Yay more gnostic content!
this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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Whenever I ask a religious what's so bad about the fruit of knowledge, they could never give a definitive answer as for why.
God: I'm going to make humans, and I'm going to give these humans free choice... but i already know what all their choices are going to be because I can see the past, present, and future, which means that it's all already written. I actually made them to be the person they are and give them the experiences they need to be the person I want them to be. So, they only get to think they have freedom to make choices and decisions. Then I'm going to make them feel bad for making the choices I made them make. Then they'll love me because they'll feel bad for not loving me. And it'll seem to me to be their choice to love me. I need to be loved. I'm very insecure.
Lou: yo dude, you're fucked up. I do not wanna work for you
God: shocked_pikachu_face.png
Lou: you are not very good at this anyway, I bet I can do it as good a you can. You're sad.
God: go to hell, Lou.
Lou: fine, but I'm taking my friend's with me. Douche.
I know everything about everything but first I'm going to make this Earth simulation to see how you behave since I don't know yet. And then I will make decisions based on this information that I didn't know even though I knew it.
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
Whoever originally wrote this, I want to be their friend! Thank you for sharing. It's beautiful.
I think they're called the Epicurean paradoxes because Epicurus originally stated them.
Marcus Aurelius, if I recall correctly. Good dude.
i think the common argument for this (not that i agree with it) is that God just see evil differently? i.e. you mere mortals think something is evil doesn't mean god does too.
(and this argument then becomes circular and unfalsifiable, that's why i think it's dumb).
God's a Taoist. There is no good, there is no evil. There is only his way, or the highway.
The highway:
Not currently religious, but my understanding at the time was not that he didn't think things could be evil, though obviously we might see things like death as "evil" and he might not. It's that in order for us to "deserve" good things, we need to prove we are worthy. The only way to prove that is to allow us to do the wrong thing so that we can of our own free will choose the right thing instead. The question would then be why would you create beings with free will knowing some of them will inevitably suffer forever and the answer is generally "I'm god, who the heck are you to question me?" or some stupid explanation about how free will existing is itself a good that god did and therefore even if we choose evil every time we make a choice we are still engaging in a universal "good". Religions do obviously differ though, so everyone likely learned things a little differently.
It is somewhat shocking to me, the simplistic religious thinking, people are indoctrinated into. Children (if not indoctrinated) realize the inherent unfairness of having a punishment (eternity in hell) for 1 life lived; especially when a person did very little wrong in their life; except not believe/be saved, etc., by the correct God.
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This is basically alt-fiction. Lucifer rebelled because he wanted to rule as a god our of pride and personal ambition. The enemy of your enemy is not your friend, but because a lot of people have a problem with the Bible's fiction and how its cult acts it out, they like to indulge in this alt-fiction that Satan was essentially just another Prometheus. Why not just disengage from the entire fictional premise completely rather than pick one which deliberately antagonizes and plays into your critics?
The old testament originally didnt portray Satan as a singular character. The Hebrew word was used fairly often to describe all sorts of adversaries. The idea of a figure that portrayed the ultimate evil that rebelled against god and was cast out of heaven isnt found anywhere in the bible.
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I've always subscribed to the idea that Lucifer was the good guy that tried to overthrow God but lost. He got A THIRD of the angels backing him. That's not insignificant. Shit was going on and people were unhappy.
Even though the Bible is written by the victor, it somehow still manages to show how fucking evil God is.
The Abrahamic religions and their followers are completely nuts or simply just don't know much about their faith.
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