What do you think of this Quotes?

A God who could make good children as easily a bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave is angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice, and invented hell--mouths mercy, and invented hell--mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people, and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites his poor abused slave to worship him!

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Zinthaniel said:

A little context the quote is written by Mark Twain in his short story, "The Mysterious Stranger", in which (The following summary is from a user on goodreads) a group of boys meet an angel that has appeared one day. The angel’s name is Satan (no, not the Satan, merely his cousin, hence the same family name). Satan gives them an education, both through words and deeds, about some Ultimate Truths. Here’s a brief excerpt of his examination of God Himself:

What do you think of the excerpt? I had read it long ago and found it profound.

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Henrin said:

How is it profound? It's just saying what everyone is already thinking. Sorry, but saying what everyone is already thinking is not profound.

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Goshin said:

I find it to be proof that Mark Twain does not understand God. Which is not surprising.

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Zinthaniel said:

I guess it's a matter of what side of the fence you are standing on, because I find it unbelievably accurate. Also you quote should say did, since Mark Twain wrote this near a century ago and has long since perished from existence.

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Zinthaniel said:

A little context the quote is written by Mark Twain in his short story, "The Mysterious Stranger", in which (The following summary is from a user on goodreads) a group of boys meet an angel that has appeared one day. The angel’s name is Satan (no, not the Satan, merely his cousin, hence the same family name). Satan gives them an education, both through words and deeds, about some Ultimate Truths. Here’s a brief excerpt of his examination of God Himself:

What do you think of the excerpt? I had read it long ago and found it profound.

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“The first time the Deity came down to earth, he brought life and death; when he came the second time, he brought hell.”

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“After a long time and many questions, Satan said, "The spider kills the fly, and eats it; the bird kills the spider and eats it; the wildcat kills the goose; the -- well, they all kill each other. It is murder all along the line. Here are countless multitudes of creatures, and they all kill, kill, kill, they are all murderers. And they are not to blame, Divine One?”

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Luftwaffe said:

As a deist I think I have to totally disagree and say God didn't make a single human being nor animal nor plant nor planet nor anything, just that (possible) ball of energy that (possibly) exploded into everything we see now. After that the good lord just left it to nature.

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Removable Mind said:

Mark Twain was a man ahead of his time. I loved reading is stories. He was a profound mind. An Einstein in his own right.

You will more than likely find "Letters from the Earth" as enjoyable if you haven't yet read it.

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Zinthaniel said:

A little context the quote is written by Mark Twain in his short story, "The Mysterious Stranger", in which (The following summary is from a user on goodreads) a group of boys meet an angel that has appeared one day. The angel’s name is Satan (no, not the Satan, merely his cousin, hence the same family name). Satan gives them an education, both through words and deeds, about some Ultimate Truths. Here’s a brief excerpt of his examination of God Himself:



What do you think of the excerpt? I had read it long ago and found it profound.

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Zinthaniel said:

Mark Twain's mind was tragic but beautiful. I definitely enjoy his wisdom and insight. I'll check it out.

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Zinthaniel said:

I think the passage is more commentary on Abrahamic religions than on anything else such as deism.

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Zinthaniel said:

It was written in 1916. it wasn't what everyone was thinking. And seeing that religious beliefs, especially in abrahamic beliefs, still make up a majority of the world's population it is still not what everyone is thinking.

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Luftwaffe said:

Sorry, was asked on what my opinion was so I gave it.

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Henrin said:

Fair enough, but still, what he said has been said by countless people throughout the ages and I am no more moved by it then I was when I read a Greek philosopher say the very same things about the beliefs at the time.

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Zinthaniel said:

The profoundness, for me at least, is the fact that Mark Twain, imo, was a brilliant writer and he effortlessly put what everyone was saying/thinking into a passage that not only grips the reader by shameless exposing the irony of religious belief but also tackles the biting suspicions that I believe is, like you are saying, in the back of everyone's mind.

The passage simply packs a punch. For some, obviously not all.

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Zinthaniel said:

A little context the quote is written by Mark Twain in his short story, "The Mysterious Stranger", in which (The following summary is from a user on goodreads) a group of boys meet an angel that has appeared one day. The angel’s name is Satan (no, not the Satan, merely his cousin, hence the same family name). Satan gives them an education, both through words and deeds, about some Ultimate Truths. Here’s a brief excerpt of his examination of God Himself:



What do you think of the excerpt? I had read it long ago and found it profound.

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opendebate said:

Thank you for posting. This is one of those quotes that creates that wholly uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach. I suppose because it turns your eyes to the abyss, which is something most of us prefer to avoid. He just turns your head with such eloquent precision you can't help but look.

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"It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream—a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought—a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!”

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Zinthaniel said:

No problem, the whole story is very blatantly honest in a dark and anti-theistic way. It was written after Twain had suffered the brunt of life's cruel realities, not that the story didn't echo beliefs he already held for a long time, but it also carries some pain and anger.

here's another quote from the same story.

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Paxaeon said:

`
While I agree with it's stark nihilistic cynicism, I can't shake the idea that it was meant to be more of a rhetorical statement bordering on esoteric. He came up with another quote I just recently ran into that smacked me as so profound, it gave me the jitters, to wit:
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opendebate said:

What do you think about what he's saying? Aside from his gift as a writer or how clearly it displays his own anger and frustrations at the time

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Zinthaniel said:

The silliness of it all. Here we have a religion, that for at least people who are no longer identifying as a follower of it, strips humans of their worth. We are tested to earn god's good graces, but why? We never asked to be created to have to endure life, but he created us anyway and then on top of that places upon us profound expectations that none of us can reach. We are tested constantly but for what, so that we can ascend to divinity only to spend eternity worshiping this god. It's entirely unfair. Why do Angels (who are apparently our celestial brothers and sisters) get to live in heaven without earning it and why do we have to go through trials of fire to only maybe get through the pearly gates? Why as a creator create things that possess every flaw you condemn. The passage packs a punch because it voices for every complaint that I simply do not have the eloquence to say or write. I could never have put it so perfectly. It truly is absurd and unfair, and in a cruel way.

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