If You Could Play God for a Day

[c.d.]

So here is what got me thinking about this. I was on the subway going down the escalator looking at a large number of people coming up the opposite escalator. There was a blind woman with a cane who was sort of disoriented with respect to the up escalator. A number of people basically ignored her until some kind gentleman gave her a hand. I remember just sort of thinking God bless you buddy that was nice of you. Of course, my next thought was to silently call everybody who basically passed on the situation ***holes.

Which leads me to this question -- If you could play God for a day and you had the choice of rewarding good deeds and kindness or punishing the myriad of jerks in the world and you could only do one or the other (not both) which would it be?

I have to admit that is a hard one and for me it would probably depend on my mood that day. I think I would go with rewarding good deeds although seeing jerks get what they deserve is extremely tempting.

Any thoughts?

c.d.

[GUT]

I am grateful that I am not God, as my answer would be to smite them.

[Robert]

If I were god I'd hand myself in.

[c.d.]

I am grateful that I am not God, as my answer would be to smite them.

Yeah, some well earned smiting would feel mighty damn good.

c.d.

[GUT]

Not sure about God' but I'd love to be a (not so very) benevolent dictator or monarch.

[Ginger]

I am grateful that I am not God, as my answer would be to smite them.

Same. I'd get busy with some Old Testament-style smitin'!

[Rosella]

It's not up to any of us to play judge and jury on people's misdeeds, even if we are God, say I, wearing my halo! It removes people's free will, though, doesn't it? Anyway, I would go with rewarding good deeds, partly because it would fill me with virtue, peace and love and all the good things!

[GUT]

It's not up to any of us to play judge and jury on people's misdeeds, even if we are God, say I, wearing my halo! It removes people's free will, though, doesn't it? Anyway, I would go with rewarding good deeds, partly because it would fill me with virtue, peace and love and all the good things!

Yeah but smiting is more fun.

[Sam Flynn]

I'd feel trapped inside the paradox of having to be a loving and merciful deity on the one hand, and a jealous, vengeful smiter on the other. Faced with such an existential quandary, I honestly don't think I'd get anything useful done.

[belinda]

That's a kind of fire I'm not prepared to play with burned fingers take a long time to heal

[Pcdunn]

I'd rather reward good behavior. God is Love, which doesn't go well with smiting folks.

[Harry D]

Please, just call me Harry.

[Beowulf]

I just watched several youtube videos the other day regarding the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway. I have never known anything about him.

In one instance he was saying how he made the women he picked up feel he cared for them. He made the comment that he didn't care about them at all that he was just wanting to disarm them so he could kill them.

Then he could have sex with their dead bodies.

His trial allowed the victims family members to confront him after he was found guilty. The statements they made brought tears to my eyes. One girl said, "The one thing I want you to know. I WAS that daughter at home. Waiting for my mom to come home". She was crying during the statement. Her mother never came home.

I'd have no problem with snapping my fingers and having many of these types just stop existing. No pain. Just no life.

Like the chef Emeril says, Bam!

[Mayerling]

Yeah but smiting is more fun.

I'm reminded of a segment of an episode of "The Simpsons". Somebody (Homer, Bart, Sideshow Bob?) has been cornered by a group of outraged citizens, and says, "Who, who is without sin, should cast the first stone!" One of Ned Flanders sons (the youngest one, who probably is without any kind of sin) picks up a rock and flings at the person, hitting him!

Jeff

[Mayerling]

I just watched several youtube videos the other day regarding the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway. I have never known anything about him.

In one instance he was saying how he made the women he picked up feel he cared for them. He made the comment that he didn't care about them at all that he was just wanting to disarm them so he could kill them.

Then he could have sex with their dead bodies.

His trial allowed the victims family members to confront him after he was found guilty. The statements they made brought tears to my eyes. One girl said, "The one thing I want you to know. I WAS that daughter at home. Waiting for my mom to come home". She was crying during the statement. Her mother never came home.

I'd have no problem with snapping my fingers and having many of these types just stop existing. No pain. Just no life.

Like the chef Emeril says, Bam!

My feelings are for the families of the victims, but for an additional reason. Ridgeway probably could have cared less about how unhappy he made them. If he enjoyed inflicting horror, terror, pain, death on his victims and admitted never really caring for any of them, he probably got an additional kick at the amount of collateral damage he did to the families of the women he killed.

Despite whatever anti-death penalty feelings one has, the average criminal probably only gets upset when their desires or feelings are injured somehow - then their world is upset, as they are at the center of all their actions.

Somebody, I read, visited John Wayne Gacy in the death house before his execution, and for some reason agreed to see him alone. Gacy immediately revealed how easy it would be to kill this visitor, and it would be only one more victim on his slate. The visitor did end the visit (why he made it I don't recall), but it would have been nice if he whisked out a bottle of acid and flung it into Gacy's face. I'm sure this would have proved troublesome for the visitor with the authorities, but Gacy would have suffered actual agony for awhile.

Jeff