Does God ---- Do unto others?
There are many instances in scriptures where God does not follow the golden rule.

Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

In the sacrifice of Jesus, God demanded that Jesus bear the sins of the wicked who will repent.

This is hardly doing unto others or following the advice of scriptures.
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Matthew 25:41 (Jesus speaking): Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Hell can hardly be called a good thing. This again is hardly Jesus doing unto others or following the advice of scriptures.
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Does the God you know follow the golden rule?

How can he be doing so when a good God would find a good and moral way to convert instead the draconian methods he seems to use that go against the golden rule and his own good advice in his scriptures?

Regards
DL

So your saying the ultimate athoratative figure of the universe has different rules? Shocking.

I'm still struck by how the god of religion committed adultery with Mary. Mary was married when she conceived, of god, a child (or so the story goes).

OP makes this mistake a lot. No matter how often you mention that applying human rules to non-humans isn't necessarily reasonable, he will continue to do so on order to make religion look bad. (or I'm confusing him with someone else.)

And.....

No matter how often us atheists/agnostics mention that applying human attributes to non-humans isn't necessarily reasonable, you theists continue to do so on order to make your religion look good.

Fact of the matter is. If there is a God, he has no humanly definable or identifiable characteristics - at all.

How much of your free time do you spend attempting to disprove God with technicalities?

Is this actually related to the point I made?

But as for your off-topic point, I don't see how it's correct. God has not characteristics at all that we can identify? We can't use any words to describe Him that we also use to describe humans? I don't see where this comes from or how it's true.

Why can't OP apply human rules to 'non-humans' like God, while you and many other theists are able to apply human attributes to 'non-humans' like God?

For instance, you would consider God to have a characteristic of being 'good', yes?

Well how come you and other theists can apply this characteristic to him, but Greatest I Am is unable to apply the characteristic of God being 'bad' (because he doesn't follow the golden rule)?

I am saying that the bible tells us to be like God, but to do so we have to basically ignore the bible. His WORD, which we are also told to follow.

Catch 22.

Regards
DL

I have no problem with you applying the characteristic 'bad' to God. I'm pretty sure I haven't tried to stop this.

The reality is that we use these attributes to describe non-humans all the time. Companies, ideas, other animals, topographical phenomena, etc. Rules, on the other hand, are more specific. Dogs and humans don't live by the same rules. Different people, depending on age for example, don't live by the same rules. So when God comes down with a list of rules for humans to follow, there's no reason we should think it inherent in the nature of those rules that God is going to follow them as well.

Adultary with his own mother. Add incest.

That and abandoned what humans would call a bastard child.
Hit and run. Gotta love that God's example for his followers.

Regards
DL

Does you bible not tell you to be as perfect as God?
Yes it does.
You are told to emulate him and if he breaks his rules, so must you if you are to be like him.

Your bible friend. Make sense out of it if you can.

Then again, you don't need sense and reason, just faith.

Faith in what in this case, what the bible says you should do or what it says you should not do? Are you to be like your God or not?

Regards
DL

Exactly. So why in hell would anyone want to follow an alien God who thinks using genocide on humans is a good form of justice?

A God with no dick telling men how to screw IOW.

Insanity.

Regards
DL

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Would you give the gnostic understanding of the above verse. Thanks.

He's not breaking the rules if they didn't apply to Him to begin with. We aren't told to be God, either, as we can't. Being like another isn't the same doing what another would do. It's about emulating the characteristics and applying them to your own situation. There's no contradiction here.

Im suppose to emulate Gods characteristics (not sure what this means) but not his morals because he has none?

Yes there is. Otherwise God would be the very definition of a hypocrite.

Unless you also argue that God has no humanly identifiable characteristics, and there is hence no reason for him to follow the same rules, in which case - you open your argument up to far more problems....

Let me add a verse.

Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Matthew 7:18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Do you see perfection all around us?

These say that it should be here.

That or God, the perfect tree, produced corrupted fruit?

I cannot speak for all Gnostics as there are different sects as well, but I see things in a naturalistic realistic way. I do not go to the supernatural.

To see what I see, that we live in an environment that is as good or at its best possible form as it can be at any point in time, you would have to agree with the folowing.

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When this was written, most thought it to just be a cynical view of life but I think it is quite true and irrefutable, based on the anthropic principle.
What do you think?

Candide

"It is demonstrable that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPClzIsYxvA

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I use the U S version of perfect. That is that things can go to a more perfect state. I call our situation and all within it, including you and I, evolving perfection.

Think of a newborn baby. On hour one, we can say that it is the most perfect that nature can create with all the DNA and conditions at hand.
On hour two, it has evolved to knowing that it needs to find a nipple. And on and on it goes over time. Always being as perfect, or at it’s best possible form, given all the environmental factors.

This view has not been refuted even as most do not see it.

Regards
DL

Ok. One of the characteristics that you are to emulate is to not follow your rules just like God does.

If you think that his rules do not apply to himself and his policy is do as I say and not as I do, and that that rule is good for a law maker, then what you are saying is might makes right and to hell with morals and ethics.

You can have that God. I reject him completely.

Live with your contradictory bible that speaks against your own God's actions.

Regards
DL

Do you not set different rules for your children or your dog than for yourself, without this making you a hypocrite or bad? And you still share characteristics with them. Can you not think of reasons for having different rules?

Where are you getting this from?

ganstaman could you name a characteristic of God im supposed to emulate. Im at a loss thinking of any outside of moral values.

Am i supposed to emulate his power or knowingness?

Taking religion seriously is goofy. Mostly it is "good goofy" like discussion in this thread and in others. Sometimes it is "bad goofy" like destroying everyone and everything in Sodom because they were not "Righteous" enough and demanding to be praised for it, this sounds more like Ghengis Khan then Jesus Christ or even Jehovah "oh heck I said Jehovah, bring on the rocks goofy people"

I've never told my dog to be like me.

Athiest love the bible. Easy Target imo. I wish there was an ancient athiest text written by hundreds of people over even more years that I could poke holes in. Ah well I probably wouldn't waste the time arguing with a story from 2000 years ago anyway and instead argue against the basis for their idea anyway. That's just me though.