Gods You'd Never Worship

The Emperor of Mankind · Jun 8, 2015

Gods I wouldn't worship?

The Abrahamic god.
Ba'al - he is a barbarian god for barbarian peoples.
In fact, any god who demands human sacrifice in his or her cult.
Baphomet. He creeps me the **** out.

I'll post more later if I think of any.

dgirl1986 · Jun 8, 2015

Am I permitted to respond to this. I have one at the very top of my list I would avoid like the plague.

`mud · Jun 9, 2015

hey Dgirl,
What's stopping you ?????
~
'mud

jonathan180iq · Jun 9, 2015

All of 'em...

Frolicking_Fox · Jun 9, 2015

The Abrahamic God
Any monotheistic Gods
Any Shinto God
Any Hindu God

Nietzsche · Jun 9, 2015

Frolicking_Fox said:
Any Shinto God
Any Hindu God

The Gods found in India & Japan aren't that radically different from what one finds in Europe. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're all just variant names of the same handful, but they're most certainly at least extended family. Especially Norse/Germanic & Shinto. A truly staggering amount of thematic overlap.

Jainarayan · Jun 9, 2015

Nietzsche said:
The Gods found in India & Japan aren't that radically different from what one finds in Europe. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're all just variant names of the same handful, but they're most certainly at least extended family. Especially Norse/Germanic & Shinto. A truly staggering amount of thematic overlap.

Given that many of us do not believe the gods are omnipotent or omniscient it's very possible there are multiple thunder and rain gods; multiple gods of death; multiple gods of justice; multiple gods of fertility, wealth, love, etc. I don't think Thor, Indra, Perkunas, or Perun can be everywhere at once. Nor can Hel, Hades, Yama, and so on.

Shiranui117 · Jun 9, 2015

Quintessence said:
Human cultures have come up with all sorts of god-concepts throughout history that represent (or are) aspects of reality. For a moment, entertain the idea that all of these god-concepts of the world's culture and religions are true (in an ideological sense if nothing else). Of these god-concepts, which top the list of ones you would never consider paying respect to? Put another way, what are the aspects of reality that you dislike or disdain? Does the idea of honoring war make your pacifistic heart wrench in your chest? What about paying homage to a personification of chaos and disorder? Perhaps the hearth and home is too boring for your adventurous soul?

I wouldn't worship any Aztec or Mayan gods. The idea of self-torture and regular human sacrifice to please any god is appalling to me, regardless of the theology behind it.
I also just don't think I would click very well with the Hindu gods; that entire tradition is just a little too foreign to me, nothing against Hindus at all. It's just not a fit for me. A lot of the theology is awesome, though.
Any god like Santa Muerte just would not sit well with me.
EDIT: Also, no to the Canaanite and Egyptian gods.

dgirl1986 · Jun 9, 2015

I wouldnt worship the Christian god, Allah and potentially Shiva. I do not know of any others that I would stay away from like the plague. They do not give you any sense of confidence.

Baladas · Jun 9, 2015

Any god that demands blind obedience and/or thirsts for blood.

Quintessence · Jun 10, 2015

Shiranui117 said:
I wouldn't worship any Aztec or Mayan gods. The idea of self-torture and regular human sacrifice to please any god is appalling to me, regardless of the theology behind it.

I think there might be a good teaching moment here for us to consider. There is a difference between the gods themselves, and the practices that may have been used historically to honor them (or what the people do). This is an especially important issue for contemporary Pagans, who frequently draw inspiration from historical Pagan pantheons to build a new practice. When we do this, we leave behind the elements of practice that are inappropriate for the modern day, or elements that just don't jive with us. Perhaps to put it another way, it's not necessarily the fault of the gods that humans chose particular methods of honoring them. In fairness, I know very little about the historical pantheons of Mesoamerica, but I don't feel it would be fair of me to judge those gods simply because its followers did things which we today regard as taboo. I don't to that with the Christian god either - Christians may do all sorts of silly things in the name of their god, but to me, that's not a reflection of the god itself. If that makes any sense?

Shiranui117 said:
I also just don't think I would click very well with the Hindu gods; that entire tradition is just a little too foreign to me, nothing against Hindus at all. It's just not a fit for me. A lot of the theology is awesome, though.

