I know some great fathers. They are kind to their wife and children and deliberate about doing things in a way that benefits everyone. Most of the other fathers want to be like these model dads, but they often fall short. Then there are the Jim Bob Duggars of the world that want all women and children to obey them without question, or they will be beaten. They make cult leaders out of their sons to continue the abuse and take over the world.
Christianity’s God is described in many ways. He is supposedly supremely good, even though he condoned the deaths of millions, sanctioned wars, and allowed slavery. Rape, genocide, racism, misogyny, etc., are dismissed because He is God, much in the same way, many people dismiss the evil behavior of narcissistic men in religious circles that abuse people.
The good fathers I mention would never consider abusing their children to maintain control.
Another area where God seems to be unique is that people assume he accepts worship. By cobbling some verses together, almost everything is justified, including worship. It’s easy to imagine how worship developed as people tried to understand God and assumed God must be retributive and vengeful.
I can’t imagine any good fathers I know accepting worship from their children. Their children occasionally thank them or bring gifts, but requiring worship would be the last thing on their minds. Only a narcissistic, insecure father needs to be constantly praised.
Like my denomination of origin (SBC), the Christian God keeps doubling down on these ignorant assumptions. But these determinations don’t make God or organizations better, they just keep proving that they are corrupt and selfish, and narcissistic and compound the problems.
If God is good, his actions and attitude must be better than ours. He can’t have a worse temper than me–He can’t abuse and kill people–He can be narcissistic and retributive. He has to be the BEST father, not an exception to all the rules he supposedly instilled.
I tried to make this case in my book, Apparent Faith, early in my deconstruction.
I’m so disappointed in my former denomination that I will never return. I’m also disappointed in how desperately we cling to our unfortunate misunderstandings from the past, even when we observe the damage they do.
Assuming God is a special case is the mechanism allowing narcissistic men to assume the same privilege. Much has been exposed in the last five years across many different flavors of Christianity. It’s time to begin not only deconstructing personally but corporately.
These ancient ideas, based on ignorance, should not have survived this long.
Deconstruct everything, ask questions, and resist everything that is not based on love and compassion.
Stop making excuses for God and abusive, controlling men.
Be a part of the solution, don’t proliferate the problem.
Be where you are,
Be who you are,
Be at peace
Karl Forehand
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/…/mad-formal-executive-man…/
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