Close Family Member or what "God" says?

Well for this particular discussion, we can look at it in two ways. If we take the bible as fact, then the answer is yes. All powerful deity who will love me forever > Group of mortals who have a social obligation to provide for me for a few years.

Of course, without a god, the best option is clearly to pick your family, because something is better than nothing.

Then there's always the option of using my family in life, then a deathbed confession.

 

Hmmm :/ That's odd. Unless his family is deliberately standing in the way of him becoming a priest, there's really no reason for him to take it that far...

 

I'm not a believer as you know, but I think that in order to be able to call yourself as such with a straight face, you'd have to choose your faith over your family when the dilemma arises.
To a firm believer, the very choice is the same as choosing between the eternal and the finite. That in itself is a recurring theme in Christianity.
You won't find many devoted Christians advocating lust over love either.
Compared to faith, which is supposed to stand tall even after death, family is but a short-term "pleasure" much like drugs or one-night-stands isn't it?

That being said, the question isn't even relevant to me.

 

This is true, but the clincher is that you probably won't, say, find a christian mother that can tell you she loves God more than her children with a straight face(unless she's insane/a fundamentalist/really does hate the child), even though the Bible states that you're supposed to love God as much as possible (and you don't, if you love your child more than him).

It's only natural. People can tell you about how strong their faith is and how they couldn't picture their lives without God's presence until they're blue in the face, but at the end of the day, nobody has seen God. You can't touch him, feel him, or even be sure that he's really there. Pretty different from your family.

Anyways, I'm not a believer either so the question isn't relevant to me either.

 

All I can say is, your family is always there for you. You can see and feel yourself that your family is always there for you. If god existed (and I really really hope it does not) then it cannot be seen to help and you can only guess if it is actually helping.

I would always put my family before any sort of higher being. As for the story of Abraham sacrificing his only son for god I find that disgusting that any higher power would even attempt a deception like that. I could never worship an evil being like that.

 

Don't forget about Job. God ruined his life, thrust him into poverty, killed his family, put him through terrible sickness...and for what? To one-up Satan? What the hell? Why should he need to prove anything to anyone? He's God. Him giving a new family and more riches doesn't justify what he put him through in the slightest. Family cannot be replaced if you loved the one you had.

 

Satan did all of those things, not God. And God knew that Job would still be obedient, and that he'd be fine afterward.
Plus he met up with his old family in Heaven.

 

Um no, God did those things to Job and let them happen. Whether anyone else was 'part of it' or not, he was tested by God for his obedience to the point of nearly having to kill his son.

In the end, if I actually believed in some entities that have shown me no proof of their existences save for stories passed down, I would choose that which is around me to follow. I get very annoyed at people who say they disown their own siblings, offspring, friends etc, because suddenly they found out the person was gay, atheist, believing in another religion, or what have you. Some people are so pathetic that they will declare they will even want to -kill- their offspring for lack of believing in God etc. These people have brought misery to families and friends for so long and one can only hope they grow up or their mode of thought goes the way of the dinosaur. A belief shouldn't mean more than what is tangible and real before you, ever.

 

And yet, to the devoted Christian, they are equally real (albeit less tangible). This is where I question them.

 

xD

Anyways. I don't really think one's family should go over beliefs. Those are the individual's beliefs, and if they aren't affecting things negatively in any way, then I don't see why the person should even have to choose. Say the person believes that his jersey hat is a god. Does it affect anyone else? No. Is it weird? Yeah, but it's not affecting anyone but him.

I also don't believe family to be a short-term "pleasure" as some would point out.