A question that has been pondered for thousands of years is “why are we here?”. No one really knows why life exists, or even why the universe exists for that matter. There have been plenty of explanations for the “how”, but the “why” is just a mystery.

One very popular explanation for why we are here is that there is a god who put us here. This god is so not just any god, but the one and only god. For this reason, we spell his name with a capital “G” (God).

God is omniscient (all-wise), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnibenevolent (all-good). It’s safe to say that there is no being, force, or entity that is greater than God. However, if God exists, he put us here and there must be a reason… but what reason is that?

Well let’s examine what he asks of us. First, there are 10 commandments, which are rules that human beings must live by. This is a great idea, except that he didn’t give them to us at the beginning. He waited until everything got out of hand, and then decided to give them to Moses.

The first commandment states:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

• Before mentioning anything about how people shouldn’t kill each other, or steal, he mentions that people can only have him as a god. This shows, right away, where his priorities lie. It comes off as a bit selfish and jealous. What should it matter to such a supreme being if the people he created worship him or not? It seems like an awfully petty issue for a god to be concerned with.

Since this first commandment doesn’t seem to help anyone besides God, let’s move on to the second:

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

• God is a jealous god who wants everyone to love him? That doesn’t sound like a description of the greatest being in the universe, it sounds more like an insecure teenage girl. What reason would such a being have to be jealous if that being is all-knowing, and knows there is no being greater than him? Also, notice he still hasn’t mentioned anything about killing or stealing because he just keeps talking about himself.

Let’s move on to the third, and hope that there is a something useful coming up:

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

• Here, God is still giving instructions regarding himself, except this time sounds more like a little kid who is getting made fun of because his name sounds funny. Would it really matter to someone who had high self-esteem if someone used their name in vain? How is this arbitrary rule more important than making sure people don’t kill each other?

The fourth commandment is as follows:

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

• Now God wants us to set one day aside each week to worship him. This sounds similar to a girlfriend or wife who complains that her boyfriend or husband doesn’t compliment her enough. If this girl ruled the universe, I’m sure she would want everyone to spend 52 days each year gathering to compliment her too.

After the fourth commandment, God finally mentions that people can’t kill each other, steal from each other, and commit adultery. These things seem to be way too low on the list, but at least they eventually make the list.

Then comes a very surprising tenth commandment:

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

• Thou shalt not covet? Isn’t that the same as saying thou shalt not be jealous? It’s almost as if God thinks we might have forgotten that he just told us how jealous he is in the second commandment. There might as well be an eleventh commandment that says “Thou shalt do as I say, not as I do.”

It’s amazing how half of the commandments are there to ensure that God’s feelings are never hurt, when “Thou shalt not rape” is completely left off the list.

So if there is a God, why did he create us? According to his list of rules he’s given us, it sounds like he created us to make him feel better about himself. He’s the most powerful being imaginable, yet he created human beings in order to have them worship him.

I am nowhere near as great as God is said to be, yet still I would never need as much reassurance as he requests. If the all-mighty God exists, and his ten commandments are true, then he is absolutely the most insecure being I have ever heard of.