Published by Let us suppose for a minute that God was a man-made entity, a being created by a group of very ingenious people who wanted to control others. Well of course there have been other “Gods” in the past, who have gone by various names, but for making people feel most at ease, and also most vulnerable, these people decided to refer to their God as “Father”. This would prove a brilliant tactic in terms of getting converts, controlling them, and keeping them.
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We all know the line “Our Father who art in heaven…”, as well as “the Father, son, and holy ghost”. How many prayers being with the lines “Dear Father”? This was clearly the one biggest, and best, move the early Christian church made. After all, who would dare challenge their father who loved them so much? Even people whose biological fathers do not measure up will spend years trying to gain his approval. Imagine what they would do for a father they can not see and whom will not speak to them?
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The fear of disappointing ones own mother is one thing, but to disappoint a father is very difficult and most people feel deep shame over letting their father down. As such referring to a fledgling religions God as “Father” was possibly the best strategy any religion could have developed. By reinforcing it daily (through prayer and scripture) the fate of most who entered the religion was sealed, they became trapped by their own psyche as they fell for the bait of never wanting to disappoint a father figure.
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Sadly there are many contradictions in their system. One being that while followers are told they are all Gods children, they are also told he gave his “only” son. But alas, this too plays with the minds of people because it forces sibling rivalry. Sibling rivalry and the desire to please a father figure combine in the human world to be huge motivators. As such whether by design, or accident, the combination has resulted in great way to control people. If anyone takes time to read the bible they will note several stories that pitted brother versus brother in a play for Gods love perhaps a way to tell followers that if they want divine love they must be better “Christians” than even their brother.
For the record, the words “Our Father” appear frequently in the Christian new Testament, but are also used in Jewish writings.
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I am happy to have read this! It really made me think. Keep it up
A definite article to think about. Way to go!
Are you an atheist or a questioner. I am the latter.
Lots of thought provoking stuff here. Well written, as usual.
You have a way with a thought provoking article. My mother was a minister and she always was upset with me because I did not blindly believe and always had questions but I never got any answers.