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If God commanded you to...

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • No

    Votes: 35 94.6%

  • Total voters
    37

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
Suppose that God (capital G) is the author of morality. He deems it immoral to not listen to Him.
Would you be evil and not listen to Him still? What if it was "good" to sacrifice the child, according to the God. I have the Abrahamic God in mind as a frame of reference by the way.
I suppose this brings the question up of whether there is an objective morality or not.

If it's completely arbitrary ("Because I said so!") then by definition it isn't morality.
But morality aside, I love my son, not some sadistic god. So it's love that's the determining factor.
 

soulsurvivor

Active Member
Premium Member
If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?
Of course not. But a 'real' God would never ask such a thing.
 

questfortruth

Well-Known Member
So essentially what you are saying is if God told you to sacrifice a child you wouldn't because that God would actually be Satan in disguise. Very interesting...
So, if god told you to sacrifice a child, you must to refuse it, and then go to psychiatric treatment because that spirit would actually be satan in disguise or a hallucination.
 

Tinker Grey

Wanderer
Suppose that God (capital G) is the author of morality. He deems it immoral to not listen to Him.
Would you be evil and not listen to Him still? What if it was "good" to sacrifice the child, according to the God. I have the Abrahamic God in mind as a frame of reference by the way.
I suppose this brings the question up of whether there is an objective morality or not.
If God were the author of morality and it is from it we get morality and what is "written on [my] heart" is that sacrificing my son wrong, then God could only be testing to see if I'd correctly say no.

If God really wanted me to do it, then, to paraphrase Hitchens, my answer would be "[screw] you".
 

Starlight

Spiritual but not religious, new age and omnist
So, if god told you to sacrifice a child, you must to refuse it, and then go to psychiatric treatment because that spirit would actually be satan in disguise or a hallucination.
You are correct.

God never wanted Abraham to sacrifice his son. And God will never ask someone to sacrifice his son again.

So if God told you to sacrifice your son = It is satan or a hallucination
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?
From my Christian perspective: I would not. Why? Because 'God' is no respecter of persons and hence would never demand a death for personal reasons nor for testing to see what is in someone's mind. I point out, too, that 'God' is not the same term used in the scripture to which you allude. Your scripture is quite ancient and uses another term 'LORD'. Whoever demands the death of Isaac: it is not an impersonal request. This is a personal request. Testing Abraham? God needs not to test anyone.

My understanding: God is omnipresent and presents in more than one way. God is not something we can put in a box and say what God is. The LORD, on the other hand, is what is called an imprint of God or a scale representation of God. Its like LORD is a stamp of God.

From Christian scripture we have James (the Elder) writing James. In it we have a developed view of God and similar to our modern view of omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent God, God who is inhuman and is not at all like us. There is nothing impermanent in God, unlike ourselves. There is no testing of people. There is no tempting. Each person is received as is and is permitted to have wisdom. Wisdom is not limited to those who pass tests and win favor. This is not the case with the 'LORD'. Abraham finds favor with the LORD. Abraham pleases the LORD. Abraham is a very special person, but he is not dealing with God directly. He is dealing with the LORD, and there are conditions that Abraham must meet.
 

an anarchist

Your local anarchist.
From my Christian perspective: I would not. Why? Because 'God' is no respecter of persons and hence would never demand a death for personal reasons nor for testing to see what is in someone's mind. I point out, too, that 'God' is not the same term used in the scripture to which you allude. Your scripture is quite ancient and uses another term 'LORD'. Whoever demands the death of Isaac: it is not an impersonal request. This is a personal request. Testing Abraham? God needs not to test anyone.

My understanding: God is omnipresent and presents in more than one way. God is not something we can put in a box and say what God is. The LORD, on the other hand, is what is called an imprint of God or a scale representation of God. Its like LORD is a stamp of God.

From Christian scripture we have James (the Elder) writing James. In it we have a developed view of God and similar to our modern view of omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent God, God who is inhuman and is not at all like us. There is nothing impermanent in God, unlike ourselves. There is no testing of people. There is no tempting. Each person is received as is and is permitted to have wisdom. Wisdom is not limited to those who pass tests and win favor. This is not the case with the 'LORD'. Abraham finds favor with the LORD. Abraham pleases the LORD. Abraham is a very special person, but he is not dealing with God directly. He is dealing with the LORD, and there are conditions that Abraham must meet.
Trying to understand the difference between LORD and God, I've never heard of it before :confused: would you say "God" is the Trinity together?
 

Goldemar

A queer sort
If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?

I believe it was not God on High who commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son but the lower, evil creator of the material world. God would never command anyone to sacrifice their child to Him.
 

Sheldon

Veteran Member
If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?
No, not even any child, I'd tell that deity (hypothetically) to f*** right off! The same way I'm happy to tell adherents of any such deity to do the same, when they try to remotely defend infanticide, while crying crocodile tears over a clump of insentient cells.

...Obviously because I care more about the suffering of others, than I do about indulging bs archaic superstition.
 
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