# One God but many religions. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954 "2010-09-16T10:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/21 "2010-09-16T20:56:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > I like this one. Have you ever written for a per-reviewed scientific journal? > > If you put two gods in an accelerator and collide them at relativistic velocity, do they break apart into angels or are gods indivisible? OK, I really like this idea. The design question is: how do you accelerate a god? I’m picturing a circle of choirs. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/22 "2010-09-16T21:03:17Z")
“Our latest results find an efficiency increase of 22.8 percent with Latin choruses over English in deific acceleration. Research into the acceleration efficiency of other languages is ongoing.” ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/23 "2010-09-16T23:25:52Z")
You have to include the option “One God or None” and I’d be down with it all Mountain analogy style. Though I’m not a fan of the term “God” but whatever floats your boat. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/24 "2010-09-16T23:50:58Z")
> [@indian](#): > > What does it tell you ? It tells me that most believers are comforted much more by the idea than by the dogma. In other words, they pick whatever feels good. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/25 "2010-09-17T00:12:28Z")
Well, I reject the premise that there is one (or any) God. There are lots of religions, though, and I think religion is used to explain away the apparent randomness that is inherent in nature. It’s comforting for some people to think that there really is some deterministic force out there guiding events as part of some grand master plan. Humans really don’t like randomness much. It’s scary. Hundreds of years ago, two 40-something men who were outwardly different might have radically different lifespans because of factors–cholesterol, blood pressure, genetic predisposition etc.–unheard of at the time. One dying at 45 and the other living to 80 looks random, arbitrary even. Well, okay, let’s just say that God needed the 45 year old more than the 80 year old at that moment. No reason why, HE just did. Now, life is not so random anymore, not so scary anymore. We still do this today. You’ll still hear some people saying, after a loved one’s untimely death, “Well, I guess God has a plan.” Of course, no one knows what the plan is, but it sounds more comforting than “shit happens.” ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/26 "2010-09-17T00:14:31Z")
> [@Keweenaw](#): > > Specification. With complex social selection pressures in addition to environmental / geographical. damn spellcheck, I meant speciation of course. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/27 "2010-09-17T00:37:42Z")
Yeah, I thought that was what you meant to say but the word you used sounded so - specific and precise - that I thought maybe you meant it and it was some term I’m not familiar with ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/28 "2010-09-17T16:27:07Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > This is entirely true. All of you who refuse to pay proper honor to Athena are doomed to Tartarus. > > Except **Der Trihs**. She likes him for some reason despite his blasphemy. Because of his blasphemy. You know how hot chick dig bad boys. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/29 "2010-09-17T16:53:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > I like this one. Have you ever written for a per-reviewed scientific journal? > > If you put two gods in an accelerator and collide them at relativistic velocity, do they break apart into angels or are gods indivisible? Of course god is indivisible, it says it right in the pledge of allegiance. “one nation under God, indivisible…” Although, prior to 1954, it’s possible that God was divisible . ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/30 "2010-09-17T19:35:46Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I’ve just started reading this book which attempts to debunk the “one God but many religions” theory. It’s fascinating so far. > > [God Is Not One](http://www.amazon.com/God-Not-One-World---Differences/dp/006157127X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284670078&sr=1-1) I just read a review of that book yesterday…it was a very positive review - not necessarily in terms of agreeing with everything, but in the “makes you think” sense. ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/31 "2010-09-17T19:54:16Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > If you put two gods in an accelerator and collide them at relativistic velocity, do they break apart into angels or are gods indivisible? > > Of course god is indivisible, it says it right in the pledge of allegiance. > > “one nation under God, indivisible…” > > Although, prior to 1954, it’s possible that God was divisible . Now that is a brilliant observation right there! Bravo. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/32 "2010-09-17T20:40:41Z")
> [@indian](#): > > What does it tell you ? It’s your thread-what does it tell _you?_ ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/33 "2010-09-17T21:11:37Z")
> [@indian](#): > > What does it tell you ? That at the annual god-religion hoedown, God’s dance card is full but some of the religions have to dance with each other. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/34 "2010-09-17T21:18:21Z")
Overheard from a little old lady on the Larry King radio show many years ago: “I don’t understand why the Christians and Jews and Arabs can’t get along-we’re all just worshiping Jesus in our own way.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/35 "2010-09-17T21:28:26Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > That Zeus is schizophrenic. Oh for the love of shit, schizophrenic is not the same thing as being multiple. Yaweh/Jehova is a multiple: “Thou shalt not kill”/“Kill the idolators!” (from that whole land of Canaan business). “Don’t lie”/“Go impregnate your brother’s widow and tell everyone the kid is your brother’s.” Crazy, omnipotent mofo. Buddha is schizophrenic–mentally, not firmly affixed to reality: "While the Buddha was taking care of the wounded tiger and her five cubs, he began to think that it was not proper to kill other beings and give their flesh to the tiger. He found some large thorns and pressed them into neck, and as the blood came out, he let the cubs and their mother suck the blood. In fact, he gave his whole body to the five cubs and their mother as an act of generosity. As he did this, the Buddha prayed, “Right now I am only able to give temporary help to these starving beings, just removing their hunger. May these tigers who are enjoying my flesh, blood, and bones be reborn to a higher realm, and may I be able to teach them and lead them out of cyclic existence.” See the difference? 😃 As for the OP, “What does it tell you?” IT tells me that “Down here, we all float.” ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/36 "2010-09-17T22:25:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@indian](#): > > > > What does it tell you ? > > It’s your thread-what does it tell _you?_ The world may never know. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/37 "2010-09-17T23:52:54Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > It’s your thread-what does it tell _you?_ > > The world may never know. One. Two. Three. _crunch_ Three. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/38 "2010-09-17T23:58:49Z")
I find it a bit funny that a poster named **indian** appears to not know about polytheism. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/39 "2010-09-18T00:54:00Z")
Ignorance of the Bible at best-heresy at worst. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954/40 "2010-09-18T02:16:03Z")
I thought this was going to be about how Greek, Roman and some Egyptian gods were one and same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-god-but-many-religions/553954.md?page=3)