Is God a Sociopath?

Was looking for common symptoms of a sociopath a minute ago and it got me to thinking. Is God a sociopath? I for one believe in a God and a Heaven and Hell but I wish I could pick at his brains a little bit. It is quite interesting when you think about it.

wiki.answers.com...

Here is a list of ways to identify a sociopath. This list is from "Profile of a Sociopath". Is is a pretty good list of sociopathic indicators.

* Glibness/Superficial Charm
* Manipulative and Conning
* Grandiose Sense of Self
* Pathological Lying
* Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
* Shallow Emotions
* Incapacity for Love
* Need for Stimulation
* Callousness/Lack of Empathy
* Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
* Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
* Irresponsibility/Unreliability
* Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
* Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
* Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
* Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
* Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
* Authoritarian
* Secretive
* Paranoid
* Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
* Conventional appearance
* Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
* Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
* Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
* Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
* Incapable of real human attachment to another
* Unable to feel remorse or guilt
* Narcissism, grandiosity (self-importance not based on achievements)
* May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

Now that said, he/she could possibly be above this but it depends on your line of thinking. He definitely doesn't fall into all of these categories but he covers a good chunk of them. If we are like him and he is like us then he definitely falls into this category, but he is a higher being so who really knows? I think that while I may get flamed it is worth thinking about. So after you read on the symptoms of a sociopath, what do you say?

Well, believers came with the idea that they are like god, knowing that they as humans are fallible, so it could be. A lot of atheists who were once believers would say so. A lot of people got hurt because of their faith in some god.
Because someone could think his god is not faithful or lied to him or is secretive when he blames his suffering on others` happiness.
Or the person becomes paranoid because he believes god is watching him afraid he`s going to do something sinful - and that`s paranoia. So you could twist all those criteria around with the help of the believer`s projected faith.
Add: also an atheist.

[edit on 20/4/10 by sandri_90]

I found the paradox of the christian god well defined by George Carlin. It really is a shame that people place so much at god's feet. That people attempt to assign properties of a finite being (humans) to something that is inherently infinite. Part of me absolutely adores the idea of god. Of there being someone there for you, always. Not obtrusively, but there if you need 'him.' Someone that loves you unconditionally, in a way that parents are supposed to, but few do. Not to mention the whole 'life after death' bit. Having something definite to look forward to after all this life's experiences would be comforting.

The whole two-sided nature of the christian/jewish god is what really makes me take a step back from organized religion. My logical brain can't reconcile an "all-loving" being with a vengeful and jealous being. It's an oxymoron. Such fails in the face of rational thoughts. As well as god's absolute NEED to be worshiped by man. I think, by their own definition, that god would be nothing like man, and wouldn't feel the egotistical need to be worshiped. I would think that and all-loving god would be like your best friend. Your best friend isn't supposed to judge you. He's just supposed to be there when you need him, because that's what friends do.

The empty excuse of: "Oh, well, as we are not god, so to can we not understand his motivations or will." Basically saying that because god is omnipotent, that he is on another level, and therefor incapable of being understood by humanity. On the surface, I can agree with that thought, at first. But if we take that road, and we say that god is unknowable, then how is it that you can call him 'all-loving'? Or vengeful and jealous? The obvious answer to that would be: "We know him by his words, in his holy book." But the book seems to contradict itself... Leaving many to question the authenticity of the work.

Then you have those folks who say that the holy books aren't meant to be literal, that they are meant to be interpreted. Well, if that's the case, then that fails logical analysis as well. because if god is undefinable, then how can man possibly have the audacity to 'know' god? How does one KNOW that god meant a certain thing in this line of this book? Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes not so much. Perhaps it is meant to be contradictory. Perhaps we were never meant to understand completely. After all, god is unfathomable. My father and I used to have talks of this nature all the time. It is an interesting exercise, trying to wrap one's mind around something that is inherently mysterious and undefinable. I like your take on it OP, it makes one think.



I'm not sure if he stole it from someone else, but my father used to say:God is just hopelessly insane, and he's been saving up the hurts for millennia."

