Exodus [20.5-6] The bringing of iniquity to those who hate God

[JamieJ1989]

Exodus [20.5-6] 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

The reality of how many nations live, seems to completely contradict the verses. Why does God seem to portray in reality that the opposite is the case? The more you pray and worship, the more injustice God brings upon you. This is clearly shown in the scale of poverty of devoutly religious countries or regions. See figure.

It seems to me the less you pray and worship, the better your education, healthcare, longevity of life, prosperity, the less victimised you are by crime, sexual harassment/prohibition, etc.

I can only conclude that God purports to hate those who love him and love those who hate him. How can the graph in the figure above be reconciled with the verses given?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It seems to me the less you pray and worship, the better your education, healthcare, longevity of life, prosperity, the less victimised you are by crime, sexual harassment/prohibition, etc[.

If you pray less your healthcare will improve. Who would'v thunk!

 

[meghanwaterlillies]

Exodus [20.5-6] 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

The reality of how many nations live, seems to completely contradict the verses. Why does God seem to portray in reality that the opposite is the case? The more you pray and worship, the more injustice God brings upon you. This is clearly shown in the scale of poverty of devoutly religious countries or regions. See figure.

View attachment 14426

It seems to me the less you pray and worship, the better your education, healthcare, longevity of life, prosperity, the less victimised you are by crime, sexual harassment/prohibition, etc.

I can only conclude that God purports to hate those who love him and love those who hate him. How can the graph in the figure above be reconciled with the verses given?

I guess I would disagree. Many force prayer like a system yet no one knows when they will pray really like between you and God. So since its not something that is listed as a demand by culture norms or laws the commitment or help from the Lord comes freely. Freely pray. Also then its a Freedom + Gospel + Help Health.
And its simple that I can see Christ in forgiveness not the generations before.

 

[JamieJ1989]

I guess I would disagree. Many force prayer like a system yet no one knows when they will pray really like between you and God. So since its not something that is listed as a demand by culture norms or laws the commitment or help from the Lord comes freely. Freely pray. Also then its a Freedom + Gospel + Help Health.
And its simple that I can see Christ in forgiveness not the generations before.

I'm not sure what you're trying to get across. Many of these people aren't being forced to pray, and if they are thats clearly what god wants. He tells you this in the verses quoted. If you don't worship him he will bring you an injustice, you have no choice but to worship, you are being forced to worship by Gods divine jurisdiction and absolute jealousy. Many of the people in these countries choose to go to church or their respective places of worship, because thats what they believe, and they are still subject to abject poverty. Even the majority of those who are religious, residing in more prosperous countries are clearly those sitting in the lower classes of that society.

The state of being impoverished clearly goes, for the majority of cases, hand in hand with a religious belief. As shown by the graph.

 

[meghanwaterlillies]

I'm not sure what you're trying to get across. Many of these people aren't being forced to pray, and if they are thats clearly what god wants. He tells you this in the verses quoted. If you don't worship him he will bring you an injustice, you have no choice but to worship, you are being forced to worship by Gods divine jurisdiction and absolute jealousy. Many of the people in these countries choose to go to church or their respective places of worship, because thats what they believe, and they are still subject to abject poverty. Even the majority of those who are religious, residing in more prosperous countries are clearly those sitting in the lower classes of that society.

The state of being impoverished clearly goes, for the majority of cases, hand in hand with a religious belief. As shown by the graph.

See I saw the graph and you assumed by that graph meant that we pray less.

 

[JamieJ1989]

See I saw the graph and you assumed by that graph meant that we pray less.

I'm saying atheists, agnostics etc pray less, worship less. Who do you mean by 'we'?

 

[meghanwaterlillies]

I'm saying atheists, agnostics etc pray less, worship less. Who do you mean by 'we'?

"We" as in its not a dogmatic form is what I mean.

 

[JamieJ1989]

"We" as in its not a dogmatic form is what I mean.

I don't think the construct of your sentences is delivering the context of your thinking. Or you're not understanding what the graph is representing.

 

[meghanwaterlillies]

I don't think the construct of your sentences is delivering the context of your thinking. Or you're not understanding what the graph is representing.

okay explain with your subjects. Please if you may

 

[JamieJ1989]

okay explain with your subjects. Please if you may

The x-axis of the graph shows(with increasing magnitude) how wealthy or prosperous a nation is, the y-axis shows(with increasing magnitude) how religious that nation is as a percentage of the total population. There is a clear correlation in the data provided showing that the more religious a nation is, the less prosperous that nation is. For example, take the point representing Japan, on the y-axis it shows that under 20% of the population think that religion is important in their lives, in other words over 80% of Japanese people do not worship a God. On the x-axis it shows that they are one of the most wealthy and prosperous nations on the planet.

If you were to assume that the verses originally quoted were true, you would have to ascertain that the opposite would in-fact be the case. The opposite being Japan with it having one of the lowest numbers of worship, being one of the most impoverished nations in the world(This is not what the graph shows).

The graph clearly and empirically shows, that God hates those who worship, and loves those who do not worship.

 

[Kelloggs]

Exodus [20.5-6] 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

The reality of how many nations live, seems to completely contradict the verses. Why does God seem to portray in reality that the opposite is the case? The more you pray and worship, the more injustice God brings upon you. This is clearly shown in the scale of poverty of devoutly religious countries or regions. See figure.

View attachment 14426

It seems to me the less you pray and worship, the better your education, healthcare, longevity of life, prosperity, the less victimised you are by crime, sexual harassment/prohibition, etc.

I can only conclude that God purports to hate those who love him and love those who hate him. How can the graph in the figure above be reconciled with the verses given?

I'm just comparing the 2006 statistics of religion in Japan and your chart. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan)
It says that 51.82% are 'Folk Shinto', 34.9% 'Buddhism', 4% 'Shinto organisations and others', 2.3% 'Christianity', and 6.98% 'no answer'. Funny how those who identify themselves as 'Shinto' also consider themselves as 'non-religious' - although they do attend Shinto rituals and worship.
Maybe there is a bias in how "religion" is defined and represented in the graph?
Jokes aside, it is a very informative and insightful graph!