I would assume that god would be the kinder one.

I'm a Christian as well. God is kinder, because he created the whole universe. If He didn't create the universe, we won't be living right now. God only punishes the wicked and those who do not believe. Devil (also know as Satan/Lucifer) was the first to sin, because he had pride. Satan wanted to be higher than God. He was the only angel who betrayed God so he was sent to Hell. Going to Heaven isn't hard. All you have to do is believe, pray for forgiveness, and follow the Ten Commendments (not sin).

Quote by DarkIngramWhile Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, and others were slaughtering one another, Jesus' true disciples were obeying his new commandment

As far as I know Buddhists never slaughter others.

Quote by luftwaffeace18If it weren't for him the many things we enjoy today would not be possible, such as Anime.

That is simply ludicrous.

Quote by jasaiyajinIt's a conspiracy... God is the Devil... one in the same, an actor and his puppet dancing to the tune of the stagehand. ^__^

Quiet an innovative way to see things.

As for me I don't know since I haven't met them yet.

Quote by mintytwinblademaidenYou both have this all wrong. Most of the people who did something in the name of God were not actually being influenced by God, but by the Devil pretending to be God. That's what he is; the opposite of God. Because the Devil cannot create the things that he has he mimics the things God has created, for example God made love, but the Devil can't understand love so his equivilant to that is lust. The people who have done something in the name of God and were actually doing something God would have wanted are the people who did something without major bloodshed, like Martin Luther King Jr., and Martin Luther. God doesn't want wars, the Devil does. The Devil thinks that he is God and because of his arrogance was cast out of heaven; he created evil, God has nothing to do with that. Take the 9/11 incident in the US; most people are asking why God would do such a thing or where was God when it happened. I'll answer those questions; God DID NOT cause 9/11, the Devil did, working through the terrorists who hijacked that plane. Secondly God WAS there at 9/11; he was helping people escape, people to be found, taking those who were unfortunate enough to die to Heaven, and he was working through the hands of the thousands of surgeons who had to opperate on the people who were found there.

If you actually knew what you were talking about then you would know that there was no need to ask this question. The Devil is the person who causes all things to go wrong in the world, not God. We have disease and pain and bloodsucking insects and heartbreak because of the Devil; God is the opposite, he is the one who heals us, mentally and physically, the one who tries to guide us to a better future. The Devil is the one trying to sabatouge it all, the one who lies to us and tries to hurt us.

The answer is simple and the only one; God is ultimately better than the Devil in EVERY WAY.

I wouldn't use Dr. King Jr. as an example. Not only was he a very lustful person (ironic that you chose to compare God's love to the Devil's lust), but he incited violent riots while championing peaceful resistance. A very two-faced person who believed the ends fit the means.

As far as the question goes, I'd say they both are the same. We are nothing but pawns on a chessboard to both sides, both claiming the high road and mudslinging the other like politicians.

My question is: Why can't God be more fun? Its so easy to be seduced to the "dark side", because its simply more fun. Denial of pleasure is a bad platform to run on, especially for a hedonistic society.

As far as the Buddhist slaughtering people, I do recall there being a warrior sect of Buddhism during feudal Japan - I don't know if they participated in the bloodshed, however, so I'm somewhat reluctant to comment on it.

I'm a atheist. But seeing it from a logical point, they're both the same.

The Devil is kind, if you look at it from the point that people haven't been killed in name of him but then, there are people who believe those crimes were committed because the Devil disguised himself as God, which in my opinion is plainly ridiculous. I mean there's no proof whatsoever either God or the Devil exist, so how come one may disguise himself as the other?! And if so, why can't God disguise himself as the Devil? In that case all the actions that were done by the devil were actually done by God, no?

Besides it's the Devil was God's left hand, right? I mean, when he was an angel. So if angels were created by God, why did he created an angel that would turn into evil?! And you can't just say God didn't know that would happen, because God is supposed to be wisdom and all that so he MUST have known that. And even in the remote case he didn't, Lucifer ( the Devil) was expelled from heaven because he challenged God, so then one may say that if we want to go to Heaven then we must not challenge God! But humankind has challenged God more than once if you want to se it that way, for we've greated things ourselves instead of letting nature follow her path...

And so God punishes us for challenging him, no kindness in that. But then the Devil inly promises us an eternity of sufferment, which is no kinder either.

