# Is God a bigot ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873 "2011-04-01T22:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![arminvonstolz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@arminvonstolz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arminvonstolz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/1 "2011-04-01T22:37:26Z")
One of the priciples of Christianity, it seems to me, is that one must be a Christian to not “burn in the eternal lake of fire”. Here on Earth, for the most part, if a store owner posted a sign reading, “No jews allowed” or “bathrooms for whites only”, excluding whole groups of people that might be well behaved — we would call that bigotry. It seems to me from a argumentively logical point of view is that the only “fair” thing to base entry into heaven or condemnation to hell (leave aside that I believe in neither) on would be behavior or how one lived their life. I know Christians are going to say thay can’t know the mind of their God and all that but, according to the Principle of Universal Morality it doesn’t matter who you are, … if it’s immoral for people here on Earth to exclude or restrict people based on religion, … it would also be immoral for Him. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/2 "2011-04-01T22:40:33Z")
He doesn’t seem to have cared much for the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/3 "2011-04-01T22:43:16Z")
Certainly God as he is often portrayed is a bigot, what with all the claims that he hates gays and wants women to be submissive. As for his “worship me or burn” position, I think that would qualify more as megalomania and sadism. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/4 "2011-04-01T22:49:42Z")
I guess it depends on your definition of ‘bigot’, but yeah…I suppose so. According to the various authorities on God, s/he/it (:p) doesn’t seem to care much about race (not sure about sex…depends I guess on who you ask), but if you don’t believe, well you are screwed. In some if you didn’t happen to win the Select lottery you are screwed, even if you are a fervent believer. -XT ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/5 "2011-04-01T23:08:51Z")
There is no requirement to be Christian. Moses was not Christian but was seen in the Kingdom during the transfiguration. You have to know God living inside of man, this is Jesus Christ. Anywhere you see true love from a person that is God, that is Lord Jesus in the flesh. The questions that God uses basically are ‘do you know me?’ and ‘are you my child?’ If so He takes us back home before this world basically goes to hell. If you don’t know God or say that you are not His child then He is under no obligation to take you and it would be improper for Him to do so. Also if you don’t have Love in your heart then you can not be His child and don’t belong in His Kingdom, but will go into the kingdom of where you heart is, if anger then that kingdom, if jealousy then that kingdom, ect., but the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love (as God is Love). ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/6 "2011-04-02T00:18:10Z")
I don’t think it is a bigot. It’s more of a mass murdering, genocidal monster. It’s so insecure it needs lesser forms to worship it and beg forgiveness while it commits horrid atrocities. So, is it a bigot, if that includes hating everyone unless they conform and even then, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/7 "2011-04-02T00:55:12Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > There is no requirement to be Christian. Moses was not Christian but was seen in the Kingdom during the transfiguration. For that matter, Jesus was a practicing Jew. Strictly speaking, there weren’t any Christians until after he died. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/8 "2011-04-02T02:15:49Z")
> [@arminvonstolz](#): > > One of the priciples of Christianity, it seems to me, is that one must be a Christian to not “burn in the eternal lake of fire”. That may be true of some sects of Christianity. But it’s not the position of, for example, the RCC. You might want to check your premise. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/9 "2011-04-02T02:18:22Z")
> [@arminvonstolz](#): > > One of the priciples of Christianity, it seems to me, is that one must be a Christian to not “burn in the eternal lake of fire”. Edit – never mind, **John Mace** beat me to it just as I was posting. Damn you to hell! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/10 "2011-04-02T02:20:39Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Edit – never mind, **John Mace** beat me to it just as I was posting. Damn you to hell! 😉 Well, I’m not a Christian so, according to the OP, I’m already slated for that fate. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/11 "2011-04-02T08:26:37Z")
Bigotry is hating someone because of something they can’t change. One of the core tenants of restrictive Christianity is that anyone can change and become a Christian. Would it be bigotry to punishment all criminals? Well, in the paradigm you mention, all non-Christians are criminals. They know what God tells them to do, and deliberately violate it. You might view Hell as a cruel punishment, or the law as unfair, but neither of those mean that the Guy is a bigot. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/12 "2011-04-02T08:35:05Z")