Chrono

Anyone who has seen their best friends gunned down in front of them, tasted their blood on your lips and heard their cries for their mothers will understand when I say this:

Ive tried my whole life to believe whole heartedly in G-D. I was raised Catholic/Jewish, and attended bible study classes as a child. Even then, I was always questioning, pondering, seeing the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of what this book said... and what we were told.

At a young age I always questioned the priests, and most of the time they had no sufficient answer. They would always just revert back to the good ol' "well thats there faith comes in" response.

My mind was far too analytical and logical to just accept everything blindly, at face value.

And I never had a problem with people who devoted so much time and energy into an imaginary friend who they thought would protect them, and rescue them if the need presented itself...

Not until I saw my best friend get shot six times, while sitting next to me in the truck. Until I held his hand and watched the life leave his eyes, while he whimpered for his mother, and at the same time asked G-D "why?" He was a good man, better than I'll ever be. He was honest and kind. He didnt deserve to go like that, only 23 years old. I deserved it. Not him.

To see a good man die young, while a man who doesnt deserve life continues breathing made me really see what G-D is. He is either a child with an Ant Farm, flooding and killing masses as he pleases, not knowing or caring how his decisions kill and injure innocent lives, or he is a sadistic know it all, laughing as he destroys cities, and scores of his faithful believers. Our christian G-D can only be one or the other, if he is truly omnipotent and omnipresent (all knowing and all powerful) then he could stop any horrible thing from happening, since he already knows its going to happen, and he most likely is creating it right?! The fact that God never appears to save his devout believers, even when facing torture, rape, or worse... is disconcerting at best

Either way, I hope one day I can make peace with this G-D, or any Gods. I'd love to believe in something, to not fear death, but so far what I have experienced as far as paranormal stuff goes, scared the crap out of me.




[edit on 20-4-2010 by WhiteDevil013]

[edit on 20-4-2010 by WhiteDevil013]

God is reflected through the eye of the beholder. God is known by sane people and sociopaths alike, and any Scripture that suggests a sociopathic God is more reflective of those who wrote the Scripture than of God. There is a truism when said that God created man, and in gratitude man returned the favor. A sociopath returning such favor is more inclined to create a sociopathic God than a sane person is.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


I think when we look back to ancient times, it wasnt so much what an :individual" thought G-D should be, it was more an explanation for the masses when something like an Earthquake or a drought struck. People would fret and worry, priests would seize the opportunity and say that men were being punished for their sins. This dates back thousands and thousands of years. So many people believed that God/Gods were responsible for every unexplainable calamity, that in some cases they routinely conducted human sacrifices in an attempt to appease the Gods, and to restore order.



Sounds like God was held in high esteem...

"hurry up and sacrifice those virgin women so God wont be so pissed and we can grow our crops..."

Good Grief!
[edit on 20-4-2010 by WhiteDevil013]

[edit on 20-4-2010 by WhiteDevil013]

reply to post by WhiteDevil013


I think you are offering a far too simplistic view of how humanity came to believe in God. There is no evidence to support that primitive humanity was any less spiritual than those today, and spirituality is not a lame attempt to explain the unexplainable, it is an acknowledgment of something outside of our own physical realm. No doubt, religious institutions have seized upon inexplicable disasters and tragedies and ascribed them to an angry God punishing humanity, but religious institutions are historically about controlling people more than offering any viable path towards a higher spirituality.

Why do you believe in god at all?

I'm an atheist, btw.. I believed in god somewhere between the age of 8 and 13. Didn't believe in god before 8, and stopped believing in him after 13

This thread is useless.

First off specify which god you talk about, is it the christian god the muslim god or a personal spiritual god? What you are doing is taking the word god thinking everyone has the same definition of it/him and then you slander god the way you perceive him to be. This thread is a mirror of your ignorance. And I'm sorry to be this "aggresive" but youv popped a bubble in me that I need to release.

And why would you even come to this conclusion? Other then making a controversial thread title. I don't see how my god is sociopathic, my god made everything is everything thus is me aswel. He made phisicle reality to learn from experience and so that we could feel happyness and love because how can you feel those things if you don't even know what hate is?