Conclusion: They're both the same.

Quote by BobaFett2ha

Quote by luftwaffeace18If it weren't for him the many things we enjoy today would not be possible, such as Anime.

You imply that Anime was created by Christians. (haha).

There is Christian anime and manga out today, but not many people choose to spread it around.

The devil.
He grants you what you want even though he will take it back later and you don't have to bown down to him like a dog does to his master.

Interesting, we assault Martin Luther King Jr. here, well luckly i would not support in the staining of that mans name.

God is by far the kinder one ! If U think the Devil is kinder, boy are U in for a "treat" ! The Devil is by far the stronger, because we as individuals for what we do/ say have powers. Yeah, I know I am crazy, but what we say can give power over Satan/ demons. Satan will give U what U want, but in turn, he gets what he wants, your SOUL ! I know I am far from perfect, let alone being worthy of the Sovereign Lord from Above. I beleive that if Satan and Jesus were to make offers to me and I could pick the offer. My choice, I would chose the Lord, even though I would endure pain, loss of my family/ friends/ loss of limb or should I experience a greater tradegy. I honestly believe that I will find my reward up in heaven, because Jesus believed in me when HE died on that cross on Calvery Hill.

I know there are some who may think not so kindly or indifferent to what I said. I mean no harm, I only express my belief and I will say this, each person has the right to beleive in what he/ she thinks. The important thing is YOU as an INDIVIDUAL set people free, show your love UNCONDITIONAL to others, ACCEPT who U are on this planet and move on one day @ a time.

Remember the past, Live for today, Plan for tomorrow !

If man used robots to fight their wars, would it be any better? They would still be fighting in the name of God, but no human lives would be lost. Would that make it any different?

No, it wouldnt, because the probelm is still there.

Quote by PrairieDogGuy2006 God is by far the kinder one ! If U think the Devil is kinder, boy are U in for a "treat" ! The Devil is by far the stronger, because we as individuals for what we do/ say have powers. Yeah, I know I am crazy, but what we say can give power over Satan/ demons. Satan will give U what U want, but in turn, he gets what he wants, your SOUL ! I know I am far from perfect, let alone being worthy of the Sovereign Lord from Above. I beleive that if Satan and Jesus were to make offers to me and I could pick the offer. My choice, I would chose the Lord, even though I would endure pain, loss of my family/ friends/ loss of limb or should I experience a greater tradegy.

Well good for the devil he will get one more soul!
Why does he need souls?
What makes you think that he wants a soul?

I feel sorry for you. I unlike you feel worthy of going to heaven (if it exist) and before any of you religious people come bitting me head off, I don't care what the Bible says. As far as I know the church created it to control the masses. With success since most of you seem to be unable to comprehend anything else than what that book tells you (brainwash).

I believe God is the kinder. Just because people say they do things in the name of God doesn't mean that God really had any hand in what they were doing. People lie everyday. For me I've felt the love of God in such an incredible way that I can't even imagine that the devil could be more kind. All of you can think what you want, just don't try to pin mankind's murderous action's on God.

Quote by mintytwinblademaiden
There is Christian anime and manga out today, but not many people choose to spread it around.

You're missing the point. Of course the first anime and manga was not created by Christians. Of course anime and manga did not grow in popularity because of Christianity or Christians. Sure, there might be Christian anime and manga, but that doesn't change the fact that we'd be enjoying other titles regardless of whether Christianity was ever invented.

Quote by animefairy
God only punishes the wicked and those who do not believe.

But don't you think it's cruel and unfair that he punishes people before they ever know of him? Being omnipotent, he could have easily appealed to all those that he created, but he chose only to appear to certain people..the rest were often punished. How is that kind?

Quote by BobaFett2haBut don't you think it's cruel and unfair that he punishes people before they ever know of him? Being omnipotent, he could have easily appealed to all those that he created, but he chose only to appear to certain people..the rest were often punished. How is that kind?

It might be interesting to note that God tends to reveal his existance to people who seek him. I don't think he's really being unfair by not revealing himself to people who don't want to know him anyway. He can, by why should he? Many people want to live their own lives and prefer God to butt out of it anyway. If God revealed himself to them they might repent, but they would likely do so unwillingly. (aww, God took away my fun, I so liked porn)

So why doesn't God reveal himself to everyone? If you haven't figured out my answer yet, it's because he wants us to choose him out of our own free will.

