If, I say IF, I Were Creator Of Animals And Intelligent Creatures.............

1. I would put within the dumb animals instinct so as to guide them and equip them for survival and propagation.2. I would enjoy creating all kinds of creatures with my unlimited ability, knowledge and wisdom for variety, ecology and beauty, etc. Since I do have a sense of humor, some would be down right hilarious, in how they look and act.3. I would create various levels of intelligence and functions for the intellighent creatures for all the things I want for my vast universe. I would have a core of messengers/angels that I could dispatch from my headquarters throughout the universe to do whatever I wished and to deliver specific messages, etc. I would have other beings around my headquarters to sort of "keep house" here and render to me my desire.4. Since I would be the almighty owner, head and maker of my universe, I would see that my intelligent beings give me all due respect, worship and honor. This would be necessary so as to not have any of them forget whose universe it is, for whom they were created, and who is to call the shots, etc. This would also be necessary since I would be the only being with enought intelligence and wisdom to know how to keep the whole universe intact and functioning as I wished.5. I would make at least a large part of my intelligent beings in such a manner that they could choose, but to do that I would need to give them a guideline or manual of conduct and rules, etc in order that they know what I expect of them. It would also necessitate consequences for rebellion and for those who ignore me and disregard my authority.6. If, in any of the locations in the universe where my intelligent beings are, they nearly all become rebellious, I would likely do something like a flood or something and save a few good ones to begin afresh. This would necessitate some changes so as not to have them repeat same.7. I would not want to have my creatures so familiar with me, my plans, and my creation to become proud and to take me for granted. My manual/book would be such that only those who choose to love and do my will will understand. I would designate a segment/nation from among them to implement my laws, write my book and such. If anybody messes with this, my designated nation, I mess with them big time so as to warn others. I will bless those others who bless my designated people. I will also hold my designated people responsible to me and my laws and when they get careless, woe be to them!! "To whom much is given, much will be required."8. If my creatures on this place/planet do sin/rebel against me I, being a loving, kind and forgiving creator will provide some remedy. I would also figure a way to establish a rightious kingdom on earth among these creatures of choice and a rightious king to rule over them in such a way that they will be made to do it my way and see how blessed they will be in doing things my way as compared to how they messed up so, doing it their way. This is to show all the host of my creatures in my universe how disastrous rebellion to me is and how the universe will only function correctly when done my way.9. Lastly, the book I give my creatures would have enough writers involved in it from all walks of life, so they will not have to rely on the integrity of one person. In it I will also include the miraculous element of prophecy which will warn them, prepare them and apprise them of my plans for the future of their planet. This will show them my book is not just another natural book and it will provide that no excuse can be given for them in judgement that they didn't know and weren't warned/told in advance. Again these prophesies are going to be put in such a manner that only those who really want me will find me and that they will search truth out as they would search for earthly treasures of gold, silver and precious stones.The above is a part of how I would do things if, I say if, I were creator. Why? Because this is how the real and only creator, Jehovah, has so efficiently operated with planet earth so far. I cannot begin to imagine any better way it could have been done. My analogy leaves much to be desired, such as the basics of redemption, the Spirit of God and such, but you get the point, I'm sure.

I can see room for improvement, firstly I'd not create parasites, disease and carnivores, making my planet a paradise in which death and suffering were a thing of the past (at least for those that follow me).
I would make no doubt that I was in command, stuff having people write a book then argue over whether they got it right for the next few thousand years, just put some burning letters in the sky, or show up to each birth to remind them who has the power.
If I had infinite power then I wouldn't need angels or messengers as I could be everywhere and answer anything at will.
Reward the faithful, punish the wicked (unlike earth where christians get as much illness, have the same life expectancy, suffer as many accidents, and live with as many problems as any other human. The criminals are only punished physically by human laws, and therefore many terrible things go completely unpunished. Give the power to any reasonable person and those things would be the first to be fixed).
There would be no false religions as everyone would know me. There would be no doubt as I would make sure to make it obvious who and what I was. There would be no rebellious people as I would know and take steps to make sure people know right from wrong.
Heaps of room for improvement.

If I were the creator:1. I would set up physical constants and laws so that all inanimate objects would behave in a predictive manner throughout time.2. I would allow life to evolve on its own, knowing in my great knowledge that whenever there is variation and limited resources that life will adapts itself to the environment. I will also know that this will result in a wide variety of life that will intrigue sentient beings for the rest of time.3. I will not expect my creations to worship me, but will instead lead through example and allow them to learn from my leadership. Obligatory worship is egotistical and narcissistic.4. I will leave mounds of evidence in my creation to show exactly how my creation unfolded through eons of time. I will not depend on man's fallibility to understand my downloaded knowledge. Their knowledge of nature at the beginning of their rise to technology will be inadequate to fully explain my workings. Only after they study my creation thoroughly will they understand the truth of my efforts and the ways I made the planet they now live on.5. After they understand how I created the diversity of life, they will use these tools to adapt their own bodies to the goals that they define. The physical laws in chemistry and biology that I set forth will become their tools in taking their sentient race to new levels of health and well being, never lacking in food or medicine. I set forth a path that resulted in their inquisitive and logical minds, it is imperative that they respect this and use it to the utmost of their abilities.

If I were the creator, I would be All That Is, and I would make my creations parts of me, within me, endowed with all of my powers and knowledge, and free to create their own realities for the fulfillment of their own intents and purposes. They would create as I do with eternal validity. Their fulfillment would fulfill me, and not one speck of their identities would ever be diminished or annihilated.Sounds a lot better than crime and punishment to me.Now buz, what about the pastoral legends of Jehovah and his judgementalism is more appealing than this that I've desribed, other than that you believe your legend to be fact?Can you see how it's hard for me to swallow the notion that Johvoah is the supreme standard of perfection if I can so easily conceive of a superior cosmic drama than He is alleged to have?

