I'm a Janie Come Lately to this discussion, but I think most religions are pretty strange to someone on the outside looking in.

I used to have a Mormon co-worker who thought that Mennonites (my religion) were strange. I thought that was the pot calling the kettle black.

Another message board I frequent was going on about how weird Scientologists are. Someone else chimed in and said is the Scientologists belief in Thetans, aliens, etc really any stranger than Christians believing Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?

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Originally posted by aliasmoi:
Someone else chimed in and said is the Scientologists belief in Thetans, aliens, etc really any stranger than Christians believing Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?

Or either of them any more than mythologies like the ones Neil creates himself?

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Originally posted by Junglebum:

quote:

Originally posted by aliasmoi:
Someone else chimed in and said is the Scientologists belief in Thetans, aliens, etc really any stranger than Christians believing Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?

Or either of them any more than mythologies like the ones Neil creates himself?

Ummmm... let's not go there...

quote:

Originally posted by aliasmoi:

Ummmm... let's not go there...

I'm sorry. I don't know where my head was. Sometimes I start doing math with ideas and try to find similarities.

You're right, thanks.

Oh I don't fault you at all. Some people don't believe, and think all religions are myth. Others don't. I always tell my son that I believe because I find the world too upsetting apart from that. If it (meaning my religion) isn't true, and there is really no reason for any of this, I'd just as soon die right now.

quote:

Originally posted by aliasmoi:
Oh I don't fault you at all. Some people don't believe, and think all religions are myth. Others don't. I always tell my son that I believe because I find the world too upsetting apart from that. If it (meaning my religion) isn't true, and there is really no reason for any of this, I'd just as soon die right now.

I've found that I have my beliefs because I enjoy the hope they bring. Whether I believe everything is myth or not, my own myth (religion) is what makes me believe anything is possible.

I loved one of Neil's video files (which I can't find on this new site) of him at a reading of American Gods. Someone asks him if he believes in what he writes.

He said he believes it when he writes it. He also said it wouldn't surprise him if he bumped into one of his characters but he doesn't expect to.

I like that.

I like that too. I like the idea of a whole other world existing right along side of ours, and that maybe we could stumble into it by mistake.

I take it you enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia? Then again, I guess it'd work for Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods...ah, nevermind.

I liked your idea, too.

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Originally posted by The Scoundrel:
I take it you enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia? Then again, I guess it'd work for Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods...ah, nevermind.

I liked your idea, too.

Thanks. I haven't gotten around to Stardust yet though I've had it for years. Neverwhere was a real experience for me. I read it twice before I saw the TV Show on DVD.

quote:

Originally posted by The Scoundrel:
I take it you enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia? Then again, I guess it'd work for Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods...ah, nevermind.

I liked your idea, too.

Yes, all of the above. Well, I haven't read Stardust yet either, but I will...

That's the really great thing about Neil's books. He makes us believe whatever he's believing at that moment. While you're reading, it's all completely real. There really IS an underground world in London, there really ARE gods living among us that we create, there ARE beings who aren't gods who control everything. It's all completely real because the author and our own imaginations combine to make it real.

As for actual organized religion... well. Not saying I'm right or wrong on this, but I'd find it hard to believe that anyone with such a wide and interesting imagination could ever be satisfied with the simple pigeonholes of any single religion. I would vote that he probably views it a lot like American Gods... they're all correct for whoever believes in them.

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Originally posted by lunameow:

As for actual organized religion... well. Not saying I'm right or wrong on this, but I'd find it hard to believe that anyone with such a wide and interesting imagination could ever be satisfied with the simple pigeonholes of any single religion. I would vote that he probably views it a lot like American Gods... they're all correct for whoever believes in them.

I've been thinking pretty much exactly the same thing about him.

I wonder what the world is like for people that don't read fantasy and the like. You know how people who grow up in areas like the old worlds, who believe in all the wood spirits or whatever, but instead grow up in a city like New York or Chicago: what kind of city gods are there? I know that's what American Gods is about in it's own way but are there 'real' modern myths or American myths (but not Native American) out there about city spirits?

