# Where did this "Moon god" nonsense come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111 "2015-05-15T15:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/121 "2015-05-18T18:23:50Z")
Do moon gods and goddesses cast [Moon Shadows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0rDW5j1KU)? ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/122 "2015-05-18T20:09:19Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > … I think I know why God decided to incarnate. > > He wanted to be able to play drinking games based on the idiocies His creatures manage to come up with. If they are in His name, use the big glass. Can God create a beer mug so large that even God can’t lift it? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/123 "2015-05-18T20:29:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The basics are that the Grand Mosque in Mecca was an established religious cite prior to Muhammad’s lifetime. It used to be a pagan temple with some form of moon god worship. So people that want to attack Islam claim that Muslims are worshiping in a temple dedicated to a moon god. But the old use of the site has nothing to do with its current use. Muslims also have a mosque built on the former site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was a mosque (it’s now a museum) that used the site (and the building) of a former Christian cathedral. I suppose by that logic, they do worship the same god as Jews and Christians, or at least they worshiped the same god as Christians until 1935. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/124 "2015-05-18T20:44:13Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Can God create a beer mug so large that even God can’t lift it? Well, yeah…but when He gets _that_ plowed he just uses a wormhole for a straw. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/125 "2015-05-18T20:48:25Z")
Until 1992, there was also a mosque in Ayodhya, India, that was built on the site of a former Hindu temple dedicated to Rama. So Muslims also might have worshipped Rama until 1992. There is a Catholic church in Rome, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, that is built on the site of a former temple dedicated to Isis (it used to be erroneously thought to be a temple to Minerva). So Catholics worship Isis. There is also a Catholic cathedral in Mexico City on a former Aztec sacred site. The Catholics must worship Huitzilopochtli, too. Whee! This is fun! ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/126 "2015-05-18T20:54:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Well, yeah…but when He gets _that_ plowed he just uses a wormhole for a straw. Your gods drink beer? How gauche! Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters is what the true deities prefer. Sometimes Dos Equis if you know who is around. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/127 "2015-05-18T21:02:12Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Your gods drink beer? How gauche! > > Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters is what the true deities prefer. Sometimes Dos Equis if you know who is around. Yeah, Thor always did like the cheap shit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/128 "2015-05-18T21:06:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t believe in Beatles. I just believe in me. I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/129 "2015-05-18T21:07:44Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Your gods drink beer? How gauche! > > Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters is what the true deities prefer. Sometimes Dos Equis if you know who is around. Viking gods drank mead. There are probably some Protestant churches in Norway or Sweden that were built on former Viking sacred sites, so maybe the Protestant Christian god drinks mead as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/130 "2015-05-18T21:08:32Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I thought Muslims thought of Jesus as a prophet but not a god or a son of Allah. Yes, he - BigT - is wrong. I said so earlier. The idea of Son or human divinity is considered Shirk (association). Islam has a view close or identical the Judiac view in this area. > [@aldiboronti](#): > > Oh, I’m sure there is. I’ve heard many Muslims argue that Christians are basically polytheists, worshiping three gods rather than one (and indeed many anti-Trinitarians within Christianity have made the same argument). it is not correct according to the Quran to say that the christians are "basically polytheists’ - although this is a view held by the extremists. It is more standard to see the christian practice as polluted by practices that are borrowed from the polythiests and particular in the idols. In this fashion the anti-iconist protestants when they emerged in Europe in the Protestant reformations were thought by many open minded muslims as being more close to the Islam than the catholic or the orthodox. > [@](#): > > To Muslims it is the most abhorrent of blasphemies to raise any other entity to equality with the one true god, however it is festooned round with theological jiggery-pokery. Yes, but not really the “however” part… in long tradition there is more tolerance of … jiggery (playing around?) than the Wahhabis pretend. The saints of the Sufi traditions illustrate. The strong horror that exsts in tradition is against idols. That is very hardline. > [@bengangmo](#): > > this part isn’t entirely true - > there was a Malaysian case recently where Christians weren’t allowed to use the word Allah in a translation of the bible - specifically because it was “reserved” for Muslims. This is a marginal case and even the malaysian government has claimed it only applies to the catholic newspaper. They , the malay muslim activists are being actively very stupid, and anti islamic doctrine. This is more about the local racial politics I think. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/131 "2015-05-18T21:29:30Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Viking gods drank mead. And Thor once drank enough of the ocean to cause a low tide. > [@](#): > > There are probably some Protestant churches in Norway or Sweden that were built on former Viking sacred sites, so maybe the Protestant Christian god drinks mead as well. I betcha Jesus would have loved mead. (Who doesn’t?) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/132 "2015-05-18T21:44:55Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > And Thor once drank enough of the ocean to cause a low tide And then peed it back out, which made the tide come back in? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/133 "2015-05-18T22:41:13Z")
