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In This Article:
- The hidden implications of referring to the "Good God”
- Exploring the dual nature of God through ancient texts and psychology
- How fear-based religion may be projecting a vengeful deity
- Why choosing love over fear is a conscious spiritual act
- How our beliefs feed either healing or destruction in the world
Is God Bipolar? A Loving God AND a Vengeful God?
by Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
As a young child, growing up in a French-Canadian home, I always heard of God being referred to as "Le Bon Dieu" which translates to "The Good God". Not until many years later, as an adult, did I wonder if this implied that there was a "Bad God". After all if there is just one God, why specify "good" God. It's like when there's a senior and a junior in a family, they will be identified as Jr and Sr, or father and son, or the elder and the younger, etc. If there is a need to specify which one we are referring to, that implies there is an alternate.
And now I realize that, yes, there are two very different personas to the "being" or energy that is being called God. And I do realize that a few centuries ago I would be burned at the stake for even daring to make such a statement.
A Good God and a Bad God?
So how are there two Gods? There is of course everyone's favorite (though perhaps not completely believed in) which is the Loving God... the One who loves us unconditionally and is not a god of anger and damnation. Yet is that the God that most of us believe in? Or is it rather the more popular (or so it seems) God who smites and destroys people in anger, who punishes, who turns whole cities into salt, who killed all of the firstborn of Egyptians, who willfully sends plagues and hordes of locusts, etc. etc.
How can an all-loving God also be vengeful, sending people to eternal damnation, etc., unless he is bipolar? Sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde concept. In one form, God is unconditionally loving, forgiving, accepting, etc. and in the other form, watch out because you will burn in hell for errors you have made in this lifetime. Sounds a bit like a projected image of a God by a bipolar human.
Not only that, but in that angry God version, you are born, not a child of Light and Love, but a sinner. Wow! What a nice dad! (Not!) This is definitely the one that would be called the Bad God.
The Universe or God?
I don't like using the term God for the Creator or Source of Life. For me (and many others I daresay) the name or image of God is tainted with anger, blood, revenge, punishment, damnation, etc. Definitely not the characteristics of a Loving God. So this is why I usually refer to Source or the Universe rather than using the term God. Somehow the term God sometimes leaves a bad taste in my mouth (or my mind) because of all the negative attributes that have been attached to "God". And it also brings up an image of an old white dude, with a long beard and harsh eyes, sitting on a throne.
So unless one can differentiate between the Good God and the Bad God (or Vengeful God) then which one are we referring to when we say God or when we pray to God or when we thank God? And if God is bipolar then do we ever know which one we are addressing?
There is a wonderful section in Cate Montana's book "Apollo and Me" that addresses this very issue. In the novel, Cate (as the character Ekateríni) is in conversation with Apollo -- the original Greek God of Wisdom and Truth (among many things). And they are discussing God...
Apollo moved around in his seat to face me. “You have noticed how the god of the Bible is . . . what is the psychological word you are so fond of using to describe him?”
“Schizophrenic?”
“Yes. Exactly. One minute you have God saying Thou shalt not kill and twelve verses later in Exodus he says, Put every man his sword by his side ... and slay every man his brother. Have you ever wondered about this?”
“Sure. I read somewhere that the number of killings God either does himself or orders done in the Bible is upwards to 25 million people. That’s a lot of blood on the hands of a god of love.” I shook my head. “Never mind the uncounted zillions of people condemned to burn in hell for eternity for not believing in him. If you have an answer, I’d sure like to hear it.”
“Then hear this... Duality and opposition rule the physical kingdom. And when people imagined and worshiped the One God they ended up projecting him in two very different lights.” He paused. “Depending on their mindset, some saw the One God as the god of mercy and love. Others saw him as terrible, fearful, and vengeful. The tulpa* that resulted contains both sets of qualities. It is a terribly confused, bipolar creation. And its acts and deeds reflect this dichotomy.”
* In Tibetan Buddhism and later traditions of mysticism and the paranormal, a tulpa is a materialized being or thought-form, typically in human form, that is created through spiritual practice and intense concentration. -- Wikipedia]
My jaw dropped. It was such a neat explanation I wondered that no one had ever seen it before.
“Unfortunately, it is much easier to inspire fear and dread in humans than it is love.” Apollo shook his head. “It didn’t take this tulpa long to learn that lesson. Thus, its main focus is always to inspire fear.”
