God loves you. So what?

I mentioned in another thread I found the phrase "God loves you" somewhat equivalent to random words strung together. I realized alter this is not accurate, because I do understand the literal meaning of the phrase.

What I find meaningless is the sentiment or the idea expressed. I'm not concerned at al whether or not God loves me. I suppose this is because there is no such person or entity as "God." If you told me Athena loves me, or Jupiter does, or the Great Maker does, it would mean the same.

Imagining some kind of "God" exists is not as hard as it sounds. In fact I've been working the idea in for a story. I think I've even come up with a highly emotional, moving scene. To set up, there is a police detective, Alyssa, who's solved a serial murder case with some horrific undertones. She feels burned out, and wonders whether her work makes any difference at all. Why? Because there are all these murder victims she gets to meet only after they've been killed. She feels like she's "scraping up remains off the sidewalk."

She then dreams this: She sees a young, brunette girl at the mall shopping with some girlfriends. This girls stands out to the detective. Then suddenly Alyssa knows, without knowing how she knows, that this girl would have been murdered by the serial killer had Alyssa not caught him. She sees other results of her work (I'm being informative here, not going for a moving reaction). And then she begins to see a light off in the distance coalescing in the shape of a woman who calls her name.

As Alyssa approaches the woman, she feels an emotional warmth touching her, making her feel a kind of serenity she's never known. Then the woman tells her "You've done much good. What good have you done for yourself?"

The next day Alyssa feel at peace and has much to think about. She vaguely remembers some dream, but has no clear recollection of it. Yet the effects of the dream remain.

Notice no one ever tells Alyssa she is loved.

Instead the woman in her dream shows her the results of her work, the people she's unknowingly saved, and gives her the question she should be asking herself.

This I understand.

Later in the story a transgender woman, Michelle, is on trial for manslaughter. Her lawyer claims self-defense (which is true), but this means Michelle has to testify. She has a dream like Alyssa's, but sees something different and has a longer interaction with the woman in the dream. I just don't want to spoil it by saying what that dream is like.

BTW, as you can see there is no way an atheist can be spiritual in any way :P

Quote: Nareed

I mentioned in another thread I found the phrase "God loves you" somewhat equivalent to random words strung together..
What I find meaningless is the sentiment or the idea expressed.

It's a meaningless pleasant homily, like
'have a nice day'. If you ask someone
what they mean, they have only a vague
idea. It sounds nice, it sounds like they
care. I still can't figure out what a loving
god might be all about. We only love
people that are lovable. Grandma, little
kids, a caring friend. What is lovable about
god? If anything he is extremely unlovable.
He's not warm and cuddly, not funny, not
friendly. What's to love.

Quote: Evenbob

It's a meaningless pleasant homily, like
'have a nice day'. If you ask someone
what they mean, they have only a vague
idea. It sounds nice, it sounds like they
care. I still can't figure out what a loving
god might be all about. We only love
people that are lovable. Grandma, little
kids, a caring friend. What is lovable about
god? If anything he is extremely unlovable.
He's not warm and cuddly, not funny, not
friendly. What's to love.

Nareed, that sounds like a wonderful story thanks for sharing it. Please let us know when it is finished I'd like to read it. For many people these type of encounters read as non-fiction.

Quote: FrGamble

Nareed, that sounds like a wonderful story thanks for sharing it. Please let us know when it is finished I'd like to read it.

Thank you. And be very patient.

Quote:

For many people these type of encounters read as non-fiction.

It's not just fiction: it's fantasy. Something that could never possibly happen in real life.

Blame it on my interest in dreams and in having had odd but interesting dreams now and then.

I think I went on the wrong track with the example given.

There was a suicide of a transgender teen late in December. She left a suicide note. It hit me hard, because there was not one word in her note I did not recognize, nor one aspect of her despair I haven't felt myself (though not to the same degree). Change the circumstances a bit, and that could easily have been me, or any number of other transgender people.

There has been a sizable reaction, relatively speaking. Some editorial comments from Christian sites managed to push my buttons quite effectively. Most, as you'd expect, oppose the whole notion of gender identity and some are quite hostile about it. But it's those who oppose the ide of gender identity in a "loving," "caring" way which are the worst.

I don't want to get into an argument about gender identity. But I need to express how important transition can be. Not every transgender individual will transition, in part because not everyone needs to. Sometimes, for some people, there is a need to explore transition to see whether that's needed, appropriate or even desirable. Repressing someone's transition or even the exploring of it, is the emotional equivalent of denying insulin to a diabetic. You may not die of it, but you will suffer a great deal.

So these "kind," loving" and "caring" Christians oppose transition, naturally, but say that it's very important to tell the transgender person afflicted that "God loves you," or maybe "Jesus loves you," though you're flawed, broken, guilty, or whatever. We are all broken, flawed, sinners, and god loves you.

So what?

What these people advocate is to emotionally torture someone, in the name of a "loving" god. And that's not all that I see wrong with it, I just can't understand why it matters one way or another what God thinks or how he feels. How does that help anything?

The first time I ever saw Christianity mocked was
in the movie MASH. Robert Duvall played the
orig Frank Burns character and he was a devout
Bible thumper. To the point that he wanted his
strict moral code to be forced on those around
him.

The doctors in his tent were atheists and they
made fun of him relentlessly. They even mocked
the company chaplain, who they called 'father'
and 'padre', even though he wasn't a Catholic
priest. It came to the point where they finally
drove Frank to a mental breakdown and they
had to haul him away in a straight jacket.

This was 1970 and I was 21. This was all a revelation
for me, this just wasn't done on TV or in movies,
you didn't mock religion. It's when I started
wondering about religion and seriously looking
into it. It's what led me to realize I was an atheist.

I think the code governing what you could say and do in movies was loosened around 1966-1968, so yes, it wasn't done in tv and movies.

Quote: Dalex64

I think the code governing what you could say and do in movies was loosened around 1966-1968, so yes, it wasn't done in tv and movies.

The Hays Code was repealed in 1968. The
Catholic Church, being the self appointed
self righteous know it all about everything,
still bans it's members from seeing certain
movies. This is the top 10:

Scarface
Angels in America
Requiem for a Dream
Fight Club (really? Fight Club?)
Clockwork Orange
Good Bad and the Ugly (seriously?)
Blow-Up
From Russia with Love (Bond is too promiscuous)
Last Tango in Paris
Taxi Driver

There is no banned movie list, that is a pure fabrication. I like lots of the movies on that list.