Where were Yahweh, Jesus, or Mohamed? The Holy Spirit?

Perhaps they aren't mythical enough.

Those gods (that god?) haven't been marginalized enough yet -- I mean, if you compare the Xtian god and Odin, the Xtian god is still rolling in believers, and so would have no reason to join the war.

I think.

Maure

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eurydice underground: a miscellany
Obfuscations and Inconsequentials: a journal

quote:

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Originally posted by Maure:
Those gods (that god?) haven't been marginalized enough yet -- I mean, if you compare the Xtian god and Odin, the Xtian god is still rolling in believers, and so would have no reason to join the war.

I think.

Maure

______________________________
http://www.eurydiceunderground.com: a miscellany
http://www.xanga.com/maure: a journal

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"Xtian"... okay, i think thats vaguly offensive/annoying. And I thought "USAnian" was bad...

~~~~~~~~~

"Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased, and thus do we refute entropy."-- Spider Robinson

http://lon.blogspot.com -- Its a slightly less eloquent me.

First off, Yahweh, Jesus, and the holy spirit are all one and the same. Mohammed was a prophet of that same God. (And before you ask all Allah means is God).

Secondly, there was actually a time when I remember seeing Neil say that he had a section with Jesus in it, but he couldn't work it into the story right and so eventually abandonded it.

And last, as it's been pointed out, the reason the gods in American Gods were being forced to such desperate measures was because of the belief in them drying up, a problem Yahweh doesn't have right now.

~
James

Larger than life is the perfect size

You guys always seem to overlook one possibility in these kinds of discussions (and I'm sure this is going to get me hate mail): maybe in a world like the one in American Gods, which is filled with a gigantic plurality of gods, one dominant god loses all meaning. Basically, maybe the Holy Spirit doesn't exist there because of all of the other holy spirits floating around. Alternately, many Christians would probably say that God, Allah, Yaweh, whatever you choose to call Him, IS in the book, and it is in fact His will that causes all of the events in the book, as in all books. And if anyone cares, I'm cheerfully agnostic, which means I accept that I don't know WHAT the deal is with God. Or gods. In real life, of course.

Also, a major tenet of the beliefs of christianity and Islam is that their god does NOT walk around on earth. That they are up in heaven overseeing things. The belief defines the deity. That's why Loki is by nature an evil trickster, and Anansi a fun-loving storyteller.

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Originally posted by drethelin:
Also, a major tenet of the beliefs of christianity and Islam is that their god does NOT walk around on earth. That they are up in heaven overseeing things. The belief defines the deity. That's why Loki is by nature an evil trickster, and Anansi a fun-loving storyteller.

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A point I regretfully forgot to mention. This is one of the very reasons that was given for Christ's existence, that God could not directly deliver his message and all the so-called priests were screwing it up.

This is mentioned in American Gods. As Wednesday says (not very kindly), "That boy always seems to come out of shit smelling like roses."

So, Christ, etc., are there, they just don't have to participate in the battle of the "everday" gods, because they still receive the formal worship of millions.

See, I think that Jesus could very well have been in there, because even though he was an incarnation of God with a capital G, he allegedly walked the earth, which would make it possible for some form of him to be transplanted to America. Although he might be kind of weird, because it seems tome that he feeds off of his own generosity, the same way that Anansi feeds off being the center of attention and Odin feeds off of violence.

Neil's journal June 22nd:
And Salon.com has a review up at http://www.salon.com/books/review/2001/06/22/gaiman/ which I really liked. It seemed to be writing about the book I`d written, and I was pretty conscious of the things she points to -- Jesus actually did turn up in a scene which I cut, as it just didn`t work, but I figured a book about American Religion was not the book I wanted to write, which was about American Belief, so I let some things go...



[This message was edited by GMZoe on April 20, 2003 at 12:47 AM.]

for your info so is jesus and mohammed NOT gods they are desendents for god like an angel

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Originally posted by Sparhoch:
for your info so is jesus and mohammed NOT gods they are desendents for god like an angel

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What? You're going to have to take some deep breaths and try it again, son. With grammar. Hate to be flippant, but coherence is vital to a posting.

Phool, it's easy enough to understand the post. Not all religious figures are Gods. (not quite sure what you mean by descendants, but I think what I said is the idea behind it)

Of course, not all the mythical things in American Gods are Gods... I think it's just a problem in phrasing here and not a problem of ideologies

My only problem was with the difficulty involved in understanding Sparhoch's post, which is probably due to English not being his first language. I try not to censor myself, and I wanted to be able to understand the posting, because it seemed that he was trying to convey something important.
Anywho, wars have been fought between Christians over whether Jesus is God himself "incarnate in flesh" or only a man begotten by God, to carry his message. Either way, he is believed in the same way that gods are/were believed in, and therefore would qualify to be in American Gods. Come to think of it, leprechauns aren't gods, nor are Djinn(I don't think, I haven't done any research on them). I think that all that matters for these creatures to exist is that someone believe in them.

...
"Xtian"... okay, i think thats vaguly offensive/annoying. And I thought "USAnian" was bad...

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"X" is actually the Greek symbol for Christ-- shorthand for the word. So by putting "X" there, the writer is not trying to suggest a variable (x+y=god)or something vaguely offensive-meaning, rather, just shortening the word with what is the same basic thing. I think it's related to the idea that you don't name god in the Hebrew writings-- to name JVH rather than saying the actual name, which gives power, as we all know. So we put a shorthand there to keep it all mystical and God-ly.

Not that this is necessarily the reason the previous writer said "Xtian", but probably.

Just call me Ms. Trivia who needs to avoid real work.....

Not being Christian myself, I feel sort of silly replying here, but it seems to me that the anger was not at the validity of the contraction, but that whoever used it was making Christianity seem sort of petty thereby. There's a good word for it, but I can't think of it. It's like you somehow lessen something by using a silly new age contraction for it, rather than writing it out and giving it the dignity it deserves. Or allegedly deserves. Thus, "xtianity" is not something you should call Christianity, unless you are deliberately mocking it(as I frequently do).

Exactly. It seemed like another cheap dig at Christiantiy. As someone who studies religions, I try to treat them with respect... and silly Christianity bashing (which i used to be guilty of) just annoys me.

See you, space cowboy.

~~~~~~~~~

Those who are different must stand united!

"Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased, and thus do we refute entropy."-- Spider Robinson
http://lon.blogspot.com -- Its a slightly less eloquent me.

It's been suggested by the review on salon.com and by posts in other threads that Shadow may himself be Jesus. Shadow is 32. born to a woman, fathered by a god. Died, though not on a cross, but on a tree (symbolic) pieced on the side and resurrected by Easter, walked on water (on ice out to the lake), does seem to have hidden powers, and was the sacrifice (to end the war.) the references are there.

Most of gods used are pre-christian and every body knows all the gods that we "worship" where made up by drunk people!!

quote:

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Originally posted by The Lord of Nothings:
Exactly. It seemed like another cheap dig at Christiantiy. As someone who studies religions, I try to treat them with respect... and silly Christianity bashing (which i used to be guilty of) just annoys me.

See you, space cowboy.

~~~~~~~~~

Those who are different must stand united!

"Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased, and thus do we refute entropy."-- Spider Robinson
http://lon.blogspot.com -- Its a slightly less eloquent me.

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It wasn't a cheap dig, it was for all intents and purposes an abbreviation. The use of X for Christ has been explained already -- if you find offense in it, it's not my problem, it's yours.

Maure.

______________________________
Obfuscations and Inconsequentials: a journal