I think it's a refreshing point of view to see fleshed out, after the hordes of religious references, characters and literal gods that characters themselves are, or see frequently.
That being said, what separates a character like Superman from being a god if Thor is? Little more than a title.
Similarly, the DCU has many abstract forces to reckon with. If they were real, how would we separate the ones that carry religious context from the ones that are entirely alien in nature? I don't think, from a perspective such as Mr. Terrific's, that it would be entirely possible.
Put like that, it makes sense. But then again, for all the random supermen, cosmic beings and artifacts of power, both Marvel and DC have a person where the buck stops with them. TOAA and Source (?)
I can understand that. But at a certain point it becomes utter lunacy to make such distinctions. Take the Living Tribunal, he's so powerful that even if he doesn't conform to your preconceived notions of God as per the standard Abrahamic traditions he's as close to a God as you're likely to ever meet.
Why not call him a God? What does he need in your eyes to earn that title? Same for the Spectre's boss. Why can't Mister Terrific call Him God?
__________________
“Where the longleaf pines are whispering
to him who loved them so.
Where the faint murmurs now dwindling
echo o’er tide and shore."
-A Grave Epitaph in Santa Rosa County, Florida; I wish I could remember the man's name.
what's the point of calling the LT god? if you're gonna water down the absolute and eternal quality of the concept, why not come down to something less remote, a power that does have a day-to-day impact, in the comic universe... say The Phoenix Force or something.
God is meant to be the ultimate answer, not an interim fix.
You're basically just defining the title of god to be anything powerful enough. That doesn't really work. Would you call the AIM scientists gods for making a cosmic cube?
I'm asking what makes a God if not power/knowledge. The word becomes meaningless unless it has some kind of concrete definition.
There's a quote from a Futurama game that sums up my view quite nicely:
"You found me out... I'm not really a god... I'm * cough* * cough* just an ordinary... Eternal, omniscient, superintelligent being."
__________________
“Where the longleaf pines are whispering
to him who loved them so.
Where the faint murmurs now dwindling
echo o’er tide and shore."
-A Grave Epitaph in Santa Rosa County, Florida; I wish I could remember the man's name.
I'm reminded when Genis-Vell decided to call himself a god on the basis that, hey, he's stronger than the Norse gods (who at the time had Asgard parked over NYC) and has cosmic knowledge.
I think the Presence would take a dim view of such non-divine interpretations. In the DC universe, unbelievers like Mr. Terrific and Batman are probably destined for hell when they die. Not Supes though.
Doesn't he ever watch television? The news broadcasts in DC must be full of such magic stuff.
Yeah, Gorgon is kind of dumb and probably doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. His equation is probably the equivalent of 5 + 5 = 42. I'd trust Noh-Varr's maths over Gorgon's any day.
You really think DC's God would cast Bruce n Micheal into hell for not believing in him despite their actions, intention, will n efforts? Man thats a self centered n petty anal god.
Good thing I don't believe in him either!
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None of them sparkle!
Sig by Scythe!
Total atheism is obviously false in DC and Marvel comics since we've seen that the Norse and Greek gods definitely exist (though questioning if they deserve the title of "god" is pretty reasonable, they're not exactly at the top of the food chain).
On the other hand arguments against, to pick a popular example, Christianity are just as valid in popular comics as in real life. The same lack of evidence of the Christian god is there as IRL. You can't say that "the Greek gods exist so the Christian god must also exist" either, that's as silly as saying that since deer and unicorns both have four feet we should assume that both exist.
In other settings not believing in the Christian god is clearly wrong (though in many cases the arguments are still valid). The Sandman/Lucifer world does have Yaweh.
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Graffiti outside Latin class.
Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
A juvenal prank.
When Mister Terrific was considering suicide the Spectre stopped him and convinced him that he should use his talents to become a hero rather than throwing his life away senselessly. Clearly the Spectre's boss has some plans for Michael Holt and I very much doubt they involve him going to Hell.
__________________
“Where the longleaf pines are whispering
to him who loved them so.
Where the faint murmurs now dwindling
echo o’er tide and shore."
-A Grave Epitaph in Santa Rosa County, Florida; I wish I could remember the man's name.
Some types of christians (and many muslims) believe that any unbeliever, no matter how good, loving, or unselfish a life they have lived, will still go to hell. Others believe that rather than going to hell the good unbelievers just die and go to oblivion and nothingness rather than heaven. Others see God as more forgiving and giving them a final chance to accept God when they are judged, or something along those lines.
DC kind of covered their bases on that one though when they explained in Sandman and Lucifer that hell was merely a process people had to go through before they went to heaven and it was a place to live for the people who didn't want to go to heaven like the serial killers etc. etc. who where proud of what they had done.
What was it like for the serial killers - a punishment or just a place to go?
Here's a question: Lucifer rebelled against God and was cast into hell. Then as Satan he tempts people into doing evil and not following the path of God. So why exactly does he then punish them for eternity in hell? If he likes evil so much why doesn't he reward it and get everyone to be evil instead of following God, instead of punishing evildoers and scaring people into following God, which is probably doing what God wants?
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Aug 24th, 2010 08:35 PM
