Hello again, this article is an introductory article to the subject of whether or not God is an ogre? This opening article will initially take it from the perspective of unbelievers. In addition, this is not to say that unbelievers cannot take an interest in the articles that follow, they are very welcome.

Is God and ogre? Is God just waiting to judge 99% of mankind and destroy, or worse torment, all in a lake of fire for eternity? Is God a tyrant? Is God strict? Is God always wrathful and angry? Does God hate mankind? Is God really in charge? Does God have rules and standards that are impossible to live up to? Is God a killjoy and unjust? Does God love to punish mankind - us, His creation? Is God evil, for there are some who say that He is?

I hope to answer all of these questions, if not in this article then in the articles that follow, so please bear with me. Now why am I asking all these questions? That's easy, because if and when asked what they think of God when calamities come, the vast majority of human beings will accuse and blame God. At different times, they will accuse Him of some, if not all, of the characteristics I have listed above. To support this truth, have you ever noticed whenever there is a natural disaster God is often, if not always, the first to be blamed for it! Why? We've all heard the expressions: Why does God allow suffering? How can a loving God allow such a thing to happen? Where is God when these awful things do happen? If there is a God why doesn't He do something at times like these or do something to stop these horrors occurring?

The conundrum here is this, these people don't believe in God - period, and yet at the same time, emotionally, blame Him for anything negative that may happen to them or to humanity in general. Why do they think and behave in this way? Does it make any sense? If a person doesn't believe then God is persona-non-grata; He doesn't exist in their lives and cannot exist in their lives, nor be a part of their lives. He is not real to them, yet how is He real one moment, the moment a disaster strikes, and then not real in the next moment? Once order is restored after a calamity and life returns to as normal as possible, God is quickly thrown out of the window - gone - forgotten. What is more surprising is that these extreme views are held just as much by some believers as unbelievers, and this makes for a very odd, if not interesting, topic. I will be dealing with the 'ogre god' issue from the believer's perspective in the articles that follow, because believers actively worship ogre gods! Can you believe that!? You had better, 'cos it's true!!

Now as we can see, unbelievers cause a strange anomaly; it's weird, they seem to want it both ways, and can we blame them, they don't believe and nor can they, yet they can and do blame God for any disasters or serious set backs in their lives, how and why do they do this? Where have they gathered the information to come to the conclusion that God is to blame for disasters, especially when they don't believe anyway? This issue is part of the conundrum I mentioned earlier and I will cover it in greater detail later. In the meantime what is mankind's basic problem and why are they so swift to blame God when disaster strikes?

The reality and truth of it is this: people want a god who is at their beck and call like a genie in a lamp, a Superman figure who will fly down out of the sky when called upon, and put all of their catastrophes and problems right and save them from any harm, come what may. They would possibly say something like this: "He can exist when we want Him to, otherwise He can shove off and leave us to our own devices. Who does this God think He is?" Now this can often be the general attitude of mankind - not always, but it can be, especially when emotions are running high. Now is there anything wrong with that - is it unreasonable or too much to ask for them to have any other attitude, and do human beings have a point. Yes much so, in the trauma of the event, but God is not offended by this attitude and He does do one thing we ask, He leaves us to our own devices. All we have to do is take responsibilty for our actions and see what part we have played and/or our forefathers have played in our own undoing.

From my perspective as a believer, what unbelievers don't understand and can't believe is that the Garden of Eden story is a true story. On that infamous day when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the wrong tree - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life, they forfeited any right they had to call on God for help in calamitous times. Man on that day said to God we don't believe you anymore, we believe the Devil - he says we won't die and we believe him. They were now on their own, so to speak, and God did leave them to their own devices. Notice though, He didn't stop loving them, nor did He leave them completely naked nor leave them to starve. Throughout the history of mankind God has never left us completely alone or unprotected. If He had, the Devil would have wiped humanity out, eons ago, wiped them all from the face of the earth. No, the Father God has never stopped loving us, culminating in Him sending His Son Jesus Christ to die an evil death for us, in order to take our sins and guilt upon Himself and restore us to a right relationship with God the Father.

OK, here's the bottom line, God is not going to intervene in man's affairs as and when man thinks he should, but does this make God an ogre!? Does it make Him a tyrant or any of the other things in my list that are attributed to Him by mankind? The answer is no to all of them. Now you as the reader of this article may scoff and say "nonsense" but if you are disagreeing with me you must be agreeing with me in part without realising it. How's that then, because you are saying that God is responsible for not helping mankind when in times of disaster? If you're asking the question: Where is God when terrible things happen, by default, you are saying that God does exist, even if only in your negative view of Him? By acknowledging God in this back handed negative way, could it just be that God is calling you to His Son, Jesus Christ, for we all must acknowledge that HE IS, first, in order to then believe? Please note, we can only acknowledge that God is, if He enables us to do so - we play no part in this revelation.