There are a number of references in the Old Testament of man (Forgive the sexist word but we are talking Bible here) being made in the image of Yahweh, but let us preview just one of them, it being part of Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
My remark about sexism in the Bibles is justified by a New Testament declaration on the same subject: 1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
As no further explanation is needed, shall we continue?
The only actual characteristics that can be attributed to the Christian god Yahweh are to be found in the Old and New Testament Bibles. Mainstream Christianity has ‘invented’ a few more using a wrong-premised quasi-intellectual assessment of what a god should be like.
An examination of vital common traits of humanity finds they are either missing or in direct conflict with those of the Biblical god and the imaginations of its dutiful adherents.
Of all the traits of this alleged god and the godly proclamations of its followers, the most important one is completely missing. I refer to humour. Without humour, people would exist in a conscious state of total despair. Humour is the safety valve allowing both recognition of the pain, suffering and ridiculous components of life and a method of being able to deal effectively with them.
All societies possess a ‘funny-bone’, although they can be markedly different from each other. As an example, a film considered hilarious from an Australian perspective may not even raise a chuckle in the USA. Humour, as with religion, evolves over time depending on the psychological needs of any given culture. Still, it is undeniable that without the release of laughter, pent up emotions would render full human interaction impossible, with an ensuing total breakdown of decent social order. This is recognisable in societies where religion and state, as one, control depressed and suppressed (Mainly women) populations. Violence and community stagnation are the outcomes. Examples abound.
The Bibles and its theologians give scant regard to the importance of humour as a necessity for our survival in this life. Not only that, but rules, mores and laws have been instituted to prevent religious jocularity. They come under the heading of blasphemy.
Religions are oh such serious affairs, so much so, that the ‘faithful’ find it extremely difficult to even laugh at themselves. Of course, to do so, would expose the irrationality of their ‘beliefs’ to an intellectually unacceptable level, a threat, if you like, to ones own mental integrity.
Surely a comical Yahweh could have raised a wry smile in the telling of the fable of creation in six days. If Yahweh had done so and mentioned it, a hell of a lot of future trouble with evolution-deniers could have been averted. A god with a touch of hilarity may have threatened Eve and Adam with suffering and death if they ate of the tree of knowledge but would have responded with “Only joking” when they did. A funny god would not drown every living creature, apart from some few sad examples of humanity, but rather, It would fall off Its cloud in fits of hysteria when the waters were not sent to the surprise of a frightened-witless human race. It is to be sure that Abraham would have seen the funny side, as well as feeling like a fool in even contemplating the murder of his son Isaac, when Yahweh reneged on Its lethal request.
And so it could be said of the rest of the brutal, vindictive, revengeful, un-ethical and murderous Old Testament writings, that a god with humour was no where to be found.
As for the ‘story’ of Yahweh disguised as Jesus, well, it’s humourless, morbid and self-loathing content is the antithesis of all that funniness demands. Yahweh/Jesus, miraculously jumping off the cross with tears of laughter streaming down His face, in front of a stunned and jaw-dropped audience, would have had far more effect in converting the unbeliever than allegedly only doing magic tricks in the secret darkness of a sealed tomb.
The omitted hilarity in religion is a most serious oversight of the writers, so much so that to suggest that humans are made in the image of such a sombre god is plainly untrue.
I leave it to the reader to work out the multitude of other personality traits that people possess and find attractive but their god does not mention or even rails against quite irrationally.
Quotes on humour:
“I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me to be the most civilised music in the world.” – Peter Ustinov
“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” – Mark Twain
“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” – Woody Allen
“It is important that man dreams, but it is perhaps equally important that he can laugh at his own dreams.” – Lin Yutang
“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” – Victor Hugo
“So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter.” – Gordon W. Allport
“Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.” – Henri Bergson
“With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Seven days without laughter makes one weak.” – Mort Walker
“Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense.” – Author Unknown
By David Nicholls