Many secularists claim that the Christian God is a tyrannical God. Perhaps the best way to dispute this is to look at human tyrants and how they operate. I am referring to people such as Kim Jong Un, the ruler of North Korea, and Xi Jinping, the president of China.
These tyrants are all about control. They want to control not just people’s actions but how they think.
Of course, secularists will argue that God wants to do the same things. They say that God’s laws are tyrannical because they require us to live a certain way. Isn’t this also about control? Doesn’t God want to control us just as Kim Jong Un and Xi want to control their own citizens?
Well, there are fundamental differences between God and these human tyrants. One is that God is all-powerful, while these men are not.
Imagine if Kim Jong Un or Xi had the power of God. What do you think they would do with it? They wouldn’t simply write laws for us to follow. They would use their power to control our minds, to force us to worship and obey them. They would take away our ability to choose.
God could do the same. God could force us to think exactly how He believes we should think. God could force us to act exactly how He believes we should act. And yet He does not.
God has given us agency. He has given us the freedom to make our own choices. This is something that no tyrant would ever do.
Of course, we are still accountable for our actions. Hell is a possible destination for the soul in the afterlife.
Secularists will say that this in itself is tyrannical, the very idea that there could be punishment for our actions. Yet these same people have no problem calling for people to be punished here on Earth when they commit evil (or evil as the secularists define it). If punishment in this life can be justified, then how can punishment in the afterlife not be?
Maybe it’s all about control. Secularists are okay with punishment as long as they get to decide who gets punished and as long as they can deem what is right and what is wrong. As long as they have control. But if they don’t have control, then that is something they simply cannot accept.
This is the fundamental problem. Secularists want to seize the mantle of God. They want to be God. But, unlike God, they would wield His power like a true tyrant.
These tyrants are all about control. They want to control not just people’s actions but how they think.
Of course, secularists will argue that God wants to do the same things. They say that God’s laws are tyrannical because they require us to live a certain way. Isn’t this also about control? Doesn’t God want to control us just as Kim Jong Un and Xi want to control their own citizens?
Well, there are fundamental differences between God and these human tyrants. One is that God is all-powerful, while these men are not.
Imagine if Kim Jong Un or Xi had the power of God. What do you think they would do with it? They wouldn’t simply write laws for us to follow. They would use their power to control our minds, to force us to worship and obey them. They would take away our ability to choose.
God could do the same. God could force us to think exactly how He believes we should think. God could force us to act exactly how He believes we should act. And yet He does not.
God has given us agency. He has given us the freedom to make our own choices. This is something that no tyrant would ever do.
Of course, we are still accountable for our actions. Hell is a possible destination for the soul in the afterlife.
Secularists will say that this in itself is tyrannical, the very idea that there could be punishment for our actions. Yet these same people have no problem calling for people to be punished here on Earth when they commit evil (or evil as the secularists define it). If punishment in this life can be justified, then how can punishment in the afterlife not be?
Maybe it’s all about control. Secularists are okay with punishment as long as they get to decide who gets punished and as long as they can deem what is right and what is wrong. As long as they have control. But if they don’t have control, then that is something they simply cannot accept.
This is the fundamental problem. Secularists want to seize the mantle of God. They want to be God. But, unlike God, they would wield His power like a true tyrant.