If I were the creator of animals and intelligent creatures:I would wonder where I came from and how I came to be. And I'd investigate using the best of my abilities.Oh and i also wouldn't care whether or not people believed in me because what good does that do for me?[This message has been edited by docpotato, 02-18-2004]

Would you include things that implicitly condone slavery in your book? Or allow them to be included?

hmm. #4 sounds to me like the Bush presidency
#5, #6 Ashcroft

I'd only create one man, afterwards forming a helper which I would call woman, who I would create to be a helper mate for the man, the man being more or less head of the pair since two pesiding heads wouldn't work -- too much bickering. This would be the only humans I would create. I would leave off creating these and the animals having installed all the thousands of whatever it took to make them capable of reproducing after their kind.They wouldn't then be equal creatures, these human offspring, because having created them with a choice, their choices would affect the outcome of their procreated descendents. I wouldn't forbid slavery, but would in my manual to mankind, lay down some guidelines as to how they treated those who were slaves. This, of course wouldn't have been a factor if man hadn't chosen to sin and to engage in slavery. Many things like this would be left for mankind to deal with an sort out for himself, being free agents. Under my guidelines, the slaves would have the advantage of 3 squares a day, a decent place to live, adequate rest and all the headaches left to the owners.

I would:1) try and make a harmonious place where beings of all kinds could grow and flourish ,with lots of different environments to explore and have fun in,and...2) failing that, keep trying to fix my errors until I note that some of my "children" have started comparing notes and are either making me feel stupid for not coming up with something better, or pissing me off because they don't like all the T&A I created for their benefit,at which point I would...3) create an oddly compelling idea that no matter what I did, there must be a good explanation for it, and so this is the best they should expect,and then...4) take off for a nice long "vacation" somewhere else where sex is more appreciated,BUT... if for some reason I noticed a few of my "children" spotting my less than crafty exit, and they asked me where I was going, I'd...5) tell them not to worry, I'll be back soon, in fact guaranteed, I'll be back before this "generation" ends.They'll still be trying to figure out what I meant 2000 years later.[This message has been edited by holmes, 02-18-2004]

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Oh just f%$cking delightful, you sexist, classist pig.

I hope that you noticed that 4 is clearly not the case.I am glad, however, that your version of 7 does not include giving the "chosen people" other peoples land and exterminating the previous occupants.I also have to ask why you would not want to implement 8 right from the start - especially as 7 and 8 cannot both be true at the same time9 is even self-contradictory - it requires that prophecies can easily be seen AND that they are hidden to all except those who WANT to believe. In fact the latter could more easily be done by not including any genuine prophecies because those who want to beleive will twist things enough to "find" what they want to find.Also given the reasoning behind 9 it would be better NOT to choose one small people but instead to bring a consistent message from many nations - without relying on ordinary cultural connections.Tthat would be far better than "all walks of life" and would provide real evidence that the book had a genuine supernatural author.

Fair enough. And yet it leaves me with a couple of questions.Why would you only create one man and one woman and then later on condemn incest?

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I wouldn't forbid slavery, but would in my manual to mankind, lay down some guidelines as to how they treated those who were slaves. This, of course wouldn't have been a factor if man hadn't chosen to sin and to engage in slavery.

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If engaging in slavery is a sin, why don't you just forbid it in your book? Isn't laying down guidelines for slavery but not approving of it a bit like a sex ed class teaching abstinence but then showing some guidelines on how to properly engage in safe sex?

I wouldn't condemn incest until/unless it became a problem and was not necessary for procreation of humans. The first people would have genetics which would allow it without a problem. Slavery would be the ideal for human culture, for sure. But since fallen sinful man is bent on practicing it, I would make some rules.

Well, not with me, but with God it is so. It's just that you haven't noticed it yet. Judgement cometh when all knees will bow. Oh, but if some of my procreated descendents of my creature should become so corrupt and rebellious as to totally ignore and disregard their creator, choosing instead to fashion false gods made with their own hands or imaginations, I'd indeedy certainly be just, as creator and majesty of the universe to call for their extinction in favor of my chosen nation. Left to their own devises without any regard to their creator would eventually mean self destruction for them anyhow. Besides, their rebellion would spread like rotten apples in the barrel to spoil the whole thing. I would have my own reasons as everything has a right time, though not always fully understood by my finite little creatures. In the mean time I'd provide a covering for their sins by allowing them to offer up innocent animals so they, the guilty need not die in their sins. It is a given that the unbelieving ones who want nothing of my rules would be the ones to spin and twist so as not to be accountable to a higher power. That would be nice, but in order to allow for free will agents, by and large the majority chose to run their own cultures and lives. Besides having free will to choose among celestial creatures have brought on the problem of the mystery of iniquity and Satan, who must be dealt with. I forgot to mention that the planet earth would be the place for engineering his demise, for it is he who deceives the nations and causes all kinds of havoc elsewhere in the universe. His demise is all planned out on planet earth.

Buzzsaw,Again, why don't you just condemn slavery the way you would condemn other things like coveting thy neighbor's wife?Why not: thou shalt not make a slave of another man or his wife?You say that "since fallen sinful man is bent on practicing it, I would make some rules." And yet you don't make the same "rules" for homosexuality? For incest? For murder? For taking your name in vain? You condemn those outright. So by the words of yours that I read, you deplore the saying of your name in vain more than you deplore slavery. Is that a correct read?