots. Even if something is a myth, it has the power to alter one's psychological reality.

Thanks for your post, tatted.