Quote by Persocom01It might be interesting to note that God tends to reveal his existance to people who seek him. I don't think he's really being unfair by not revealing himself to people who don't want to know him anyway. He can, by why should he? Many people want to live their own lives and prefer God to butt out of it anyway. If God revealed himself to them they might repent, but they would likely do so unwillingly. (aww, God took away my fun, I so liked porn)

So why doesn't God reveal himself to everyone? If you haven't figured out my answer yet, it's because he wants us to choose him out of our own free will.

How convenient that god doesn't appear to those who don't believe in him, the only people who actually need god to appear to them in the first place.

It amazes me that many people have some sort of brain malfunction that actually allows them to look at statements like yours and somehow find them logical and reasonable.

Oh and to stay on topic, a good god and the devil can't exist at the same time. If god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent he can't allow the devil to exist and torture people for all eternity. Furthermore, it makes no sense that the devil would want people to do bad and then punish people for it. By punishing the sinners the devil essentially does god's dirty work, presumably to keep god's hands clean of the blood. From that point of view the devil would have to be on god's side. The most reasonable actions for the devil would be to reward those who do bad and punish those who do good. You would assume a guy like Hitler had a huge mansion down in hell for doing the devils prefered work right? The devil wouldn't want to deter anyone from doing bad by threatening them with torture, just the opposite, he'd want to threaten the good people with eternal torture.

If you believe the devil exists your best course of action is to do bad things. Let me explain, these are your options....

1. Follow god's path, do good, goto heaven.
2. Follow god's path, god's fickleness rejects you for some reason and get sent to hell and tortured for failing.
3. Follow the devil's path and get reward by the devil for doing such nice work for him.

Another type of pascal's wager I suppose. There's really no failing the devil because it's hard not to be "evil" enough. Simply rejecting god, worshiping satan, and shoplifting a bit would probably be enough for a decent hell apartment. God seems to be a bit unstable though, you can't really trust the guy, at one second loving all of mankind and at the next slaughtering children and killing off most of the world. When you look at it from a risk management standpoint the devil is probably your best option.

Im sorry, I know this is mean of me, but this has to be the dumbest question I have EVER heard.

Seriously, even if your an atheist you can understand that Satan is the embodiment of all things evil, and that God is exactly the opposite, how stupid do you have to be to ask a question like this!?

Quote by ChopperDaveIm sorry, I know this is mean of me, but this has to be the dumbest question I have EVER heard.

Seriously, even if your an atheist you can understand that Satan is the embodiment of all things evil, and that God is exactly the opposite, how stupid do you have to be to ask a question like this!?

How stupid do you have to be to not realize the brilliance behind the question? The whole point is to challenge the perceptions that you've taken for granted about "god" and the "devil" and actually think about them rather than just accepting whatever has been shoved down your throat by the various religious people you've come into contact with. Try opening your mind rather than mindlessly regurgitating the blatently obvious popular beliefs that were never necessary to verbalize in the first god damn place.

Yes, we know what everyone THINKS they are, but what do they really appear to be? Has god truly proven that he encompasses everything good through his actions in the bible? We already know god is supposed to be the embodiment of good while satan is supposed to be the embodiment of evil, but when you actually look at their actions god can actually come out as the more evil of the two.

ChopperDave, you're the guy at the bar sitting there with a blank stare and saying "Dahhhh, I don't get it..." when someone tells a witty joke. How unfortunate for you.

ara... I don't think the devil exists, *the following phrase will most surely be used against me but i don't care* i see the Devil as the perfect excuse for everything we humans do wrong, instead of responsibility... God's kindness is of course, relative... and Isaac Asimov, thanks for all the great sci-fi! ^_^

Quote by Haohmaru77ara... I don't think the devil exists, *the following phrase will most surely be used against me but i don't care* i see the Devil as the perfect excuse for everything we humans do wrong, instead of responsibility... God's kindness is of course, relative... and Isaac Asimov, thanks for all the great sci-fi! ^_^

I don't believe any more than you do, but realize that we're speaking in the context of the Bible. We're talking about the characters in the Bible much as you might argue about characters from your favorite anime.

