American Gods

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Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
believe in, these days? What would
the spheres of new "gods" be?

Gadgetry
National Defense
Space Exploration
Guardian Angels
UFOs
Wilderness preservation
Organised Crime
Celebrities
The Stock Market

 

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"David Johnston" <rgormannospam@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:4139f31d.90383127@news.telusplanet.net...
> Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
> bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
> characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
> believe in, these days? What would
> the spheres of new "gods" be?
>
> Gadgetry
> National Defense
> Space Exploration
> Guardian Angels
> UFOs
> Wilderness preservation
> Organised Crime
> Celebrities
> The Stock Market

It think it could be much more easily summed up in three:

Wealth
Fame
Power

The three spheres have some overlap, of course, but between them they
encompass everything else that people worship.


--
David Meadows
"We're like a poorly-oiled machine teetering on the brink
of a breakdown." -- Fred, Heroes #19
Heroes: a comic book www.heroes.force9.co.uk/scripts

 

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On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:14:40 +0100, "David Meadows"
<david@no.spam.here.uk> wrote:

>"David Johnston" <rgormannospam@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
>news:4139f31d.90383127@news.telusplanet.net...
>> Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
>> bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
>> characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
>> believe in, these days? What would
>> the spheres of new "gods" be?
>>
>> Gadgetry
>> National Defense
>> Space Exploration
>> Guardian Angels
>> UFOs
>> Wilderness preservation
>> Organised Crime
>> Celebrities
>> The Stock Market
>
>It think it could be much more easily summed up in three:
>
>Wealth
>Fame
>Power
>
>The three spheres have some overlap, of course, but between them they
>encompass everything else that people worship.

Really. And under which of those categories does the environmentalism
of a typical tree-hugger come?

Besides, I'm not looking for all-encompassing spheres but rather
distinctive spheres.

 

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I'd say right now in America 'Reality TV' is worshipped as a god.
Definitely not by me though.

 

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"David Johnston" <rgormannospam@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:413b4e3c.179259486@news.telusplanet.net...
> On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:14:40 +0100, "David Meadows"
> <david@no.spam.here.uk> wrote:
>
> >
> >It think it could be much more easily summed up in three:
> >
> >Wealth
> >Fame
> >Power
> >
> >The three spheres have some overlap, of course, but between them they
> >encompass everything else that people worship.
>
> Really. And under which of those categories does the environmentalism
> of a typical tree-hugger come?

What, exactly, does the environmentalism tree-hugger worship?


--
David Meadows
"We're like a poorly-oiled machine teetering on the brink
of a breakdown." -- Fred, Heroes #19
Heroes: a comic book www.heroes.force9.co.uk/scripts

 

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On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 23:19:01 +0100, "David Meadows"
<david@no.spam.here.uk> wrote:

>"David Johnston" <rgormannospam@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
>news:413b4e3c.179259486@news.telusplanet.net...
>> On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:14:40 +0100, "David Meadows"
>> <david@no.spam.here.uk> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >It think it could be much more easily summed up in three:
>> >
>> >Wealth
>> >Fame
>> >Power
>> >
>> >The three spheres have some overlap, of course, but between them they
>> >encompass everything else that people worship.
>>
>> Really. And under which of those categories does the environmentalism
>> of a typical tree-hugger come?
>
>What, exactly, does the environmentalism tree-hugger worship?
>

Why his idealised pastoral vision of the world.

 

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tystates@pennswoods.net (Ty States) wrote in message news:<f77058d0.0409051548.740fdd1@posting.google.com>...
> I'd say right now in America 'Reality TV' is worshipped as a god.
> Definitely not by me though.

Then what of Matt, the stooge in The Joe Schmo show? Is he a false
prophet? Or an ultra powerful icon/avatar/god because he is the only
real person there?

 

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On 6 Sep 2004 09:38:29 -0700, nini_pad@yahoo.com (michael price)
wrote:

>tystates@pennswoods.net (Ty States) wrote in message news:<f77058d0.0409051548.740fdd1@posting.google.com>...
>> I'd say right now in America 'Reality TV' is worshipped as a god.
>> Definitely not by me though.
>
> Then what of Matt, the stooge in The Joe Schmo show? Is he a false
>prophet? Or an ultra powerful icon/avatar/god because he is the only
>real person there?

