In Tolkien's the Silmarillion, like in most versions of Christian mythology, the Devil (in Tolkien the first Dark Lord) seeks to be himself a Lord who dominates others.
But the Dark Lord does not realize that God is not that kind of Lord!
God does not seek to dominate!
God gave us Free Will!
If God wanted, He could dominate us!
He's God! He's all-powerful!
But He doesn't!
And God even gave us Free Will!
God is not a lord who seeks to dominate!
God is not that kind of Lord!
Don't believe me?
I have proof!
How many atheists go around teaching that we should not believe in God and go unpunished!
This does not prove that there is a God, but it certainly proves that if there is a God, He is not seeking to dominate us, or punish us, and He is NOT vindictive and angry!
No!
God is Not that kind of Lord!
I'll tell you what kind of Lord God is!
He is the kind of Lord that creates, and gives to others!
Everything in existence He created and gave to the world!
God is not a Lord who dominates!
He is a patron, an author, an artist!
He is a Lord who creates in order to give!
There is not a single thing that God asks of us for His own sake!
Everything God asks of us is for Our sake- for the sake of us as individuals, or for the sake of our neighbors, the others like us!
Not a single bit of it is for His sake!
Even the Commandment to worship no other gods- that is not for His sake, but for Our sake!
For two reasons:
First, to spare us the heartbreak of putting our faith in something that is not real, that will let us down!
All you atheist skeptics should be able to understand that!
God wants to spare us the superstition of believing in a god that is not real!
The other is God wants to show us that if God be with us then no one can be against us!
For us to know that, we must also know that there are no other gods that can stand up to God!
And that means that the people who are to teach the world of the One God must not worship other gods, so that they will know in their own hearts that no other god can stand up against the One!
All this is for our own benefit, not His!
So that we don't get our hearts broken putting our faith in a god that is not real and will let us down
And so that we will have the comfort of knowing that the One God will protect us and that if that One God is with us, than nothing can hurt us, because there are no other gods who can stand up to the One!
All of this too is for our benefit, not His!
God does not seek anything from us for His own benefit, but only for ours!
God is a patron, not a dominator!
A giver, not a slave master!
God loves you! Each and every one of you, even when He hates your sin!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson