Are We God's Pets?

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2ndRateMind
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Are We God's Pets?

Post #1

Post by 2ndRateMind »

So, I don't have any pets, right now. It would complicate my simple life beyond my capacity to cope. But as a child, we had a dog (Miranda) and a cat (Rufus). And I loved them both. We fed them, and bought them treats, and toys to keep them occupied and exercised.

I can't help wondering though, if God's relationship to us is not all that different to our relationship to pets. We love them, as He loves us; not as equals, but as subordinates to be pandered to and cared for and indulged, to keep them occupied and 'happy'.

If this is right, the cosmic battle between Good and Evil has no significance beyond a situation set up to engage us, like a pet toy, and provide us opportunity to develop virtue and forego vice. It is an amusing passtime, for those who accept the mission against evil, but maybe does not really matter in the long run of things, at all.

Best wishes, 2RM.

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Post #51

Post by 2ndRateMind »

TSGracchus wrote: Well, if we are pets or children, we are abused and neglected. If we are merely sheep or cattle for slaughter we are ill-tended. Perhaps we are only for sport, a cruel show for the entertainment of a sadistic deity, or merely inconsequential vermin, to be trodden carelessly underfoot.

Or maybe, just maybe, we should forget all that religious nonsense and just take our fate into our own hands.

:study:
Well, if you consider the earth's bounty, God's providence, something to be abused and neglected, fair enough. If you think you are ill-tended, because of God's forbearance on the moral mistakes you might make, fair enough also. Perhaps you would prefer to be prevented, by divine ordinance and interference, from doing evil?

But as for taking our fate into our own hands, and being responsible for it, I couldn't agree more. As William Henley put it:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
And I intend, come the end of days, to look my Judge in the eye, and be able truthfully to say: 'I did my utmost best.'

Best wishes, 2RM.
Last edited by 2ndRateMind on Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post #52

Post by TSGracchus »

[Replying to post 51 by 2ndRateMind]

2ndRateMind: "And I intend, come the end of days, to look my Judge in the eye, and be able truthfully to say: 'I did my utmost best.' "

At the end of each day, look in the mirror, look your judge in the eye, and say, "I'll do better tomorrow."

:-k :thumb:

Walterbl

Post #53

Post by Walterbl »

The bible says the we are made in the image of God, so we are more like his children instead of his pets.

No, we are not equals, how could limited beings be equal to a near infinite, eternal intelligence? But he gave us the ability to choose, which pets don't have.

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #54

Post by HarryDavidson701L3 »

I don't think we should take this phrase literally. We are more children than pets. And if we talk about pets, I can say that I am very happy that we have cats for our comfort and peace. I can't imagine life without my cats. (I have 2 cats, black and white). They're the best antidepressant, and they can also cure some diseases. Surprisingly, cats often lie down on my sore spots and warm me. I don't even know how they do it, but they definitely have a gift. By the way, if there are pet lovers here, I can recommend this blog about them https://petsoid.com/what-is-a-group-of-cats-called/. There you will find a lot of interesting and useful information to know how to properly care for your pets.
Last edited by HarryDavidson701L3 on Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #55

Post by Miles »

HarryDavidson701L3 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:14 am I don't think we should take this phrase literally. We are more children than pets.
Don't be too sure.


.........................................Image



Whether good or bad, at the very least we're here as his entertainment.




.

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #56

Post by ADaniels92 »

We seem to his pets, but more intelligent and with more paths to choose in which it's easier to sin.

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #57

Post by Miles »

ADaniels92 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:07 am We seem to his pets, but more intelligent and with more paths to choose in which it's easier to sin.
Which appears to be just what god wanted, good drama. And as George Bernard Shaw once said “No conflict, no drama.” So, throw in a serpent or two to mislead mankind into lives striving to keep sin at bay, and voila!

..................................Image

.

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #58

Post by nobspeople »

2ndRateMind wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:48 am So, I don't have any pets, right now. It would complicate my simple life beyond my capacity to cope. But as a child, we had a dog (Miranda) and a cat (Rufus). And I loved them both. We fed them, and bought them treats, and toys to keep them occupied and exercised.

I can't help wondering though, if God's relationship to us is not all that different to our relationship to pets. We love them, as He loves us; not as equals, but as subordinates to be pandered to and cared for and indulged, to keep them occupied and 'happy'.

If this is right, the cosmic battle between Good and Evil has no significance beyond a situation set up to engage us, like a pet toy, and provide us opportunity to develop virtue and forego vice. It is an amusing passtime, for those who accept the mission against evil, but maybe does not really matter in the long run of things, at all.

Best wishes, 2RM.
I've wondered that myself - the whole 'pet' thing. I've had pets for my whole adult life. And not once have I ever told them 'worship me out of faith or you're going to eternal damnation for not doing so'. So I'm forced to wonder, are we really like pets (as I see people treating their pets like God treats us almost everyday) or are we more of play things to him? The bible shows many things, but among them is God seemingly use people like pawns in his dance with the devil (Job is an example that springs to mind).
Either way, it doesn't seem a good life for even a pet fish, not to mention a human being. :?
Have a great, potentially godless, day!

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #59

Post by 2ndRateMind »

nobspeople wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:58 am
2ndRateMind wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:48 am So, I don't have any pets, right now. It would complicate my simple life beyond my capacity to cope. But as a child, we had a dog (Miranda) and a cat (Rufus). And I loved them both. We fed them, and bought them treats, and toys to keep them occupied and exercised.

I can't help wondering though, if God's relationship to us is not all that different to our relationship to pets. We love them, as He loves us; not as equals, but as subordinates to be pandered to and cared for and indulged, to keep us occupied and 'happy'.

If this is right, the cosmic battle between Good and Evil has no significance beyond a situation set up to engage us, like a pet toy, and provide us opportunity to develop virtue and forego vice. It is an amusing passtime, for those who accept the mission against evil, but maybe does not really matter in the long run of things, at all.

Best wishes, 2RM.
I've wondered that myself - the whole 'pet' thing. I've had pets for my whole adult life. And not once have I ever told them 'worship me out of faith or you're going to eternal damnation for not doing so'. So I'm forced to wonder, are we really like pets (as I see people treating their pets like God treats us almost everyday) or are we more of play things to him? The bible shows many things, but among them is God seemingly use people like pawns in his dance with the devil (Job is an example that springs to mind).
Either way, it doesn't seem a good life for even a pet fish, not to mention a human being. :?
To be fair to God, I think it humans who insist on worship or hell. I am a believing Christian, but I think the Bible, and particularly the Old Testament, is the story of humanity getting to theological grips with the nature of the divine.

Best wishes, 2RM.
Non omnes qui errant pereunt
Not all who wander are lost

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Re: Are We God's Pets?

Post #60

Post by Purple Knight »

Miles wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 3:23 pm
ADaniels92 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:07 am We seem to his pets, but more intelligent and with more paths to choose in which it's easier to sin.
Which appears to be just what god wanted, good drama. And as George Bernard Shaw once said “No conflict, no drama.” So, throw in a serpent or two to mislead mankind into lives striving to keep sin at bay, and voila!

..................................Image

.
I can see Christians as objecting to this because you're maligning God. But I ultimately think it's fair because if God really made everything then this love of conflict we have had to have come ultimately from God. It may not be that he relishes it to the popcorn-chomping degree, he may have even been trying to get rid of it, but none of us, even if we're omnipotent, can overcome the logical necessity that we leave of ourselves in what we create.


(Or this could be a garbage universe wherein the "bad parts" are dumped.)

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