Think very deeply about god the universe before posting this nosence.

I absolutly hate it when people say god is bad because bad things happen in this world or he is crazy because he doesn't do anything about it, to me it shows that these people have no understanding and are supperficial in there thought. You miss the whole reason for being here by talking about these things. In my opinion you have alot of growing to do, and I would suggest you start with yourself as every knowledge begins there.

[edit on 20-4-2010 by colloredbrothers]

reply to post by colloredbrothers


Well, the OP has a valid point.

So far, no God has ever spoke to me and told me right from wrong. All that I learned was from the people around me; parents, family, society, etc.

All the historical data and accounts (in this case the Bible) on this supposed being suggests it really is a very vindictive, childish, self-centred bully. This god is always asking for praise and love, but... you don't "have" to. You can "choose" to if you want. But if you don't, well... Dum-dum-DUMMMMM! Hell awaits...

A brief skim of the Old Testament is quite revealing - it certainly portrays the Christian God as one who uses fear, blackmail, treachery and violence to get what it wants.

It sounds *very* similar to what we humans do on a daily basis. Which is why i don't think such a being exists in the way we conceptualise it.

If there was a supreme being, it's nothing like the current anthropormorthic personifications we attribute to it, like a guy in a toga on a cloud or having some human form. We do that because we humans created it. Reasons? Well, too many to list.

I could be wrong... but I don't think so.

[edit on 20-4-2010 by noonebutme]

Thank's for that..

just found out from that i'm a Sociopath..yay

reply to post by ventian


So what's God's prognosis Doc?

God has a developmental disability related sufrage?

How does one cope with a delusional creator?

Interesting idea.

However, God may be able to make a rock so big God can't move it ... But God could still create something else in order to move it for God.
just a thought.

At the end of the day, if believing in a supreme being helps you, the individual, being a better person or achieve the goals you've set for yourself in this life, then that's all that matters.

So long as your belief doesn't infringe upon, impede or harm anyone else, then I really don't care what people believe.

But when presented with the option to debate the existance or the nature of a supreme being, then I'm all game!

reply to post by ventian


god as a concept to me is the opposition to truth, so it is the evil source life, that could finally lead to absolute truths as facts admittance but the least one that is why god preach nothing as freedom truth, which is not true but it is the least ground he achieved to recognize truth

the point of god being evil living, is the source of his existence being negative one, source of any awaken form is always a perception of futur sense as life freedom appeal, this of course is different to each awaken form it is unik form each, since it is the whole point there living free, but the concept source i guess is what i said, the perception of positive life of futur freedom realisation

so god was like a slave conception that must obey to nature wills, so his conception of superiority is a living puting all down for its freedom above exploitations,
nature like willing intelligence of god to realize creations as superior positive living herself, so god surely for each achievement he could know start rejecting nature superiority and was seeking to justify his rights in freedom from her
that is why he became that rock in lies and hypocrit ways of wills achievements, he became the negative living for sure which explain the friendship with satan he realized
and nothing reference as a concept was the source for god fake creations in imitating absolute realities of nothing but in positive and negative charges,
but it is whole different levels in conceptions truth, like if you see the source of concept being nothing then you would mean to value yourself realisation as the source of something existing which is you the living free
and since nothing for you is the truth, anything you would be as a living free even by using lies or profiting from knowledge positions or realsiations, for you it would be the same absolute value being your life freedom whatever the conditions tor realize it are, the source is nothing so

anything is better then nothing and surely freedom from as living positive is extremely uncomparable value to nothing and nothing freedom

but when your sense of objective truth is freedom life certainty, then your free life futur conception value appear relative to freedom life itself certainty, and then it is not appealing anymore, because you cant be free of what is already free, you must like this freedom sense, and it is a compromise since you must like it, so the sense of freedom is compromised already in the concept, so you are not willing to live really you mean your freedom more

