Do you find this funny?

[Deborah]

To think that a perfect being can get mad just doesn't ring true to me.

Then think of it as righteous anger. Righteous anger serves a purpose and carries out justice. The problem is in thinking that emotions, no matter what they are can't be controlled. A perfect being will have emotions in control and use them for righteous purposes.

Everyone talks about the God of love. But if a God is capable of love then he has by definition emotions. If he didn't have emotions then he wouldn't be able to love. He would be the robot that exacts judgment but has no mercy.

[Calm]

A perfect being will have emotions in control and use them for righteous purposes.

And would have the perfectly appropriate emotion perfectly expressed for each and every occasion.

Psychologically speaking, emotion is what gives value to the world and anything in it. If God did not have emotion, he would have no motivation to create.

[tana]

Then think of it as righteous anger. Righteous anger serves a purpose and carries out justice. The problem is in thinking that emotions, no matter what they are can't be controlled. A perfect being will have emotions in control and use them for righteous purposes.

Everyone talks about the God of love. But if a God is capable of love then he has by definition emotions. If he didn't have emotions then he wouldn't be able to love. He would be the robot that exacts judgment but has no mercy.

But what exactly is "rightous anger"? Isn't it; I choose to be mad, because I'm in the right, and I've been wronged....Poor me, I think I'll be mad for a while....that'll show em.

If it's not that, then maybe the term is meant as simply a form of disipline, which has nothing to do with anger....or shouldn't anyway.

Doesn't it seem tho that once one controls an emotion....it dissapears? "I'm upset", but I'm going to control this emotion and choose to be not upset.

[Nathair/|\]

But what exactly is "rightous anger"? Isn't it; I choose to be mad, because I'm in the right, and I've been wronged....Poor me, I think I'll be mad for a while....that'll show em.

If it's not that, then maybe the term is meant as simply a form of disipline, which has nothing to do with anger....or shouldn't anyway.

Doesn't it seem tho that once one controls an emotion....it dissapears? "I'm upset", but I'm going to control this emotion and choose to be not upset.

Righteous anger is when it motivates you to change an unacceptable situation, such as when William Wallace stood up to Edward Longshanks or when Moroni and Teancum wiped the ground with Amalickiah.

Righteous Indignation, on the other hand, is jealousy with a halo.

Yours under the liberating oaks,

Nathair /|\

[tana]

Righteous anger is when it motivates you to change an unacceptable situation, such as when William Wallace stood up to Edward Longshanks or when Moroni and Teancum wiped the ground with Amalickiah.

Righteous Indignation, on the other hand, is jealousy with a halo.

Yours under the liberating oaks,

Nathair /|\

Rightous anger then is a bit of a misnomer, as it really doesn't have to do with anger, but with a reasonable, justified, necessary action.

By the way, My family name is a "sept" of Clan Fraser.

[ELF1024]

I'm not sure God is so much funny most of the time... maybe occasionally... but maybe not. I think that he is serious and yet kind all of the time, that I think, that I do. =)

I think God has a wonderful sense of humor... I have two examples of God's sense of humor:

1) My life

2) The Platypus

[Deborah]

I think God has a wonderful sense of humor... I have two examples of God's sense of humor:

1) My life

2) The Platypus

I couldn't agree more, speaking of my life!

[TAO]

I think God has a wonderful sense of humor... I have two examples of God's sense of humor:

1) My life

2) The Platypus

Lol, I suppose this is true... although maybe the platy feels differently... or maybe he doesn't . We'll never know....

[Calm]

2) The Platypus

Agent P!

[mercyngrace]

Agent P!

He's a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action...

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

[krose]

I doubt that an omniscient god would have anything like a human sense of what is funny.

What makes something funny to us? Usually it's a comment or action that's unexpected, outrageous, out of place, or surprising. Or it might be pointing out eccentricities in ourselves and others.

An omniscient being is likely to be immune to all the circumstances that make something funny for us limited humans.

