God Is Evil: Difference between revisions

* Several theological and philosophical concepts involve a belief in an evil, incompetent or indifferent God:

** ''Maltheism'' (from ''mal'', meaning bad/sickness and ''theism'' [[Captain Obvious|meaning theism]]) is the belief that a God or Gods exist, but they are malevolent or incompetent. Few religions have a wholly maltheistic view of the world, though several include maltheistic strands - for example, gods of evil, such as Ate (the Goddess of Evil, Folly, and Destruction) in Hellenistic mythology. Abrahamic belief in the Devil can be seen as a variant - although the exact nature (or even his existence) of the devil is not universally agreed on in Abrahamic theology, he is often construed as a supernatural agency with malicious intentions for humans. A related concept is ''Hypothetical Maltheism'', used as a criticism of religion by agnostics and atheists (see Richard Dawkins quotation below), which holds that, if God exists, he would be unworthy of worship due to the ''[[wikipedia:Problem of evil|Problem of Evil]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Problem of hell|Problem of Hell]]''. [[Captain Obvious|Unsurprisingly]], [[wikipedia:Problem of hell#Annihilationism|several]] [[wikipedia:Problem of hell#Free will|religious]] [[wikipedia:Problem of hell#Universal reconciliation|responses]] exist to such a line of thought.

** ''Misotheism'' ("hatred of Gods") is a related concept to ''Maltheism'', but is more active in its meaning - rather than mere belief in a malevolent God, misotheism is an outright hatred of said God. [[Older Than Feudalism]], maltheistic positions and characters appear in Icelandic sagas and in some Hellenistic sagas. It is distinct from Maltheism in the sense that, whilst Maltheism is the position that God is unworthy of worship, Misotheism is ''active hatred'' for God. Frequently leads to [[Hollywood Atheist|Hollywood atheism]].

** ''Dystheism'' ("ungodly") is the belief that God is not wholly good, and possibly (though not necessarily) evil. It differs from maltheism in that it draws no conclusions about whether said God is worthy of worship - a maltheist is always a dystheist but a dystheist is not always a maltheist. Many ancient religions were dystheistic in nature - Hellenistic and Norse mythology, with jealous Gods who interfere in mortal affairs (and mortal women) but who still demanded respect and sacrifice being the best-known examples. Since [[World War Two]], more specifically the Holocaust, [[wikipedia:Holocaust theology|some Jewish theologians]] have proposed a dystheistic approach to God.

* [[Gnosticism]] holds that the God of the material universe is a petty, [[It's All About Me|self-centered]] tyrant who believes himself to be the absolute God, when he's in fact the creation of a greater (and more benevolent) being known as Sophia, who is herself a wayward angelic servant of the true God of the spiritual universe.

* There is a particular branch of Satanism (which in most variants has little to nothing to do with [[The Bible|THAT]] Satan despite stereotypes) known as Luciferianism which takes this view in regard to the Adam & Eve story. The interpretation here is that [[God Is Evil|God deliberately forbade eating from the Tree of Knowledge to keep humanity blinded, ignorant, and subservient]] [[Alternative Character Interpretation|while the serpent freed them from this and thus gave humans the capacity for higher thought and true sentience.]] Of course, the cost of humanity's higher knowledge (and morality, sentience, deeper consciousness, complex thought processes, and all the other baggage that comes with it) may or may not have been worth it.

* [[Richard Dawkins]] described the Abrahamic God in no uncertain terms:

* Some modern Jews believe that God is, while not evil per se, at least not wholly good, with the reasoning that a benevolent God would never have allowed [[World War 2|the holocaust]] to happen.

** The film [[God On Trial]] portrays a group of Jews at Auschwitz debating this very subject. The trial is not about whether or not God is evil, but whether he is guilty of a breach of contract with regards to his covenant with the Jewish people.

== Comedy ==

* [[Patton Oswalt]] talks about an Evil God in his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq10bz3PxyY Christmas Shoes] routine. Also one with the [[Jesus Was Way Cool|Jesus isn't evil]] variety.

'''Jesus:''' I don't think we need to give the mother cancer...<br />

'''God:''' You shut the fuck up! This is gonna be the best birthday you ever had! }}

* The late, great [[George Carlin]] also had some choice words concerning the Big Guy Upstairs.

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Darkseid]] of the [[New Gods]] is the "god of evil" and revels in it. He runs a hellish planet dedicated to this with all his lieutenants being other evil gods.

* And by [[Final Crisis]], when he's the only New God left, he gives us this little gem (as well as ample proof of statement):

* Loki of ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'' is often called and self-titled the "god of evil." Other gods or godlike beings from the [[Marvel Universe]] are very much about evil including the [[Omnicidal Maniac|Seth]] and the elder god Chthon.

* In ''[[Spawn]]'', God [[God and Satan Are Both Jerks|and Satan]] are portrayed as, though not exactly "evil," essentially the cosmic equivalent of spoiled teenagers who enjoy breaking each other's stuff. It's the fact that this includes ''us'' that causes this to become a problem. {{spoiler|Oh, and He's not actually the Creator}}.