negative conception mean any source that is not true, so god surely went to see in nothing the source of lies pretenses lives, so he had no value reference objective and therefor he went to present his wills realisations as superior value absolutely, which cant be true, you cannot create truth, truth is before any concept of existing, really much more then anything you would find out to say about

but when you are a concept living of positive objective source as truth, being out of positive certainty freedom in void as also in concept living, then you would know how superiority in truth is refering to better full state objective reality, positive value add always possible in free will space

and then you wont be as a concept living of superiority and inferiority concepts needs in mind, it is always the sense of betterment and absolute positive add or reality that guide you as well as the sense of absolute living state as all self reality you witness it moving positively with it surroundings whatever and you the free witness is surely existing value

when you are like or of god, you have to be through superior and inferior concepts, because it is the justification then of existing life since there is no absolute positive reference existing

and that is surely the ground that god realize of pains and pleasures and so many others things dualities that i see them very useless in all and any terms

but god like meaning always that the freedom sense out of dualities realities is the true superiority, but then there is his state there that you must accept being superior living from where you choose to be of superior free, so you contribute to realize god free life there
it is horrible to mean that all creations are to mock as inferiors realsitions of dualities always and only the free sense out of all realities from life there growth is the existence truth

what is absolutely present positive value is the superiority reference, but it can be a superior it would be then as a sense of progress or futur certainty present sense for, or absolutely positive add to you as you the same so the living value but then its objective reality living is superiority reference that you witness out of it, so no superior living one

and that is why no inferior living one, and the living meaning anyone who move alone as positive means to any objective existence, is the existing true, there is no quality value as living one
but existing ones yes, absolute truths are also the minimal result, so it is sure certainty

absolute reference is void intelligence for positive values growth and life freedom infinitely, not to say that all is one

like walking on eggs you dont even touch them so you have to be sure always walking positive above the sense of zero and proove it all the ways

The reason why God seems to be a nut case is because, God was created in the image of man, as was Jesus. Beware false Gods.

God is Whole, Perfect and Complete, as is His/Her/It creations. If the creations are perfect, then who screwed it up? Oops, here come the religionists.

I think he may be because this place that we live in is insane and the fate that is people lines (exp in life and emotional reaction) are set in stone so I think he is a sociopath but it may be because God had to leave Heaven maybe and got pissed off of seeing the thing he made after he took a nap. lol

Definitly a insane God.

I mean dang, he or she or it is God and or DNA is broke and we use a small percentage of our brain. All because supposedly someone ate a apple.

If God created me in his image, and I'm a sociopath, that would make God one too.

reply to post by GeorgeH


they say that men are god image and undirectly then mean how women are nature image

but then you can see god and nature like, and how they are the same concept of one source living,
god is the living freedom who see his life as futur positive add values from his creations, so he is always meaning values as creations gains, and that is why the trait of men usually fundamental weakness is this one, they are good in discussing issues and philosophizing but when it is about to realize something objectively positive value, they seem like have forgetten something away from the scene
values perspective for men is its purpose only for their free lives pretenses, but as the source of their positive life add not as being its source, it is like god admit he doesnt know at all what is positive really objectively, but he knows that freedom of nothing is absolute reality too that he use for creations, and seek the adds to his life from
he can only do images of his sense but not being lviing directly from realizing values life, or even giving any life to objective value he cant recognize an objective positive value

nature on the opposite side, seem like meaning sharing her freedom with absolute positive value sense alive, but then she cannot discuss anything or doing philosophy about truth of it, she is that absolute positive confirmation living through, so she must keep that move groove on, and got pissed off on anyone who is denying that absolute value is already living or doubting her life based on

so where they are the same one concept life, is where they dont take any time to just admit a truth for itself alone, and keeping themselves out of what they recognize existing, they quickly jump for business confusions

i mean god in his free state that recognize zero existing reality absolutely, why didnt say about that truth reality more and only mean it for business source creations life, when there is no reality between god and that free absolute reality zero as a living one
same with nature, she admit that there is positive value as truth in source of her free life, but why she must pretend being life share to mean that, why she cant stay out and just say her reality with that then

i agree with coloredbrother-
a waste of words, of life