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I don't see how that's any different from any other religious character. All the supernatural ones are made up too, you know.

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emergentcypher 12y ago
Precisely. All this deity needs is some proselytizing and it'll be no more or less legitimate than any of the other made-up religious characters.
Grue3 12y ago
Yeah, it's totally feasible that some adherent of this religion could've looked up its gods in Wikipedia and now worships this guy for real. Sure, in such case it's a "self-fulfilling prophecy", but it wouldn't be much different from John Frum cult or whatever.
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logicallee 12y ago
Generally not by encyclopedias though.
- twic 12y ago
  Ah, but how would you know?
mikeash 12y ago
There's a major difference between a deity that people sincerely worshipped and a deity that one guy just made up and nobody ever actually believed in. Even if you're a hard-core atheist who places Yahweh on the same level as the boogeyman (which describes me pretty well), you should still recognize the cultural significance.
- balabaster 12y ago
  Where do you think the "authentic" deity came from? The culture has to be built atop something. It all starts from somewhere.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    I'm well aware that this stuff is ultimately all made up. That doesn't change the fact that there's a massive difference between one that's made up and nobody ever took seriously, and one that is or was seriously worshipped by people who sincerely believe it's real.
    - balabaster 12y ago
      You only need 12 disciples to start a religion ;)
      - mikeash 12y ago
        That's just what they want you to think!
        balabaster 12y ago
        lol
- imaginenore 12y ago
  So the only difference is popularity. Religions like Scientology and Mormonism pretty much proved that certain people will believe anything, there's no limit to gullibility.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    The popularity difference between millions or billions of followers and zero is important.

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emergentcypher 12y ago

Precisely. All this deity needs is some proselytizing and it'll be no more or less legitimate than any of the other made-up religious characters.

Grue3 12y ago

Yeah, it's totally feasible that some adherent of this religion could've looked up its gods in Wikipedia and now worships this guy for real. Sure, in such case it's a "self-fulfilling prophecy", but it wouldn't be much different from John Frum cult or whatever.

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logicallee 12y ago

Generally not by encyclopedias though.

twic 12y ago
Ah, but how would you know?

mikeash 12y ago

There's a major difference between a deity that people sincerely worshipped and a deity that one guy just made up and nobody ever actually believed in. Even if you're a hard-core atheist who places Yahweh on the same level as the boogeyman (which describes me pretty well), you should still recognize the cultural significance.

balabaster 12y ago
Where do you think the "authentic" deity came from? The culture has to be built atop something. It all starts from somewhere.
- mikeash 12y ago
  I'm well aware that this stuff is ultimately all made up. That doesn't change the fact that there's a massive difference between one that's made up and nobody ever took seriously, and one that is or was seriously worshipped by people who sincerely believe it's real.
  - balabaster 12y ago
    You only need 12 disciples to start a religion ;)
    - mikeash 12y ago
      That's just what they want you to think!
      - balabaster 12y ago
        lol
imaginenore 12y ago
So the only difference is popularity. Religions like Scientology and Mormonism pretty much proved that certain people will believe anything, there's no limit to gullibility.
- mikeash 12y ago
  The popularity difference between millions or billions of followers and zero is important.