Dystheism has two basic beliefs: (A) Yahweh, aka the God of Abraham, exists and affects events in this world. At the extreme, Dystheism holds that Yahweh created the universe and everything in it, and is the continuing underlying cause of all that happens, everywhen and everywhere. In either case, (B) Yahweh is evil. “Evil” here does not necessarily imply intentionality. It could be that Yahweh views His work, according to His own values, as neutral or supremely good. But the nature of God and the nature of man are very different, and our values are very different from His, primarily because we are mortal but for many other reasons as well. If a man suddenly became all-powerful and did many of the works that God is credited with, both in the New and Old Testaments, we would consider him the most evil, most sociopathic person ever to have lived. In the early parts of the Old Testament God is more feared than loved, and for good reason.
Yahweh is the divine farmer. He grows people (and other species, perhaps) as a farm crop. At death he harvests our souls. He moves people to have many children, so He can have more souls to raise to Heaven, i.e., to devour, making us (it is said) “eternally happy”.
Beliefs in the soulful meal are apparently of long standing. For example,
“Whatever men want, ghosts want. … Often the notion is that the gods eat the souls.” (Sumner)
We raise chickens and care for them. We feed them and harvest them and eat them. They become part of our selves, part of whatever bodily glory we have. Are they eternally happy to be so honored? That’s not quite the question. The real question is, is the universe arranged to accommodate the purposes of chickens, or people — or God? The latter, apparently; and that is what is evil to Man.
Notes:
.. Dystheism is also known as ‘Maltheism’.
.. William Graham Sumner, Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manner, Customs, Mores, and Morals (1907), p. 336.
.. See the Baltimore Catechism [of the Roman Catholic Church], edition of 1885:
“LESSON FIRST[:] ON THE END OF MAN
“6. Q. Why did God make you?
“A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”
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