If it turns out that one god or set of gods is actually real....

[BertrandRussell]

.....who would you like it to be? I’m currently favouring the Mount Olympus lot because all of the totally selfish, quarrelsome, touchy behaviour goes some way to explaining the state of the world. And there were some pretty cool women. The rapeyness is a bit of an issue- but maybe a Training Day would sort that out?

So Babdoc, your god exists? You have supporting evidence?

St. Augustan...now he was a proper little sod. I lay a lot of the christian attitudes to women at this man's feet. Odious little shit stain...and I don't care who hears me

oh and St. Jerome...another tosser. I think he coined the phrase that woman was the source of all evil or along those lines. You know, cuddly

Hey- this thread is about gods!

Leave the saints out of it. And leave Babdoc alone.

Definitely has to be the Norse gods. Epic battles, Valhalla, boozing and carousing. What's not to like?

I like the Norse ones...or the seven from game of thrones-Make as much sense as most of the others...

So many gods required sacrifices on a huge scale. Sheep, cattle, virgins. No good for vegans.

Shame about the no Game of thrones.... the seven actually make sense....

“Real” gods only, Several entries on this thread are out of the running. It Has Been Noticed.

I so wanted the Hogfather.

So many gods required sacrifices on a huge scale. Sheep, cattle, virgins. No good for vegans.
I think the OT tithe system is arable friendly so maybe you can appease them with corn and figs?

Are there any that dont smite you randomly, commit mass genocide or require you to suffer to obtain heaven?

I think some just get on with godding and don't bother with mortals.

will I get kicked off this thread if I put in a plea for the Tooth Fairy?

Sheep, cattle, virgins. No good for vegans.

I think the vegans ARE the sacrifice in this case. Sorry.

I can't think of any, I think meddling in the affairs of mortals is in the remit of pretty much all of them

This thread has me howling
I’m definitely on board with the idea that the ancient Egyptians are to blame for my cat’s severe superiority complex

You all might enjoy American Gods on Amazon Prime.

When I was little I had a big book of myths and legends, I really liked 'Gaia' - mother earth. IIRC her hair was made out of leaves and her skirt was a cornfield and a waterfall.

I also had a Christmas book with the baby (well toddler) Jesus and all the cherub angel watering a garden in the sky (In Italy a good deed is a fioretto, a 'little flower')

OK so I'm on board with the cats, and I think I'd like to invoke a fertility god, somy 'daily worship' will be watching some of 'foster dad John' on youtube and and for a sacrifice I will substitute dreamies (or ham but not too much).

I like the idea that there is one God and has been all along BUT...his sole intention for humanity has been to develop rational and critical thinking. He has deliberately hid ALL evidence of himself. He made sure that all the evidence points to his lack of existence. He made sure humans developed the capacity for critical thinking over thousands of years of evolution. He made sure evolution happened over millions of years. And then come Judgement Day he’s going to separate out all those who achieved the goal of atheism and all those who didn’t. He’s going to say to those who came to the conclusion he didn’t exist “well done, you passed the test, you can all live in the eternal glory of heaven forever”.

And to all those who wasted their critical reasoning skills i.e. the religious (including agnostics, because God hates a fence-sitter) he will say “you lot wasted every brain cell I gave you. There was never anything to conclude I exist. Don’t argue, I’m omnipotent, I know what was there and what wasn’t. I don’t care what Jesus claimed, that was nothing to do with me. So you lot can all burn in Hell”.

I would find that incredibly funny and spend eternity laughing to myself on my fluffy white cloud if that turned out to be true. Which it won’t. Because if I remotely thought it was true then I would end up in the Hell group. But I don’t [ at The Big Man .

That's a cracker of a theory NotBad

NotBad you’ve just blown my mind

NOT the Aztec ones. Not keen on human sacrifice.

learning a lot from this thread!

Bertrand, I thought you were a theist, but now wondering if I thought that because you have so much knowledge!

And to all those who wasted their critical reasoning skills i.e. the religious (including agnostics, because God hates a fence-sitter) he will say “you lot wasted every brain cell I gave you. There was never anything to conclude I exist. Don’t argue, I’m omnipotent, I know what was there and what wasn’t.

I like that -- kind of a rationalist take on the Parable of the Talents.

They should have put Priscilla in charge.

Totally. I always imagine her as a gobby Bet Lynch type, wearing a lot of bling and refusing to cover her head and to be talked down by Paul and the 'Sheesh, women in power -- better reftrofit the gospels' brigade.

If you are scientific in thought then agnosticism is the only way you can be. You aren't saying there is no god, just that there is no evidence to believe that there is a god. I think that the Hog father is the best, bring on hogswatch night!