== Film ==

* ''[[The Devil's Advocate]]'' (though, [[Unreliable Narrator|as given by]] [[Satan]]):

* Quoted from Riddick in ''[[Pitch Black]]'' when questioned about his belief in God;

* In the 2010 film, ''[[Legion]]'', God comes to the conclusion that the human race is no longer worthy of Him, and decides to end their existence. Archangel Michael fights the angelic army, and tells Gabriel that he (Michael) did what God needed, not what God wanted, thus giving humanity another chance. The weird thing about that is that the baby the pregnant woman is carrying is implied (if not outright stated) to be the second coming of Christ. Who is God. Who is trying to end the world. By stopping himself from being born and saving the world...

* The [[Black Comedy]] ''[[A Serious Man]]'' implies that God may be malicious and/or utterly incomprehensible.

* In ''[[Fight Club]]'' the narrator and Tyler Durden discuss this when Tyler tries to 'enlighten' the narrator by means of {{spoiler|burning his hand with lye}}.

'''Tyler Durden:''' We don't need Him! }}

* [[God On Trial]] features a group of prisoners at Auschwitz putting God on trial for a breach of covenant. While several of the Jews defend God until literally their end, at least some of the prisoners come to the conclusion that God is evil. The final monologue features one prisoner listing out the crimes God has committed, and forcing the Jews to think of the victims of Gods wrath as people rather than just characters in a story, by comparing their slaughter to what is happening to them. Surprisingly the movie was written by a Catholic, in a very impressive case of Devils Advocate.

* [[Stephen King]]'s:

** ''[[Desperation]]'', God is not exactly evil, but very cruel. {{spoiler|He sends David Carver, an eleven-year-old boy against the [[Big Bad]]; his family is killed one by one; when he wishes to die, and the [[Big Bad]] needs to be defeated with a suicidal mission, God sends somebody else, who says to David:}}

** ''[[The Stand]]'' also has some elements of this near the end, {{spoiler|with many protagonists' deaths being likened to sacrifices to God [[Deus Ex Machina|so He'll personally interfere]] with [[Big Bad|Randall Flagg]]'s plans (in a way that kills virtually all his "followers", including children whose only fault was being with adults who went to Flagg's side).}}

* God himself doesn't put in an appearance in the [[Neil Gaiman]]/[[Terry Pratchett]] collaboration ''[[Good Omens]]'', but the forces of heaven do. They aren't evil, precisely, but rather indifferent to human suffering in the face of carrying out the Divine Plan. One of the cases where [[God Is Evil]] does not necessitate [[Satan Is Good]]; the demons mostly aren't terribly sympathetic either.

* God in [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Memnoch The Devil]]''. Maybe. We only have what Memnoch showed Lestat to go on.

* In ''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'', Lord Vetinari subscribes to this school of thought.

* K.J Parker:

** ''[[The Scavenger Trilogy|Scavenger Trilogy]]'' If you have to pray, pray the god Poldarn isn't real. You don't want his special salvation.

** "The Sect of the Idiot" actually opens with a quote regarding Azathoth (see above).<ref>From the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Necronomicon]], no less!</ref>

* In ''[[Catch-22]]'', Yossarian's rant against God starts out as [[God Is Inept]] and goes to [[God Is Evil]]:

* [[Mark Twain]]:

** ''The Mysterious Stranger'' features Satan, the sinless nephew of ''that'' [[Satan]], delivering a speech stating that reality is a dream, because a world where God does such evil things and is still worshiped as good is clearly the nonsensical creation of an unconscious mind. Part of this speech can be found in the Quotes section of this very page.

* The song "Father, You're Not a Father" by the [[Death Metal]] band Immolation, is about God being a rapist and a betrayer of men.

* God in Fireaxe's four hour epic "[[Food for the Gods]]" depicts how his influence on the world creates numerous wars and atrocities which culminates with Satan leading the demons of hell (and humans who were condemned there) to storming and destroying heaven. There Satan puts it best when Jesus proclaims how he suffered for Humanity's sins.

* [[Captain Obvious|As might be surmised from the name]], every other song by [[Death Metal]] band [[Deicide]] deals with how much they hate God. It is somewhat unclear whether they believe God exists or not.

* [[Alice in Chains]] was responsible for the song "God Am," in which lead singer Layne Staley vents about how much God has abandoned him. Staley was once reported to have said of God, "I didn't make me. I would've done a better job." There's also a line in the [[Alice in Chains]] song "Man In The Box" that says, "Jesus Christ (Deny Your Maker)." The first couple lines being "I'm the man in the box, buried in my shit, won't you come and save me". Apparently someone crying out to God and their cries are met with silence?

* "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" by [[Randy Newman]] has several verses sung from God's perspective which show him to be quite a bit of a [[Jerkass]]. As is typical with Newman songs though, it's not entirely clear how serious he's being. It's also worth pointing out that the God in the song criticises humanity pretty severely ("I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee/From the squalor and the filth and the misery"), but his not intervening to prevent these things could still be regarded as [[Jerkass]] behaviour.

 

That's why I love mankind }}

* Extremely common in [[Black Metal]] songs. Deathspell Omega in particular has basically made a career of this.

** Remember that in ''[[South Park]]'', Hell is a pretty decent place for most people (only serious evildoers get actually tortured), while Heaven is so dull that only the Mormons can enjoy it.

** Though there was the episode where Stan asked Chef about God (because Kenny was dying... again) and their conversation went like this:

'''Stan''': I think I understand. }}

** In another episode, the local priest, during a eulogy for yet another person killed by geriatric drivers, takes the view that God just finds it funny, and leads the group in praying that God's had enough of a laugh and will stop killing people already.