Originally Posted By: Bill S.
I did say "punative interpretation of God". Actually blaming God for anything is probably akin to punative animism.
Question. What on earth is punitive animism?

Bill, your post prompts me to ask: GOD--AN OBJECT OF FEAR?
Forgive me, Bill, If I repeat myself, but I do so in the name of clarity, and for the sake of any new readers of this well-read thread, so here goes: As I understand it GOD, as BEING, is not a being, or a person--that is, GOD is not a "he". Neither is GOD a BIG male-like being up there who wants us to worship "Him", and to FEAR "Him".

I ask: What does the BIBLICAL EXPRESSION, "THE FEAR OF THE LORD" (Psalms 34:11; Proverbs 1:07 etc.) mean to me? It simply means that it is wise of us to have "respect" for people and things worthy of it. Only a fool does not FEAR the dangers of life, like fire, and the like!

Daily, I give thanks for the tradition in which I, and others like me, were raised and educated: "Fear" as many people usually think of it, was not, and is not required. This is true for all private and public prayers, meditations, whatever.

Speaking only for the freedom-loving kind of people--many, including me, with honest doubts--in which I was raised: I have never been required to adopt the emotion of "painful apprehension". I have never had to be fearfully mindful of a god with the ability to keep "His" eye on people. All freedom-loving people are invited to connect with the ... whatever you want to call it.


G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org