# For The Religious: What about other gods?(revised) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657 "2014-04-08T18:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/21 "2014-04-08T19:50:47Z")
We need a liitle Czarcasm share here. What deity do you believe in? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/22 "2014-04-08T19:54:51Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > We need a liitle Czarcasm share here. What deity do you believe in? None. I am seeking understanding and knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/23 "2014-04-08T19:58:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > None. I am seeking understanding and knowledge. There is therapy for that. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/24 "2014-04-08T20:03:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So you believe in “One God-Many Faces”? No, one God, one face. But we see through the glass darkly. It’s more like the blind men and the elephant. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/25 "2014-04-08T20:04:16Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > No, one God, one face. But we see through the glass darkly. It’s more like the blind men and the elephant. Thank you for clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/26 "2014-04-08T20:10:54Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > No, one God, one face. But we see through the glass darkly. It’s more like the blind men and the elephant. What’s you take on Ganesha? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/27 "2014-04-08T20:26:35Z")
A friend reminded me that I’d once used this analogy: If you’re climbing a mountain, the path you’re on may get you to the top. Someone else may be climbing the mountain via a different path — that doesn’t mean they _won’t_ get to the top. Doesn’t mean they’ll only get to the top if they switch to your path at some point along the way, either. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/28 "2014-04-08T20:27:21Z")
I believe that there is a single Supreme Being, “God”, whom Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship, though with varying degrees of accuracy. In addition, there is a vast multitude of powerful-yet-finite supernatural beings, which one might call “gods” or “angels”. Some of them are good, and some of them are evil. The various gods of pagan mythology could be any combination of the following: - Misunderstandings of the Supreme Being. - Misunderstandings of good angels. - Misunderstandings of evil angels. - Misunderstandings of aliens. - Purely fictional creations. I don’t presume to know which case is true for any given deity. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/29 "2014-04-08T20:36:42Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > I believe that there is a single Supreme Being, “God”, whom Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship, though with varying degrees of accuracy. Before ‘god’ there were a bunch of deities, what happened to the Roman and Greek gods? Did they suddenly give up? Deities, mother nature. Don’t ever f with mother nature. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/30 "2014-04-08T21:55:09Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > I believe that there is a single Supreme Being, “God”, whom Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship, though with varying degrees of accuracy. > > In addition, there is a vast multitude of powerful-yet-finite supernatural beings, which one might call “gods” or “angels”. Some of them are good, and some of them are evil. > > The various gods of pagan mythology could be any combination of the following: > > - Misunderstandings of the Supreme Being. > - Misunderstandings of good angels. > - Misunderstandings of evil angels. > - Misunderstandings of aliens. > - Purely fictional creations. > > I don’t presume to know which case is true for any given deity. Thank you for going into detail. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/31 "2014-04-08T22:20:20Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > Before ‘god’ there were a bunch of deities, what happened to the Roman and Greek gods? Did they suddenly give up? You didn’t read his post. ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/32 "2014-04-08T22:24:02Z")
I believe that any God worthy of being a God cannot be comprehended by any one. But a lot of us try anyway. If there is a first cause (beyond the realm of cause & effect), that Cause cannot be comprehended by us because then it would just be some guy in the sky which doesn’t make sense. The best explanations I’ve come across for God (mean the most to me) are the No-thing of pseudo Dionysius, I also like the Islamic mystical approach of contemplating the names or qualities of God (Allah) knowing that one cannot comprehend the deity. So I’m a religious agnostic. As far as all other deities/beliefs, I have no reason to place more or less credence on them than on my own understanding (which is to say, not understanding). I mean, if you start at the point that no one can comprehend God, then it becomes silly to say well you comprehend even less than I do (zero comprehension vs. zero comprehension). My position is probably not very well-explained. It’s certainly a wussy (gutless?) approach, but an honest one nevertheless! ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/33 "2014-04-08T23:30:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think if I was God, I’d manifest myself in different ways for different cultures, so that I might be better understood. And then you went and bollocksed it all up by saying, “THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME!” :mad: > [@kanicbird](#): > > To me, all aspects of one God, even things like the FSM, made up as fiction, is revealing the creator because the person who made up the FSM is a child of God and one with God and can not help doing ‘god’ things even if they don’t intend to do so. So wait, you’re saying that Gods created by Man are the Gods who created Man because Men are children of God and therefore created by…ow, think my head just exploded. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/34 "2014-04-09T00:31:42Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > What’s you take on Ganesha? SUPER confusing for the blind men. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/35 "2014-04-09T02:54:10Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > So wait, you’re saying that Gods created by Man are the Gods who created Man because Men are children of God and therefore created by…ow, think my head just exploded. You almost got it, then like all the mortals right at that very moment that they would have achieved enlightenment the head pops off. I think I need to send a letter to quality control and wait for human V2.0 (I think that one is due out by the end of the year anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/36 "2014-04-09T14:28:54Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > The various gods of pagan mythology could be any combination of the following… Are you defining “pagan” as “religions other than my own” in this context? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/37 "2014-04-09T14:42:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **StusBlues** : > > Would you be comfortable asserting that all (or most) religions worship/pay homage to different but (roughly) equal manifestations of this creator? > > I don’t mean to put words in anyone’s mouth - I’m just clarifying. I don’t know about “most” religions. Some religions posit a single Creator, some don’t, and some can be interpreted either way. Anyone who believes that there is a single Creator, and worships that Creator, is worshiping the same God that I am. Now, most people believe various other things about that entity, aside from that e created the Universe. Some of these beliefs might be correct, and some of them are undoubtedly incorrect, so they’re not all equal. But we mortals can’t necessarily tell which of those beliefs are correct or incorrect. And these beliefs might be based on actual manifestations of the Creator, or they might be based on misinterpretation or human imagination, but again, we can’t necessarily tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/38 "2014-04-09T14:46:23Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > And then you went and bollocksed it all up by saying, “THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME!” :mad: Not really. If that’s the way the ancient Jews could relate to a God best, why wouldn’t God say that? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/39 "2014-04-09T16:00:25Z")
I am an agnostic polytheist. This means, I have a set of personal gods that I believe in, but I’m prepared to be wrong, since I have no evidence other than literature and emotions. Plus, since I selected the set myself, I know there’s already major inconsistencies. I am prepared to believe in all gods, but also that their followers get some details wrong. It’s not possible that both the Abrahamic God and Apollo are exactly as described, so I tend to think “Jews etc. got the monotheistic part wrong, and Greeks got various other aspects wrong.” I’m also aware that religion is not science, nor a substitute for science, and so myths are neither factual nor distortions or misunderstandings of facts (contrary to popular beliefs on this board). So they’re really terrible sources for accessing empirical knowledge, and as others have mentioned culture plays a huge part in how we see them. TL, DR version: I don’t believe all gods are one, but I do believe that all gods exist—just not necessarily as described. Given that, it’s hard to believe the gods care terribly much when we get it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657/40 "2014-04-09T16:22:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If that’s the way the ancient Jews could relate to a God best, why wouldn’t God say that? But doesn’t that imply that the Jews _created their own God_, instead of the other way around? As in the words of Voltaire, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” Or, as I said [in the prior thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17150416&postcount=68): _“All Gods are imaginary, and imagination creates [this type of] reality.”_ My point is, it’s pointless to disbelieve in anyone else’s God, because the mere act of belief itself is what creates said God. That’s the genesis of all Gods in religion and mythology, in a nutshell. And the only way to destroy any particular God is to destroy any and all belief in that God, one mind at a time. Not an easy task, is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-religious-what-about-other-gods-revised/685657.md?page=3)