The devil is a tool of god who is forced to tempt humans to TEST our faith and if we give in we end up sinning. If we do not give in to the temptation we will go to heaven and even if we do sin god will forgive us if we truely are sorry and wish to be forgiven. God is a forgiving person so he is a good person. Lucifer or "the devil" is a fallen angel who didnt approve of god giving humans free will. The devil tried to rebel and his punishment was to be sentences to watch over hell and to help god test human faith by temptation. So god is the nicer one.

The Devil is kinder.

No, I'm not saying better, or stronger, or wiser - I'm saying kinder. As in the way we understand kindness. If the devil (who, incidentally, I don't think exists but lets just say I do for this post) doesn't want to let us grow as a person, he will let us take the easy way out. That is a kindness to us, because we won't get hurt. However, God does want us to grow, and to grow we must hurt, because we must develop by recognizing our own faults, doing things we don't necessarly want to to in order to make ourselves better. Thus, God is not kind.

Quote by DarkIngram

Quote by Shinsengumi89 But who do you think is kinder the Devil or God ? Because when you think about it, the Devil has never been the cause for war it's been in the name of God.

People always blame God because of the wars... those who claim they are christians uses the name of God for their wick motives...

As a true Christian, I'll defend the name of God for those wrong accusations...

It was in 1914 that total warfare first invaded the world scene. The entire resources of nations, including their manpower, were committed to warfare. Many of the Bible Students, as Jehovah's Witnesses were called at that time, made commendable efforts to avoid bloodguilt. They were bitterly persecuted, just as Jesus said they would be. (John 15:17-20)

When global conflict again erupted in 1939, Jehovah provided clear guidance for his servants. Within two months of the declaration of war, this guidance came in the form of Bible study material entitled "Neutrality" in the November 1, 1939, issue of The Watchtower. It concluded with the sentence: "All who are on the Lord's side will be neutral as to warring nations, and will be entirely and wholly for the great THEOCRAT and his King."

What resulted? As a worldwide brotherhood, Jehovah's Witnesses consistently refrained from shedding the blood of innocent people, including their brothers in other lands. While Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, and others were slaughtering one another, Jesus' true disciples were obeying his new commandment: "Just as I have loved you, . . . you also love one another." (John 13:34)

Religious organizations have reddened the pages of history by spilling innocent blood in crusades, "holy" wars, and inquisitions. They have made concordats with bloodthirsty dictators. They consented when those dictators threw Jehovah's Witnesses into prisons and concentration camps, where many of them died. They gave willing support to fuhrers (leaders) who executed Witnesses by shooting and beheading. These religious systems cannot escape Jehovah's righteous judgment. It will not delay. Nor should any lover of righteousness delay in getting out of false religion--bloodstained "Babylon the Great"--and seeking refuge in God's organization. (Revelation 18:2, 4, 21, 24)

So in each country the churches led their members into the war. Catholics slaughtered Catholics on the battlefields. Protestants killed Protestants. And church leaders on both sides prayed to God for victory!

"The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from [the] beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother."--1 John 3:10-12

How dishonoring to God it was to link his name with such horrible deeds! Certainly the Bible words are well applied to the churches...

"They publicly declare they know God, but they disown him by their works, because they are detestable and disobedient and not approved for good work of any sort."--Titus 1:16.

On the UN plaza wall in New York, U.S.A., you may read the following words based on Isaiah 2:4 (King James Version): "They shall beat their swords into plowshares. And their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war any more." But who acts in harmony with those words today? Not one of the members of the so-called United Nations. It is only the peace-pursuing global "nation" of six million and more Jehovah's Witnesses that has clearly demonstrated how Christian neutrality can be maintained in a bloodstained world.........

True worshippers of God avoid killings in war... we always remain neutral unlike those who claims they are christians...

What does buddhist have to do in all of this?

merged: 08-30-2006 ~ 02:20pm
Oh and to the post above, Devil only wants you to take the easy way out to make you oppose God. In the end, you will still be stuck in the Hell burning.

I believe God is kinder. Though kind can take many faces, but the God I believe in is a loving, caring and thoughtful God, and wouldn't lie to humans. Devil however, lies and cheats to make you believe that the Devil's path is righteous, and the end result will be pain and suffering.

People who shed blood in God's name only says it for hunger of power. God will never directly involve himself in the world because he gave us the free will of choice. We are in the end the ones that cause the suffering and pain, and only the words we speak of god lays bandages for the wounds it tore.

god is most kind, forgiving, and merciful of all gods