The General Religion, Mythology, and Theology Thread

Well, modern translations of the bible certainly have some bloopers in them. Like that bit where it claims that insects have four legs...

Maui is cool. He's Ocean Thor!

1) it's hard to say. Perhaps suffering has some sort of purpose.

2) Not necessarily. I'd say God has a moral obligation to act the way he does. He does not necessarily like it but doesn't have a choice.

3) There's probably a few.

You should look into the myths of the Lost Immortal, if you can find them in print. He's a figure in a number of tribal stories among those Bantu peoples who migrated south and east.

A bit of a trickster, that one — whether he's in escaped-slave, hobo-wizard or magic-chief mode. But, he always pays for what he gets. Often with interest, considering he's not perfect and whenever he messes up, it comes back to royally bite him — even if it takes a hundred years. Whatever the story, you come out with the impression that, whatever the perks, immortality sucks and that the universe absolutely hates people who artificially attain it, whether they had choice on that or not

edited 9th Dec '16 6:37:16 PM by Euodiachloris

Sources?

Oral stories and locally published books found in South African libraries, I'm afraid. :/ Just like most of my tokoloshe and Mantis tales.

Are there any lunar deities that are evil, or it least considered quite sinister or dangerous in the religious/mythical traditions that talk about them?

There's the moon from Majora's Mask.

What about real-life religions/myths?

I actually went through a list, and none so far are strictly speaking bad or evil. I did find that the angel Sariel, who taught mankind the phases of the moon which was considered proscribed knowledge at the time (stretching "diety" a bit).

Otherwise, Mano the Sami goddess of the moon was considered dangerous if proper decorum was not followed. However, this description extended to most shamanistic/animistic dieties, as they were as much as forces of nature rather than just people.

I guess the moon just seems inherently benevolent. It's like a less-blindy sun.

At various times, the goddess Hecate was associated with the moon and with lunar phases. And though classical mythographers were often inconsistent about whether she'd qualify as outright evil ... well, her traditional bailiwicks of necromancy, poisons, and ghosts don't exactly scream sweetness/light. I'd say she at least meets your "sinister or dangerous" criterion.

edited 21st Dec '16 7:43:42 AM by Jhimmibhob

The Japanese moon god Tsukuyomi wasn't evil, per say, but he does seem to be characterized as a bit of a jackass. He murdered the goddess Uke Mochi because he was disgusted by how she produced food by vomiting and defecating, an act that caused his sister Amaterasu to declare how she never wanted to see him again.

The concept of outright evil is mostly a Western European one, derived from Christianity. Few, if any, indigenous mythologies would include something like that.

That's why I mention the option of the deity being "sinister or dangerous". As benevolent as some non-Western European mythologies' deities are, they can be so volatile that "worshipping" is much more about avoiding their wrath than extolling any positive traits.

edited 21st Dec '16 10:49:23 AM by MarqFJA

Ever heard of Zoroastianism? And, much later, Manicheism?

As for gods that are just plain bad and oozing with badness and malice, how about Discord, Fear, and Panic, among the Greeks? What about Loki and their progeny? Seth was also portrayed as straightforward evil depending on the time in place in his native Egypt.

But you're right, most gods behave either like forces of nature, or like Lords and Kings, that is to say, self-centered, thin-skinned, status-obsessed, rapist... holy shit. I just pictured Trup as Zeus.

The comparison is... disturbingly accurate. I mean there are differences of course. Zeus only had one wife (who was also his sister) and and Ganymede would probably be safe from Trump's attention. But in the broad strokes...

Comparing Trump to Zeus is, to be honest, an insult to Zeus, because that guy has a lot of positive traits that are definitely absent in Trump. The Donald is nowhere near as badass as Zeus, for one, even if we account for the fact that Zeus is a god rather than a mere mortal man.

Well, there's no merit in being born with Super-Strength, nor is there in being born a billionaire.

Now, if you tell me Zeus ever showed an ounce of courage in the face of real danger...

Well, there was the business with his dad, but he was a grown god at the time, so maybe Chronos wasn't all that formidable to begin with.

With beautiful women, it's like a magnet, I don't even wait, I just turn into something they like and start fucking them. I once turned into a literal golden shower, would you believe it?

edited 21st Dec '16 12:54:20 PM by TheHandle

Early civilizations often had unpredictable and hostile gods, as per the environment humans lived in (floods, earthquakes etc.).

Disrespect the forest and it will swallow you whole.

There's the time when he alone stood up to Typhon, whereas all the other Olympians ran with their tails between their legs. Sure, Zeus lost the first fight... but that's why we call it the first fight. The second one ended with him throwing the damn abomination into the depths of the Earth / Greek underworld and imprisoning him there forever.

Modern surfers talk in the same way about the ocean. It sure won't treat them like they're no Moanas, that's for sure.

@Zeus: fine. If he was capable of losing and fought anyway, putting himself at risk, that makes him better than Trump.

There's still one thing they both have in common: they're 'reliable' with the LADIES (there are so many to deflower!) LADIES (looks, proximity to power!)

edited 21st Dec '16 1:44:17 PM by TheHandle

Not to mention BEATING TYPHON OVER THE HEAD WITH A FREAKING MOUNTAIN!

I love mythology.

edited 21st Dec '16 1:35:59 PM by MapleSamurai

That would make a great public relations slogan: "Zeus: Better than Trump!"

As for malevolent Gods- fine, although I would classify dieties like Loki, Coyote, etc. as more chaotic than evil, at least before their myths were "christianized".

Iirc, the Greek religion is notably amoral, with most of its deities being neutral. Christianity is relatively black and white by comparison.