More of a Saint of Reality

-----
"There'll be someone else sitting here for Comedy Central.
And that person... or woman... will have to face the fact
that this is the network built on... South Park."
- Craig Kilborn, The Daily Show

 

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rgormannospam@telusplanet.net (David Johnston) wrote in message news:<4139f31d.90383127@news.telusplanet.net>...
> Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
> bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
> characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
> believe in, these days? What would
> the spheres of new "gods" be?
>
> Gadgetry
> National Defense
> Space Exploration
> Guardian Angels
> UFOs
> Wilderness preservation
> Organised Crime
> Celebrities
> The Stock Market

Geez, are you all Europeans or something? You missed one of the
biggest gods America has - Automobiles.

Related to Automobiles would be Highways/Roads and possibly
Freedom- not in the fuzzy "Mom and Apple Pie" patriotism, but in
a more primal "Don't Tread on Me, I'm going to go where I want,
do what I want, and kill anyone who tries to stop me" fashion.
It's directly aopposed by Morality, and is one of the things
keeping America from becoming anohter Iran.

 

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Eric Tolle wrote:

> Geez, are you all Europeans or something? You missed one of the
> biggest gods America has - Automobiles.

Most fish do not notice water. ;-)

--
ZZzz |\ _,,,---,,_ Travis S. Casey <efindel@earthlink.net>
/,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ No one agrees with me. Not even me.
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_)

 

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schaduw@silcom.com (Eric Tolle) wrote in message news:<d07ba801.0409081237.54003a55@posting.google.com>...
> rgormannospam@telusplanet.net (David Johnston) wrote in message news:<4139f31d.90383127@news.telusplanet.net>...
> > Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
> > bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
> > characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
> > believe in, these days? What would
> > the spheres of new "gods" be?
> >
> > Gadgetry
> > National Defense
> > Space Exploration
> > Guardian Angels
> > UFOs
> > Wilderness preservation
> > Organised Crime
> > Celebrities
> > The Stock Market
>
> Geez, are you all Europeans or something? You missed one of the
> biggest gods America has - Automobiles.
>
> Related to Automobiles would be Highways/Roads and possibly
> Freedom- not in the fuzzy "Mom and Apple Pie" patriotism, but in
> a more primal "Don't Tread on Me, I'm going to go where I want,
> do what I want, and kill anyone who tries to stop me" fashion.
> It's directly aopposed by Morality, and is one of the things
> keeping America from becoming anohter Iran.

Guns. This, I think, could be a distinct sphere in the USA.

 

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"Brandon Blackmoor" <bblackmoor@blackgate.net> wrote in message
news:2qbgvhFt89nhU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Prince Charon wrote:
> >
> > Guns. This, I think, could be a distinct sphere
> > in the USA.
>
> I think the gods of Guns and of Automobiles would both be subordinate to
> the god of Independence, which i think is one of the driving myths of
> the USAmerican culture. And the god of Independece is, of course,
> directly oppose by the god of Control, whose worship has slowly expended
> over the past century or so, while the worship of Independence has
> become increasingly marginalized.
>
> The gods of Guns and Automobiles are also enemies of the god of Control,
> which of course seeks to control, and thus destroy, them.

But the god of Automobiles has enslaved himself and his followers to the god
of Oil, who is an agent of the god of Control.


--
David Meadows
"We're like a poorly-oiled machine teetering on the brink
of a breakdown." -- Fred, Heroes #19
Heroes: a comic book www.heroes.force9.co.uk/scripts

 

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Brandon Blackmoor wrote:

> Prince Charon wrote:
>
>>
>> Guns. This, I think, could be a distinct sphere
>> in the USA.
>
> I think the gods of Guns and of Automobiles would both be subordinate to
> the god of Independence, which i think is one of the driving myths of
> the USAmerican culture. And the god of Independece is, of course,
> directly oppose by the god of Control, whose worship has slowly expended
> over the past century or so, while the worship of Independence has
> become increasingly marginalized.

Counter-intuitively, most of the strongest apparent proponents of
Independence are quite in favour of exercising control over others.
They'd like all the independance for themselves I guess :>

--
Corey Murtagh
The Electric Monk
"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur!"

