Atheists: What attributes could a god character have that would not result in coercion?
There's this common line of reasoning amongst believers in Yahweh, that we have "free-will" to choose him. They often say that direct evidence of his existence would restrict that choice. But if evidence would restrict choice, why are the stories, and attributes put forth for Yahweh, riddled with coercion and threats that hinder choice(less free)?
3 things that come to mind that would hinder one's choice in believing in Yahweh or not.
1) Belief in Hell(choose Yahweh or it's eternal torture for you).
2) Belief in Sin(avoid all things that Yahweh is purported as disliking or be punished).
3) Belief that Yahweh is omnipotent(the super powered strength of an overseer acts to coerce believers into choosing him, or face the consequences)
I'd say that if a god cared about honest choice, wanting to avoid any coercion being involved in conviction in itself, it would not put itself forth as a powerful being. It would put itself forth in a way that no one would interpret there as being any negative results from not following it. It would put forth its positions, without stating any consequences. And allow people to consider its positions based on their merits alone. Then all followers would have chosen it due to agreement with its positions.
After all, conviction develops through a process. A threat of hell put forth along with a god claim can develop into conviction in a god character that can later be perceived as being accepted for separate reasons. But the initial seeding of that conviction was still influenced by coercion. And no believer in Yahweh could avoid that in hindsight.
@PIKACHU:
I suggest looking into your Yahweh character a little more...
@Simple Jack:
If you meet a random friendly child on the street and they tell you doing Y on a rainy day is wrong. Is it a sin to go against that? No. It's not going against any sociocultural standard, and no "divine" law is being infringed. I don't agree that the term sin is synonymous with wrong. And I think there are situations where a god could say that something is wrong without coercion(but would have to put itself forth as one who is of no possible threat).
@modol: "how about if i ask you whether a non existing character is good or bad?"
It's easy enough to consider a hypothetical. You can ask me if fictional characters are good or bad as long as I have enough information about said character(like some understanding of its mentality, and attributes).
@FactCheckr: "The only attributes a god character could have that would not involve coercion would be... desertion.&q
@FactCheckr: "The only attributes a god character could have that would not involve coercion would be... desertion."
I think a god could run a game/test of "choose me freely." Like I mentioned, by not putting itself forth with any omni-attribute. Then spreading its positions and allowing people to choose him without them perceiving any consequences. As it sits the "test" would certainly involve coercion. If Yahweh existed and really wanted us to choose him without other factors skewing our decision, he wouldn't have done it the way that he supposedly has.