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This-essay is a7807202.htm which is available at the web-site www.essayz.com. See more notes at the bottom. Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay By-Months By-Years By-Words Webs of Like-&-Un-Like ESSAYS <==> Like-&-UN-Like This-One ========================================================== %PATERNALISTIC GOD 780720 Our image of God depends greatly upon our childhood family life. If we had paternalistic parents---we are likely to live under a paternalistic God. If we had legalistic parents---we are likely to tend towards having a legalistic God. If our family life was loving and affectionate---our image of God is likely to be something else again. The roots of our religious outlook may be traced in large part to our family life. There are other considerations, yet the tendency is no doubt there. The myth that God made man in His own image is the mirror image or the fact that men are likely to image God in terms of their own experiences of early superior beings---their parents of the childhood years. Our conceptions of superior beings are bound to be colored by our childhood memories of our own experiences with superior beings. Those memories may guide our intellectual constructions without our knowledge of what process is taking place. Thus we need to examine the "wisdom" of our religious myths to see if they are misleading us. What role do we cast God in? Is it the kind of role which our parents played when we were infants and young children? Do we expect God to get us out of trouble when we act foolishly? Do we ask God to give us those things which we cannot get for ourselves? Do we run to God when we are afraid? Do we seek comfort from God when we are hurt? Are we afraid of God when we disobey what we think are His commandments? Do we attribute to God the pain due to the consequences of our actions---our punishment? Do we regard God as being so far away that we cannot affectively communicate with Him? Do we regard God as male because our father was the dominant figure in our family? Do we expect God to behave in keeping with the cultural standards of our parents? How should we to transcend the limitations of our family, in-group, culture, profession, religious sect, etc? Clearly we must take care that we do not project our biases into the infinite---and see there an image so wondrously large that we take it to be God confirming our biases. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================
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This-essay is a7807202.htm which is available at the web-site www.essayz.com. These 5 lines echo top lines. Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay By-Months By-Years By-Words Webs of Like-&-Un-Like ESSAYS <==> Like-&-UN-Like This-One