“When the emotional power source looks like it may be running out of steam, the tulpa simply creates more factions, more conflict, more confusion, more argument, more names, more controversy, and thus more bloodshed and more pain and suffering to feed on. The name the tulpa goes by does not matter. All the fear, love and worship go to the same source.” He looked at me. “Get it?”
I nodded.
(The above section in italics is excerpted with permission from Apollo and Me by Cate Montana).
Which God Are We Feeding?
Rereading that section of Apollo and Me shed new light on the "God situation". As we all know, in life there are polarities... night and day, joy and grief, love and hate/fear... And in Biblical stories we are taught the dichotomies of good and evil... We are told it all started with Eve choosing the apple, or the knowledge of good and evil. And from that day onward, we were cast out of heaven and all humans to be born as sinners. From light to dark, from love to despair...
So again, I ask myself, why would a loving God cast his children and all their descendants to start off their life with a belief that they are "bad" unless that "God" gets some benefit or energy from all that drama and pain. That sure sheds a whole new light on the "powers that be" in the world today...
If God, let's call him for clarity the Bad God, gets his energy (his food) and his power from hatred, fear, anger, revenge, greed, destruction, etc. etc. then we are playing right into his playbook when we "indulge" in those energies. This sure puts a whole new twist on wars, and long-standing feuds between humans, families, races, and countries.
So What Now?
As with our personal life, it is very important what energies we feed. That is what will grow. Thus the extreme importance in this time of division and conflict between individuals and between political parties and between countries and ideologies is to make sure we are feeding the reality we wish to grow... the one where forgiveness and compassion are the rule; the one where Love and acceptance are the key; the one where we leave hatred and resentment at the door when we enter any conversation or exchange.
If the world we live in is created by the energies we fill it with, then it is of utmost importance to stand guard over our words, thoughts, actions, and energies expressed (verbally or not) and feed the world (or the God) we want to empower.
Tipping Point: Which Way?
If we are at a tipping point, and many schools of thought say we are, then we need to put weight on the side of Love and Healing so that the scale tips in that direction... not the other. And there is a lot of "other" out there (even inside of us), so it is up to us to project an overabundance of Love, Acceptance, Compassion, Forgiveness, Healing, and Understanding, so that we feed the reality we desire and not the other... We need to focus on helping the Planet, not continuing over consumption, greed, destruction, rancor and division.
So whatever form of God you have chosen. or been indoctrinated to believe in, it is time to choose the God of Love, not the God of Judgment and Damnation – and that goes for an "external" God as well as the internal ruler of your Being. We can see where anger and damning others is taking us... planetary war, greed, hatred, corruption, destruction, inequality, injustice, etc. It's time to change the captain of the boat to Captain Love.
Captain Hatred, Fear, and Anger will not bring us a better world. Only Love can do that – Love for the Planet and Love for humans of all creeds, races, genders, and beliefs. The "evil-doers" are simply confused, thinking that the more they hate, the more they "own", the more power they have over others, the happier they will be... But that path leads to hell, which unfortunately many people on earth are already experiencing daily.
Heaven is not a place that we go to when we die. Heaven is a place that is to be created right here and right now in our daily experience, just as hell (for so many) has been created here and now. So, if you believe in God, then please start choosing to focus on the Good God, the God of Love, not the other one that is angry and revengeful. Our choice will decide what kind of world we are creating.
About The Author
Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.
Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com
Related Book: Apollo & Me
Apollo & Me
by Cate Montana.
Across-time tale of deathless love, magic and sexual healing, Apollo and Me explodes the myths around older women and sex, the relationship between the gods and man, man and woman, and the very nature of the world itself.
Click here for more info and/or to order this paperback book. Also available as a Kindle edition.
Article Recap:
Marie T. Russell dives deep into a bold spiritual inquiry: Is God a reflection of divine love or human fear? Exploring the duality of biblical narratives and personal spiritual growth, she challenges readers to consciously choose which version of God they are empowering through thoughts, beliefs, and actions. The piece encourages us to step away from fear-based religiosity and embrace the divine qualities of love, compassion, and acceptance to create heaven on earth.
#GodOfLove #SpiritualAwakening #ReligiousDuality #FaithAndFear #MarieTRussell #InnerSelfMagazine #ChooseLove #HealingTheWorld #DivineAwareness #SpiritualDiscernment