 

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"Eric Tolle" <schaduw@silcom.com> wrote in message
news:d07ba801.0409081237.54003a55@posting.google.com...
> rgormannospam@telusplanet.net (David Johnston) wrote in message
news:<4139f31d.90383127@news.telusplanet.net>...
> > Is the title of a Neil Gaiman novel about which I've heard nothing but
> > bad things. However, it isn't a bad premise for how to create super
> > characters. So what do Americans (and other people of the modern era)
> > believe in, these days? What would
> > the spheres of new "gods" be?
> >
> > Gadgetry
> > National Defense
> > Space Exploration
> > Guardian Angels
> > UFOs
> > Wilderness preservation
> > Organised Crime
> > Celebrities
> > The Stock Market
>
> Geez, are you all Europeans or something? You missed one of the
> biggest gods America has - Automobiles.
>
> Related to Automobiles would be Highways/Roads and possibly
> Freedom- not in the fuzzy "Mom and Apple Pie" patriotism, but in
> a more primal "Don't Tread on Me, I'm going to go where I want,
> do what I want, and kill anyone who tries to stop me" fashion.
> It's directly aopposed by Morality, and is one of the things
> keeping America from becoming anohter Iran.

Plus...
Computers
Internet
Videogames
Democracy
Conservistism
Liberalism
Freedom (needs to be listed twice IMHO)
The American Dream
After 9-11... Vengence

 

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EMonk wrote:
>
> Counter-intuitively, most of the strongest apparent proponents of
> Independence are quite in favour of exercising control over others.

What would religion be without hypocrisy?

bblackmoor
2004-09-12

 

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Brandon Blackmoor wrote:

> EMonk wrote:
>
>> Counter-intuitively, most of the strongest apparent proponents of
>> Independence are quite in favour of exercising control over others.
>
> What would religion be without hypocrisy?

Ummm... badly-selling C-grade fiction? :>

--
Corey Murtagh
The Electric Monk
"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur!"

 

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"David Meadows" <david@no.spam.here.uk> wrote in message news:<413b9252$0$51061$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>...
> What, exactly, does the environmentalism tree-hugger worship?
>

Quite often, Mother Nature/Gaia.

 

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>> What would religion be without hypocrisy?
>
>Ummm... badly-selling C-grade fiction? :>

Have you actually read the Bible? By this definition, the Bible is C-Grade
Fiction.

Captain Geek

 

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Detryxtyr wrote:
>
> Have you actually read the Bible? By this definition, the Bible is
> C-Grade Fiction.

Of course the Bible is actually Best Selling C-grade fiction.

--
Olivier Fanton (http://roles.datamancers.net/)
"Quand un lapin bouquine, il n'a pas besoin de lunettes."

 

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On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:18:34 +0200, "Olivier Fanton"
<ANTI.olivier.fanton@SPAM.free.fr> wrote:

>Detryxtyr wrote:
>>
>> Have you actually read the Bible? By this definition, the Bible is
>> C-Grade Fiction.
>
> Of course the Bible is actually Best Selling C-grade fiction.

The Bible is a collection of short stories and historical anecdotes,
some of which are pretty good.

 

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"David Johnston" <rgormannospam@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:41488088.62784270@news.telusplanet.net...
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:18:34 +0200, "Olivier Fanton"
> <ANTI.olivier.fanton@SPAM.free.fr> wrote:
>
> >Detryxtyr wrote:
> >>
> >> Have you actually read the Bible? By this definition, the Bible is
> >> C-Grade Fiction.
> >
> > Of course the Bible is actually Best Selling C-grade fiction.
>
> The Bible is a collection of short stories and historical anecdotes,
> some of which are pretty good.

Could have done with a good editor, though.


--
David Meadows
"We're like a poorly-oiled machine teetering on the brink
of a breakdown." -- Fred, Heroes #19
Heroes: a comic book www.heroes.force9.co.uk/scripts

 

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Before 9-11 for a lot of people. Including Arabs, Russian mafia types and
survivalists.

> After 9-11... Vengence
>
>

 

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Robert Duffy wrote:
> Before 9-11 for a lot of people. Including Arabs, Russian mafia types and
> survivalists.
>
>> After 9-11... Vengence

Sorry, but I have no idea what this post means. Lots of people existed
before "9-11", and these people would want vengeance after "9-11"...?

I don't get it. Why would the Russian mafia want vengeance after "9-11"?
Is this some crank conspiracy theory that I've somehow missed?

bblackmoor
2004-11-01

 

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> Sorry, but I have no idea what this post means. Lots of people existed
> before "9-11", and these people would want vengeance after "9-11"...?

How did you get that from my post? Somebody said that Vengeance would be a
good category after 9-11. I simply pointed out that there were a lot of
people who believed in vengeance before it. I think you read the post
again.

 

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I think it's stretching things quite a bit to call the bible history, except
in the cultural sense.

> The Bible is a collection of short stories and historical anecdotes,
> some of which are pretty good.
>