What about The Mothman Prophecies? I know that's not city but is it completely American? Does the Mothman like figure show up in other parts of the world before here? I don't know that much about it. I'm not all that well read.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Junglebum,

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but are there 'real' modern myths or American myths (but not Native American) out there about city spirits?

Oh my. I shudder to think what the true "American" gods of the cities would be like, when you look at the things that people really worship, deep in their hearts, not what they go to church once a week and pretend to pray to.

I would hope that our own American gods would have evolved from places like the stories Mark Twain and others have told that are so much about the heart of America. Sadly, though, I think a lot of our gods would be based in greed, power, corruption, and lies. Meh. I'm far too cynical. I blame city living.

Hmmm ... the Spirit of London shows up in The Merlin Conspiracy by Neil's friend Diana Wynne Jones. (Also the spirit of Old Sarum, who goes about grousing that "It's not easy being a rotten borough!")

- Cho

Jungle, you might want to check tapsforum.com. They've got a couple of threads on Mothman under Cryptozoology.

quote:

Originally posted by Chomiji:
Hmmm ... the Spirit of London shows up in The Merlin Conspiracy by Neil's friend Diana Wynne Jones. (Also the spirit of Old Sarum, who goes about grousing that "It's not easy being a rotten borough!")

- Cho

That's a pretty good book. Although, I had a friend complain that she didn't like the way Diana Wynne Jones used the Celtic gods....

I tend to believe that things are real for those who believe in them, a lot like the whole thing of American Gods.

I have said this on other posts, and I will say it again. People overgeneralize too much and stereotype too much. Who cares what Neil's religion is? It doesn't really matter does it? If he's Jewish, Scientoligist, Christian, Pagan, whatever his case may be, does it matter? I believe that this world will not come to peace until people stop worrying about how others carry on with their life. I am not saying it's okay to kill people or anything of that sort. But I mean, noone should really care who or what another person worships. In short words, people need to mind their own damn business when it comes to the private personal preference of things, such as religion.

Sweetie, your rants are out of place. The religion question is a legitimate question. Sometimes we have people coming to the board doing homework on Neil, and sometimes they need to know what religion an author is. I understand your railing against dictates of society, but honestly, this isn't the place for it.

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I believe that this world will not come to peace until people stop worrying about how others carry on with their life. . . But I mean, noone should really care who or what another person worships. In short words, people need to mind their own damn business when it comes to the private personal preference of things, such as religion.

I have to disagree with your opinion. People aren't here to criticize Neil's religion or belief system, it's just a matter of curiosity. I think most people on this site love Neil and that his choice of "religion" doesn't affect our opinions of him. He writes wonderful stories that are full of gods and magical creatures: it's only natural to wonder what he believes in.

As far as the world not coming to peace until people stop worrying about others is misguided. In fact, it's not until we understand why people believe the way they do that the world will come to peace. Sometimes it can lead to very interesting discussions and learning experiences. Discussion of course being the important word.

Firstly, Aita, I understand that, and I know it may be a bit out of place, but I can't help how I feel, y'know? And I understand people do reports, in my case, I'm not doing a report about Neil right now, but an I-Search paper on the topic of writing a novel. Which altogether seems quite funny, since I'm writing a novel myself at the moment, as well as the paper for my English class for how to write a novel. Part of that requires me to do an interview with an expert on the art of writing a novel, which, what better way than to interview Neil? Arguably one of the best Novelists of our time.

Secondly, Junglebum, I know it may be out of curiousity, but where did the curiousity come from? Because it all bounces back to society in general, having their noses stuck up everybody else's butt. I'm not saying you, I am speaking in general for society as a whole. Everyone is different, but society dictates a lot of stuff, and I look to the day when people set aside downcasting each other's differences. But the way I feel, not everyone feels, but I feel that if everyone could respect everyone's differences, and not dig their noses up each other's butt, then this world wouldbe a peaceful place. I don't say this out of meanness, I just say how I feel. I'm not saying its okay for people to know, I am just challenging the fundamental way of thinking that society has grown into the human mind.