Even were they to exist, how deluded would you have to be to believe that praying to gods and demons would bear any fruit?
Imagine you are a divine, eternal being, trying to go about your infinite days, your existence being constantly interrupted by countless vermin, begging you to do some annoying, minor trivialities for them, while offering you nothing of value in return, if they offer you anything at all. You offer me your soul? YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE ONE!.
Just think about if your kitchen was invaded by ants.
I bet a lot of them think of you as a god, begging you to gift them your sugar, while their writhing mass undulates around your pantry, no doubt performing some ant prayer ritual to summon you and shower them with your sweets as a reward.
The best they can realistically hope for is you laying out some poison pills for them to carry back to their colony, killing their queen and subsequently everyone else.
At worst, it ends with you pouring a vat of molten aluminium down their nest, leaving nothing but a dendric monument to their hubris.
Stop praying to superior beings, or you are going to regret it.
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Assuming there is no alternative universe that the gods live in, the gods are limited to manipulations in the same universe that mortals live in. Why not try to make it as fair and equitable as possible? A superior being should have compassion for lesser beings.
Who you talking too Raggy?
@ragingloli Well then forget about compassion. What if cockroaches are the only pets available? If the roaches are the only creatures with the sentience to acknowledge your existence (and therefore fear you) aren’t you apt to favor a select few to demonstrate your omnipotence? Don’t gods crave worship?
So you pick a select few and squash the rest, but not before brainwashing them all into thinking that dying is something to be desired so they can hang out with you for all eternity.
Which brings up another question….why is a miracle when God saves someone from certain death, when being with God would be even better?
@ragingloli , Cockroaches do not have consciousness. Even if what we feel is minuscule compared to the gods, we are nevertheless capable of feeling and understanding.
Well a God or Demon would receive your worship and praise, which some texts believe is the payoff.
Well, they may get them but they ignore them.
@Dutchess III no no. Once the god(s) pick a select few, that few will dedicate its existence to squashing the rest as the “will of the gods” and in the name of the same.
After all, it is the select few responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of the gods in the first place.
Well, if there is a God of some sort, I don’t think we could really fathom what “going about their day” is like. I mean, I’ve never understood prayer as simply “asking for things”, the way people pray to win a football game or something, but also a means of thanking the deity or just talking to them. So it has more purposes than simply representing the petty desires of humans.
Let’s just say I don’t think any deities are “annoyed” by prayer! It seems like most traditional understandings of deities imply that they require a lot of praise.
@stanleybmanly Pretty sure it depends on who’s most obedient to the deity, on who gains favor…lol
I too have often wondered what possible use an omnipotent god would have for adoration. The concept is too Trumplike for my liking.
Quite. You’d be praying and they’d be laughing at you!
@Demosthenes Not all requests are as petty as a child’s. You could be praying to God to let your child live, but the Gods will just ignore you as quick as they ignore a 3 year old praying for a pony.
@stanleybmanly the adoration translates into taxes and monetary offerings and bribes for the powers that be.
Randy Newman has the same take in his classic tune “that’s why I love mankind.”
I would think a god would be, at best, bemused by our petitions. Bemused, but not really inclined to act. The gods will do as they will, regardless of how much we plead to them.
I answer prayers. At my lesiure. As far as I know I only have one follower on Fluther. I don’t like visitors at my apartment. So It is a toss up if I always answer prayers.
@RedDeerGuy1 If you’re going to mock God then you won’t have that one.
@KNOWITALL I’m not mocking God. I am just being honest. Maybe a little tongue in cheek. 20,000 years worth of visions should qualify for small (g)od status. I usually give to panhandlers, but not always.
If you don’t believe in God there is no down side to prayer. If you do believe, again there is no down side.
Your scenario about ants doesn’t hold up. There are mant ant farms that hte owner is god. Whereas they can’t communicate with them, the ants wholly depend on the owner for their existence. Where’s the down side if they ask for a little sugar?
let the believers believe and the godless heathens be godless heathens.
I’ve said this before but it bears repeating.
When I was a little kid, I wanted a bicycle more than anything so I prayed for a bike every night. As time went by, I learned that God didn’t work that way, so I stole a bike and a prayed for forgiveness.
“If you don’t believe in God there is no down side to prayer. If you do believe, again there is no down side.”
Unless god is like Crom, who despises weakness and sees prayers as a sign of weakness.
@Red Deer You are funny, see thats why I followed you lol
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