[mercyngrace]

I doubt that an omniscient god would have anything like a human sense of what is funny.

What makes something funny to us? Usually it's a comment or action that's unexpected, outrageous, out of place, or surprising. Or it might be pointing out eccentricities in ourselves and others.

An omniscient being is likely to be immune to all the circumstances that make something funny for us limited humans.

Krose,

Are you a parent? If so, have you had the experience of seeing your child absolutely tickled over the mundane? Things that don't ordinarily seem funny become new when viewed through the eyes of someone who is discovering them for the first time.

My husband and I love taking the kids to a movie we've already seen just to watch the kids react. We'll miss the entire movie but have a more enjoyable time seeing the kids get excited, frightened, or amused.

I think God can relate to our humor, not only because He once experienced the same things we do, but because it's just plain fun to vicariously experience the novelty you referred to in your comment.

Just speaking as a mom,

MnG

[krose]

Krose,

Are you a parent? If so, have you had the experience of seeing your child absolutely tickled over the mundane? Things that don't ordinarily seem funny become new when viewed through the eyes of someone who is discovering them for the first time.

My husband and I love taking the kids to a movie we've already seen just to watch the kids react. We'll miss the entire movie but have a more enjoyable time seeing the kids get excited, frightened, or amused.

I think God can relate to our humor, not only because He once experienced the same things we do, but because it's just plain fun to vicariously experience the novelty you referred to in your comment.

Just speaking as a mom,

MnG

I understand where you are coming from; of course I have similar experiences. I would call what you are describing joy, which is quite different from the side-splitting experience of a night at a comedy club.

I have no doubt that the father-figure god of the LDS tradition would have the capacity to experience joy while watching his children learning and doing.

Of course, we have to temper the thought of his joy by remembering that he would be simultaneously watching large numbers of his children go through excruciatingly painful experiences, and watching still others commit egregious acts of cruelty. Just speaking for myself, I doubt I would find much joy in watching one child chase a butterfly if I were also watching her brother die of cancer on the grass next to her.

[mercyngrace]

I understand where you are coming from; of course I have similar experiences. I would call what you are describing joy, which is quite different from the side-splitting experience of a night at a comedy club.

I have no doubt that the father-figure god of the LDS tradition would have the capacity to experience joy while watching his children learning and doing.

Of course, we have to temper the thought of his joy by remembering that he would be simultaneously watching large numbers of his children go through excruciatingly painful experiences, and watching still others commit egregious acts of cruelty. Just speaking for myself, I doubt I would find much joy in watching one child chase a butterfly if I were also watching her brother die of cancer on the grass next to her.

Thanks for distinguishing between joy and a sense of humor. Having watched my own children go through some extremely difficult times, I have come to appreciate the moments of both humor and joy. Something we can't fully appreciate is the temporary nature of our suffering and that lack of perspective inhibits us from enjoying peace and joy that we otherwise could.

I'll give one example from my own life as illustration. One mornng my husband went to work and didn't come home. We got a phone call announcing that he'd been called away and that we didn't know where he'd be or for how long he'd be gone. All we knew was that he was going someplace dangerous. This wasn't the first such phone call I'd gotten but it was a first since we'd had children. When the reality set in, my oldest son climbed into my lap and sobbed like a baby. My second child sat at my feet and cried. Then I heard this inhuman sound coming from upstairs. My third child was wrapped tightly in a blanket on the floor upstairs and the gutwrenching sounds of pain - the likes of which I haven't heard before or since - were coming from him. If a broken heart could have killed him, it would have done so that day.

What the kids didn't understand was how fleeting that pain was going to be. In those moments and even for days and weeks afterward, they couldn't imagine laughing again. Our lives revolved around phone calls interrupted by mortar shells and letters that were too infrequent. They had no idea of the sweet reunion that lay ahead. But I knew. And I was able to help them see "butterflies" and learn to chase them in spite of the uncertainty.

I imagine that God sees our suffering with such perspective that He can still find joy and help us find it even when we are convinced that all is lost.