El_Mariachi64

i don't think any theists or believers have actually answered yet...

the reason I think that is because no one has avoided the question and justified whatever God they believed in, and given a defensive answer.

Its a good thing I'm agnostic, the answer is simply no. no way in hell. I would assume I was nuts

kjk437

No.

Jesse

I once asked someone on Yahoo Chat if she would murder me if God had asked her to do so. She said, "Yes." Everytime I seen her after that I could tell she felt ashamed of herself and I reminded her everytime I seen her that she should be ashamed of herself. "If she won't listen to my arguments then surely she would begin to listen to her own conscience," I thought. I haven't talked to her in a long time, but I think it was effective.

Would I murder my child if God had asked me to? No.

Jayhawker Soule

So, no one has "actually answered" and "no one has avoided the question". Good grief!

niranjan

And what would be your answer ! Just curious.

__________________
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---Krishna ( Bhagavad Gita )


“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

---Buddha


The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.

---Thomas Paine

El_Mariachi64

oh, haha, I missed your response.

That's exactly what I was talking about. A defensive avoidance of the question. I couldn't help but notice that you in fact still haven't answered yet.

Jayhawker Soule

Far better that you notice that the question is silly and conceals a petty attack on a rather remarkable bit of scripture.

Even if one were to take the question seriously, it can not (and should not) be responsibly answered without some stipulation as to the nature of this deity. So, for example, if one were to presume a malevolent Demiurge, the answer might very well be "no" - unless, of course, one further assumes that refusal would result in a greater cost. If, however, one presumes an all-wise and caring deity, the answer could very well be "yes". Again, the question is an adolescent hypothetical asked with ulterior malicious intent.

To the anthropologist/sociologist, the Akedat Yitzchak (Binding of Isaac) stands a brilliant transitional narrative with clear intent to anyone who hears it as it must have been heard during its initial telling.

El_Mariachi64

on the contrary my friend. The beauty of the question is that we all know it IS a blatant challenge to the scripture. It is designed to ruffle feathers and assert the obvious. It isn't petty, its well thought out and begging for an answer.

It is precisely for this reason that it MUST be taken seriously because the point of asking it is to make someone make the choice between yes and no, something you've so far refused to do, to make them see and analyze what is the nature of the deity in question, and don't kid yourself, we're talking about the Abrahamic god here. We're making you see the silliness of your beliefs.

This isn't about if some obscure god no one believes in asked or if the Christian God did it (which is really unfair of you since your assuming that YOUR God has more legitimacy in asking such a thing) This is about you analyzing and critically thinking about your values.

So out with it, if YOUR god came down and told you to kill 20 people, would you do it?

Gettin' In Tune

If god exists, why it would commit me to do such an atrocious act?

__________________
"But to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact."--C.Sagan

Jayhawker Soule

No, it is adolescent sophistry and blatant ignorance of the period and the role of narrative in folk-history and folk-psychology.