RULING OUT GOD IN THE NAME OF ASSERTIVENESS
COMMENTS: The following declares you that you are the final judge of yourself. Not a God. Not somebody who thinks they are authorised by a God. The Bible says that God gives Christians the right to judge angels. But God giving you the power to do it is not the same as him doing it if he knows all. God supposedly makes laws for he sees what is best in the big picture. But this is not true. It contradicts the doctrine that God knows all that has happened in the past, all that is happening now and what will happen in the future but outside of that he cannot know anything. He cannot know who would have been king instead of Henry VIII if Henry had been stillborn. He cannot know who this king would marry. So if you say to him, "You may have more data than me but your idea of best is still your opinion. Allow me mine. If I killed my neighbour who are you to say that it was not for the best in the full picture?" he will have nothing to say. God is about control. That is what believers really want him for. They won't tell you that you can answer back. Paul rules out answering back in his letter to the Romans. In practice, submitting to God really means letting others tell you what he wants so it is them you are submitting to. We conclude that true assertiveness means being willing to answer to God himself and also those who claim to have his truths.
From When I say No, I Feel Guilty by Manuel J Smith
The right to be the final judge of yourself is the prime assertive right which allows no one to manipulate you. It is the assertive right from which your other assertive rights are derived. Your other assertive rights are only more specific everyday applications of this prime right. The other rights are important since they provide you with the details for coping with the most common ways that other people psychologically manipulate you, violate your personal dignity and self-respect. Examples of the ways other people try to manipulate you by setting up themselves or some arbitrary standard as the ultimate judge of your behavior are given with each of the specific assertive rights that follow.
A BILL OF ASSERTIVE RIGHTS
I: You have the right to judge your own behavior, thoughts, and emotions, and to take the responsibility for their initiation and consequences upon yourself.
II: You have the right to offer no reasons or excuses for justifying your behavior.
III: You have the right to judge if you are responsible for finding solutions to other people’s problems.
IV: You have the right to change your mind.
V: You have the right to make mistakes—and be responsible for them.
VI: You have the right to say, “I don’t know.”
VII: You have the right to be independent of the goodwill of others before coping with them.
VIII: You have the right to be illogical in making decisions.
IX: You have the right to say, “I don’t understand.”
X: You have the right to say, “I don’t care.”
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY NO, WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY
End of quote.
