Maltheism

Maltheism

Maltheism is the belief that God exists as a cruel, arrogant, abusive, and untruthful being who is either not worthy of worship or worthy of worshipping only from mere fear and intimidation. The problem of evil does not prove to a maltheist that God does not exist, but rather proves that God is a liar.[1]

Maltheists[who?] describe the opposite point of view as theophilia (love of God), a term which refers to all those belief systems claiming that God is good. The term makes a distinction between "theists" and "theophiles", to distance maltheists from the presumptive conclusion that anyone who believes in God must believe that he is good and worthy of human devotion. Theists believe that God created the world, and maltheists qualify by this definition as theists. Theophiles are theists who believe that God is good, who (to take the term literally) love God. (Strictly speaking, those who agree with maltheists that God is not good—or who do not care whether or not God's actions qualify as good—but choose to love it anyway, perhaps out of misplaced devotion, or out of fear, or to curry favor, also qualify as theophiles.[citation needed]) The point is that not all "theists" love God, and the term "theophile" explicitly distinguishes those who love God from those who do not.[2]

Many maltheists[who?] believe that God is dependent on the worship and adoration of human beings for its existence, and hope that if it is deprived of humanity's worship, it will wither up and die, leaving humanity better off.[citation needed] Maltheism seeks to encourage people of all theophilic religions to see God as it truly is, to stop worshipping it in any form, in order to achieve true human freedom.[citation needed] If God is indeed evil, as the maltheists say, and if its goal is not the benefit of mankind but rather its own glory (something theophiles[who?] typically agree with), worshipping an evil God is a treasonous act against the human race, since it feeds the force that enslaves people in general, even if it might cause the worshippers to gain some short-term benefit for themselves. Note, however, that some maltheists do not advocate forcing theophiles to give up their beliefs; they only wish for theophiles to cease their efforts to force others to believe as they do.[3]

Maltheism can be compared with Satanism because it advocates rebellion against God, and with some forms of Gnosticism, which hold that the Demiurge we perceive as the God of the old testament is evil while Christ is an aspect of the real God.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Introduction to Maltheism on belief.net: http://belief.net/boards/message_list.asp?boardID=42416&discussionID=164781
  2. ^ Maltheism Blog: http://maltheism.blogspot.com/
  3. ^ Is God A Criminal? - God on Trial: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/bill_schultz/criminal-god.html

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