I feel the same way about Hinduism. It is beautiful, but the aesthetic doesn't quite match my own spirit. I don't think I'd say I'd never worship those gods, though. I'll worship pretty much any god, either out of respect to that god itself, or to respect the people I am interacting with. Basically, if I sat in at a Mosque, I would kneel to Allah with the rest of them. It's just not a god I'd worship with any regularity.

Quintessence · Jun 10, 2015

Also – wow, I created this thread forever ago. Since that time, the number of gods I would never worship is still zero. Probably comes with the territory of seeing intrinsic value in all things (yes, even gods of taboo things, which I can and have worshiped already). There is much strength to be gained by honoring and learning from that which you find taboo; the hated things, the disliked things. It challenges oneself, helps one grow, provides a broader context for things.

Riverwolf · Jun 11, 2015

Quintessence said:
Also – wow, I created this thread forever ago. Since that time, the number of gods I would never worship is still zero. Probably comes with the territory of seeing intrinsic value in all things (yes, even gods of taboo things, which I can and have worshiped already). There is much strength to be gained by honoring and learning from that which you find taboo; the hated things, the disliked things. It challenges oneself, helps one grow, provides a broader context for things.

Something I'm coming to learn, myself. Loki has been one major focal point in my learning these, but so have Frey and Freya. These two Gods are quite promiscuous, and even have a sexual relationship with each other, according to a few sources (one of which was my own intuition). But rather than seeing this as something taboo, I'm embracing it in the stories I write about them.

Aupmanyav · Jun 12, 2015

dgirl1986 said:
.. and potentially Shiva.

Sorry to hear that. Perhaps you do not know Shiva well. He is such a fun God. He is one of the few Gods (which others, I do not know) who appeared in man-woman form, 'Ardhanarishwara'.

steveb1 · Jun 14, 2015

Quintessence said:
Human cultures have come up with all sorts of god-concepts throughout history that represent (or are) aspects of reality. For a moment, entertain the idea that all of these god-concepts of the world's culture and religions are true (in an ideological sense if nothing else). Of these god-concepts, which top the list of ones you would never consider paying respect to? Put another way, what are the aspects of reality that you dislike or disdain? Does the idea of honoring war make your pacifistic heart wrench in your chest? What about paying homage to a personification of chaos and disorder? Perhaps the hearth and home is too boring for your adventurous soul?

For me, it's not a question of worship, as others have suggested. I believe that worship is demeaning to humankind and useless to God. Having said that, Gods, God-definitions, God-categories I would reject or flee from would include: a punishing (here or hereafter) deity; a moody, ill-tempered sky father; a cthonically semi-conscious earth mother; a warrior deity; a creator and/or a designer; any symbolic representative of the worst human traits; a sacrifice-worship-obedience-demanding deity; an unfaithful and/or traitorous deity; any deity that promotes itself through fear; a deity that performs miracles but doesn't nurture spiritual transformation; the Gnostic Demiurge.

dgirl1986 · Jun 16, 2015

Aupmanyav said:
Sorry to hear that. Perhaps you do not know Shiva well. He is such a fun God. He is one of the few Gods (which others, I do not know) who appeared in man-woman form, 'Ardhanarishwara'.

I do like the look of Shiva but all accounts I have read of Shiva have not been pleasant ones.

Whiterain · Jun 16, 2015

Take a giant step back, reach around yourself and think which deity is the worst.

Jeeez... Then celebrate you're allowed to think this way. It's fantastic at the moment.

The Shinto Gods seemed fantastic to me.

Loki told a joke but you wouldn't get it.

Good job Pagans. Good reading in this thread.

People subject how we interpret the Gods and the Gods communicate in comprehensible ways and others. It's hard to explain.

Also Thor is a giant by his proportions. It says he's Half-Giant in the myth, but he's freaking huge.

Gods You'd Never Worship

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic

dgirl1986

Big Queer Chesticles!

`mud

Just old

jonathan180iq

Well-Known Member

Frolicking_Fox

Artemis, Athena, and Buddha. Anarcho-Communist.

Nietzsche

The Last Prussian

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

Shiranui117

Pronounced Shee-ra-noo-ee

dgirl1986

Big Queer Chesticles!

Baladas

An Págánach

Quintessence

Consults with Trees

Quintessence

Consults with Trees

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru

steveb1

Member

dgirl1986

Big Queer Chesticles!

Whiterain

Get me off of this planet