I got mixed up on him being the Messiah and being the son of God. To me, as a Christian, they are the same thing, but they are not in Islam. The point is that, Jesus does have a special relationship with God. He is a prophet, which means he is closer to God enough to speak for him, and he is supposed to return, meaning God is letting him do so. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/134 "2015-05-18T23:32:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t believe in Beatles. I just believe in me. > [@Kimballkid](#): > > Do moon gods and goddesses cast [Moon Shadows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0rDW5j1KU)? Watch it, kids, before this thread turns into a Classic Rock radio station. > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > So Catholics worship Isis. Nope. That was my cat. Beautiful domestic shorthair, but dumb as a rock, so she wasn’t worthy of worship. > [@](#): > > The Catholics must worship Huitzilopochtli, too. Got a little Shih Tzu/Westie cross I renamed Huitzi because she’s so bloodthirsty. Seemed appropriate. I don’t worship her, but I respect her. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/135 "2015-05-19T00:12:57Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > The “idiots” merely take note of the fact that Catholics pray to Mary, a practice that BY DEFINITION means that they are worshiping her. Catholics can claim otherwise until they’re blue in the face–it does them no good. Actions speak louder than words. > > On the issue of Muslims, it is self-evident that their god is not God. If it were, they would be Christians, not Muslims. I think that it’s a pity that the post above, which actually gave the clearest possible answer to the question of the OP, was not taken at face value. If we consider that there are two general ‘types’ of religion - (a) those that believe that they and only they hold the truth and worship correctly, and (b) those that believe that there are many paths to ‘truth’ - then it is obvious for those in camp (a) why every other religion has to be attacked (either through rhetoric or by literal violence). Every religion has the right to piss on every other religion, and the adherents have the right to either get angry about it or ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/136 "2015-05-19T00:16:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I got mixed up on him being the Messiah and being the son of God. To me, as a Christian, they are the same thing, but they are not in Islam. They’re not the same in Judaism, either. And a prophet isn’t the same as either one for Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/137 "2015-05-19T00:24:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > That was my cat. Beautiful domestic shorthair, but dumb as a rock, so she wasn’t worthy of worship. You do know that cats consider not worshiping them to be grounds for peeing on your pillow and leaving the less tasty half of a mouse in your shoes, right? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/138 "2015-05-19T00:52:44Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > I think that it’s a pity that the post above, which actually gave the clearest possible answer to the question of the OP, was not taken at face value. 😕 It was taken entirely at face value. It was just astoundingly dumb. And silly. And wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/139 "2015-05-19T01:44:31Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > I think that it’s a pity that the post above, which actually gave the clearest possible answer to the question of the OP, was not taken at face value. If we consider that there are two general ‘types’ of religion - (a) those that believe that they and only they hold the truth and worship correctly, and (b) those that believe that there are many paths to ‘truth’ - then it is obvious for those in camp (a) why every other religion has to be attacked (either through rhetoric or by literal violence). Every religion has the right to piss on every other religion, and the adherents have the right to either get angry about it or ignore it. I have to admit I can’t understand how people can see that every other religion is just a bunch of make-believe and superstition while blindly believing that their religion is divinely revealed truth. How exactly do you determine the difference? What is it that lets you know that Jesus performing miracles and rose from the dead is true but Rama rescuing Sita from Ravana is just a story? And don’t religious people ever find it suspicious that the religion they believe is true almost always happens to be the religion they were raised in as a child? Do people ever think _“The reason I’m a devout Baptist is because I happened to be born in Little Rock. If I had been born in Mumbai, I’d be a devout Hindu and I’d believe that religion just as fully as I now believe in the American Baptist Association.”_? Or do devout people not think that? Do they feel that even if they had been born in India or Nigeria or Mongolia, they would still have found the exact same religion they have now and be a devoted member of that religion? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/140 "2015-05-19T02:11:50Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Do moon gods and goddesses cast [Moon Shadows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0rDW5j1KU)? Ironic that you link to a song by [the famous Muslim jihadist Yusuf Islam, once barred from entering the U.S.A.](http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/12/questions-remain-over-cat-stevens-connections-to-jihad-terror) :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111.md?page=8)