Which god? List of gods a good idea?

[Ennazus]

I am thinking of compiling my own list of humanity's gods-- past and present. (Found several good ones Googling, but would do my own.)

People have asked me "How can you NOT believe in God?" or "Everybody believes in god!" , when they find out I am an atheist. When I respond "which god?", I hear things like, "Well, there is only one god!" or "What do you mean, WHICH god? The god of the bible, of course."

Would a list of gods with Yahweh buried deep in the "Y" section illustrate my "which god" answer better than , "There have been many gods, Zeus, Thor, blah, blah, blah...?"

It might make people understand my disbelief better, if they see their "one true god" on a list of paper with many other "true" gods.

Has anybody else tried to illustrate this "which god?" question in this way? Or is there a better way to answer the questions of coworkers and acquaintances who can't understand that atheists really, truly DON'T believe in their god?

[keyser_soze]

A small sampling of just a couple regions(and these are not all era's). I stopped on the greek one because there are about 50 more and I got tired of typing. This is no small task, there are thousands of these things. An interesting idea however, I think I would not be opposed to assisting on such a task. Do you wish to pursue it(assuming there is no such list already available out there)?

norse
Njörd Freyr Frigg Freyja Nanna Skade/Skadi Svipdag or Hermod
Odin Bor Frigg Thor Tyr Loki Heimdall Ulle Sif Bragi Idun Balder Ve Vili Vidar Höd Forseti Aegir Ran Hel

egyptian
amen anubis bast bes chons dua geb hathor isis ka maat min mut nephthys nut osiris qetesh re selket set shu sobek taweret thoth wepwawet

indian
indra surya agni vayu varuna yama kubera soma ganesh kartikeya krishna balarama ramachandra sitadevi hanuman vasudeva

greek
anibar aphrodite apollo ares artemis athena chaos cronus dionysus eros hades hephaestus hera hermes poseidon zeus

[Roland98]

I remember seeing just such a list on this board before; however, with the search function not functioning properly, I can't find it. I think someone posted it over in GRD. Just let me know if you'd like this thread moved there and maybe someone can help. Otherwise, we can focus the conversation here on the rest of your questions.

[Celluloid Sunburn]

This (http://elephanticity.250x.com/main.html) site has an awful impressive list of gods (over 3000) in the pascal's wager section (right here) (http://elephanticity.250x.com/wager.html). It also lists 1,044 distinctly different churches too. A really fun little site, overall. :)

edited to add:
It's sort of an atheist/skeptic page masquerading as a crackpot parody (crackpot as in TimeCube). Anyway, it's well worth checking out.

[Belle]

Originally posted by Celluloid Sunburn
This (http://elephanticity.250x.com/main.html) site has an awful impressive list of gods (over 3000) in the pascal's wager section (right here) (http://elephanticity.250x.com/wager.html). It also lists 1,044 distinctly different churches too. A really fun little site, overall. :)

edited to add:
It's sort of an atheist/skeptic page masquerading as a crackpot parody (crackpot as in TimeCube). Anyway, it's well worth checking out.

Whew! What a list!!!!

Anyway I think a comprehensivelist of the various gods and dieties is a good idea. I'd really like a list that contained how long they were worshipped, during what time period and by what society. Ok that's a lot of work but if I'm a really good girl maybe Santa will put the list under my tree next year.;)

[keyser_soze]

http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deities


Still not comprehensive though, I saw a few that were missing.

[Ennazus]

Thanks, all. I am going to check out the provided links.

I picture a list with thousands of names (tiny font!), front and back. I could then present this list to people who question my "which god" answer.

_____________

(me) What do I mean which god? Well, there have been LOTS of
gods! I would have to consult my list...

(them) "Your list? WHat do you mean a list?

(me) "My list of gods people have believed in through the ages"

(them) "Well, mine is the real god."

(me) "That's what people felt about the other gods."

(them) "Well, I don't believe in those gods."

(me) "Well, I don't believe in yours, either."

_____________

I suppose it's my dream that the exhaustive list with their "true" Yahweh in tiny font amongst many other gods would make an impact. (and of course help them understand how I could dare to disbelieve in their god!) Could that really work? Might they finally understand!?

It reminds me of a tshirt my husband has with the Milky Way galaxy and an arrow pointing to a teeny-tiny planet. It says "you are here". That's where Yahweh should be, on a list with many others and no different from them, either.

[Ennazus]

Originally posted by Roland98
I remember seeing just such a list on this board before; however, with the search function not functioning properly, I can't find it. I think someone posted it over in GRD. Just let me know if you'd like this thread moved there and maybe someone can help. Otherwise, we can focus the conversation here on the rest of your questions.

I would like to hear if anybody has ever tried to illustrate their atheism with a printed list or verbal list of gods argument. Any success with that? If not, What is the general opinion about the possible effectiveness of such a presentation? Would that be too condescending and come across , "Here's my list of BS gods I don't believe in..., yours is just a name on a page, hon. "

I would want it to be an effective illustration of the way I view their god (one of many possible) and not as a put down on the person or their beliefs.

If you think it would be best to split and move the godlist question to GRD and leave my coworker question here, feel free. Thank you.

[Roland98]

It seems to fit fine here with the current discussion. :)

[rustypouch]

To cover all your bases, expressing devotion to all the gods would be a good bet.

Try the god of the month club (http://community-2.webtv.net/magentashadow/GOMC/) for starters.

[tracer]

Originally posted by Suzanne**Atheist
When I respond "which god?", I hear things like, "Well, there is only one god!"
... to which you could reply "Then why does the Old Testament explicitly name several other gods as gods?"

[Gawen]

Someone here put out a list (I believe it was one of the moderators) that if printed out in #12 font Word format would probably write 6 pages...LOL. I'm sorry, but I can't remember exactly where and who did it. Hopefully, he/she will see this thread and add it here for you.

[Ennazus]

Originally posted by Gawen
Someone here put out a list (I believe it was one of the moderators) that if printed out in #12 font Word format would probably write 6 pages...LOL. I'm sorry, but I can't remember exactly where and who did it. Hopefully, he/she will see this thread and add it here for you.

6 pages in a #12 font! Wow! I will have to call it my pamphlet, instead of my list! :-)

[joedad]

Sure wish I could remember the title, but there's a reference book out there, a huge thing, with just about every god, spirit and phantasm from human history listed. Seems like there were tens of thousands of entries. I wanted to buy the thing about a year ago but couldn't find one at a reasonable price.

If I were going to have a book and/or list, that would be the one. It was listed at Amazon but darn if I can find it again.

[WinAce]

That wouldn't be Gods, Goddesses and Monsters: An Encyclopedia of World Mythology (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0439042895/InternetInfidels/), by any chance? ;)

There was also the Encyclopedia of Gods mentioned in an II debate which I wanted to get at one point, but the reviews said it sucked.

Also, I much prefer the subtle approach when comparing gods. Rather than downgrading a god to the status of ones they don't believe in, try to demonstrate how those gods they feel are fictional are no worse instead. I.e., use a variation of the ancient Greek vs. Christianity (http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/alex_matulich/why_i_believe/8_apndx.html) approach.