Who is to say what God is?

While I found the article to be interesting and informative as a whole, I was irritated by the second test participants used to decide if God was talking to them. This test was to check and see if what the person was hearing is "what God would say."

I think this gets at one of the fundamental reasons religion is the root of so much heartache and violence. When participants think they know what God does or does not want, what God does or does not think, what God does or does not say, what God does or does not like, etc., they are a) demeaning God and b) creating a dangerous, elitist mindset.

By thinking that we, as mortals, can know God's heart--who He is, what He thinks, what He wants, etc.--we are taking a being that is supposed to be greater than our comprehension and trying to squeeze him into a box of our choosing. We are making the flawed and supposedly-sinful thoughts and desires of humans and that of a perfect God. How do we think that our small and feeble minds can interpret what the great and everlasting God would say?

And not only are we taking away the glory of God, but we are making it to seem that we are the mouthpieces of God. That we know what God is saying and what God wants. That we are the voice of moral reason. This mindset, and not being able to entertain other ideas or humble oneself leads to egotistical behavior and strong-armed religious action between two people who are overly confident that they know the truth.

Granted, it is true that the examples given in the article are ones that most people would agree with. (God doesn't want us to hurt ourselves or others, etc.) However, I do not think it is out-of-the-question to assume that they would apply this attitude to more controversial things like gay marriage, abortion, child-rearing. Because even if participants want to give human qualities to their God, and it is very much within their rights to do so, the outward effect of being self-righteous in their beliefs can cause much harm.