Yes, hello, I belong to that old religion that had “God” down before other people did, and I can safely say that we don’t condemn others to Hell. That’s silly. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/13 "2011-04-02T08:36:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Bigotry is hating someone because of something they can’t change. One of the core tenants of restrictive Christianity is that anyone can change and become a Christian. > > Would it be bigotry to punishment all criminals? Well, in the paradigm you mention, all non-Christians are criminals. They know what God tells them to do, and deliberately violate it. You might view Hell as a cruel punishment, or the law as unfair, but neither of those mean that the Guy is a bigot. Or maybe the Christian god just has a Super Big Ego. - EVERYBODY LOVES ME! Oh, you don’t love me? I’ll send my men after you. \* Oops, wait, wrong thread. _runs off to find a Ghadafi thread_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/14 "2011-04-02T09:15:58Z")
In Christianity, isn’t he more of a tri-god? ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/15 "2011-04-02T11:56:02Z")
> [@arminvonstolz](#): > > One of the priciples of Christianity, it seems to me, is that one must be a Christian to not “burn in the eternal lake of fire”. Here on Earth, for the most part, if a store owner posted a sign reading, “No jews allowed” or “bathrooms for whites only”, excluding whole groups of people that might be well behaved — we would call that bigotry. It seems to me from a argumentively logical point of view is that the only “fair” thing to base entry into heaven or condemnation to hell (leave aside that I believe in neither) on would be behavior or how one lived their life. > I know Christians are going to say thay can’t know the mind of their God and all that but, according to the Principle of Universal Morality it doesn’t matter who you are, … if it’s immoral for people here on Earth to exclude or restrict people based on religion, … it would also be immoral for Him. Principle of Universal Morality? See now, that’s a game changer. Now that we’ve come up with a Principle of our very own the _creation_ gets to tell the _creator_ what is----and what is not---- “moral.” We’ve got him on the run now… ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/16 "2011-04-02T12:55:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Bigotry is hating someone because of something they can’t change. One of the core tenants of restrictive Christianity is that anyone can change and become a Christian. > > Would it be bigotry to punishment all criminals? Well, in the paradigm you mention, all non-Christians are criminals. They know what God tells them to do, and deliberately violate it. You might view Hell as a cruel punishment, or the law as unfair, but neither of those mean that the Guy is a bigot. No one knows what God tells them to do…it is the word of some other human who says God said, or did something. God was supposed to have told Muhammad a whole different story,since God doesn’t tell each person what He wants, then they have no way of knowing. Since humans have a way of thinking their thoughts are God’s then God has told a lot of people, a whole lot of different things, and many are contradictory of the other! ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/17 "2011-04-02T13:04:05Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > There is no requirement to be Christian. Moses was not Christian but was seen in the Kingdom during the transfiguration. > > You have to know God living inside of man, this is Jesus Christ. Anywhere you see true love from a person that is God, that is Lord Jesus in the flesh. > > The questions that God uses basically are ‘do you know me?’ and ‘are you my child?’ If so He takes us back home before this world basically goes to hell. If you don’t know God or say that you are not His child then He is under no obligation to take you and it would be improper for Him to do so. > > Also if you don’t have Love in your heart then you can not be His child and don’t belong in His Kingdom, but will go into the kingdom of where you heart is, if anger then that kingdom, if jealousy then that kingdom, ect., but the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love (as God is Love). There is no way you wrote this with a straight face ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/18 "2011-04-02T13:19:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > As for his “worship me or burn” position, I think that would qualify more as megalomania and sadism. God is all powerful but also insecure. Like Barbra Streisand before James Brolin. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/19 "2011-04-03T00:01:51Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > There is no way you wrote this with a straight face I take it you’re not familiar with **Kanicbird**. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873/20 "2011-04-03T01:42:15Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > There is no requirement to be Christian. Moses was not Christian but was seen in the Kingdom during the transfiguration. > > You have to know God living inside of man, this is Jesus Christ. Anywhere you see true love from a person that is God, that is Lord Jesus in the flesh. > > The questions that God uses basically are ‘do you know me?’ and ‘are you my child?’ If so He takes us back home before this world basically goes to hell. If you don’t know God or say that you are not His child then He is under no obligation to take you and it would be improper for Him to do so. > > Also if you don’t have Love in your heart then you can not be His child and don’t belong in His Kingdom, but will go into the kingdom of where you heart is, if anger then that kingdom, if jealousy then that kingdom, ect., but the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love (as God is Love). This is pretty close to what I was taught as a Presbyterian. I don’t see why it would cause the author to not keep a straight face. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-a-bigot/576873.md?page=2)