Logically, are gods bound by truth?

[wykkdspet]

So I was wandering around the Recovery From Mormonism board (yeah, I'm a happy apostate), and one of the discussions got me thinking pretty deeply.  One of the tenets of the religion is that (throwing out the whole Christ and grace thing,) so long as one follows the commandments of God, he's bound to ensure that person's salvation.  This is found

Comments

[lilairen]

Wouldn't honesty and integrity to one's word be one of the most important characteristics of being a god?

Are you under the illusion that all gods are Lawful Good?

[wykkdspet]

And here I didn't bring my D20 with me...

I'm not even vaguely trying to say that all gods are lawful good; I'm quite familiar with the many of the others, too. I'm trying to get across a concept of truth and intent in magic that I'm afraid I'm not doing a good job of putting into words. That's one of the reasons I've tossed this out here to so many varied communities.

[twfarlan]

Not everyone works magick that way.

Gods lie. Gods steal. Gods cheat. Gods change their minds. Gods can be proven wrong. Gods can do wrong, and can repent of it. In myths that are held up as excellent examples of the gods as exemplars, as archetypes of human nature and even as guides through life, they are shown to be imperfect. When they speak, it can be a lie, but when they swear an oath, when they make a promise, that is when their words are binding. That is when you find resonant truth in what they say as opposed to seeing them work their will via direct action or even subterfuge and manipulation.

[wykkdspet]

Hm. I'll have to thank about that.

Thanks. : )

[pope_guilty]

Gods are notorious bastards. Honesty, integrity... silly things to apply to beings which regard themselves as above the rest of us.

A god, essentially, is a supernaturally powerful sociopath.

[wykkdspet]

Yeesh. I've known enough of the mortal kind; if that's the nature of the gods, then why does anyone bother fucking with them? We should all be running for cover.

[pope_guilty]

Because people are stupid and naive and believe it when sociopaths say "I love you".

[wykkdspet]

Yowch. Touché, my friend.

Historical Context

[internet_sampo]

Of course, the Greek gods lied and were dishonest.

I'm trying to think of the Christian/Judeo god lied. He was mean-spirited and sadistic. He certainly withheld important information from people (ie. Job - his problems were part of a bet god make with the devil).

Islam - the whole satanic verses thing.

[arymede]

One cannot be arbitrary or untrue of purpose in one's magick unless one expects that magick to go awry or fail completely; how much more so would that principle apply to divinity?

You haven't been Discordian for very long, have you?

[wykkdspet]

That depends on how I feel on a given day. ::smiles::

The main reason I posted this to a Discordian board was to get another point of view on the concept.

[arymede]

I see. Fair game!

[falkreon]

Let me explain something, in very uncertain terms:

When two people are in love, it's frequently the simple, inconsequential things that cause them to be madly in love. It's not a flower on your birthday, for example, it's a kiss goodbye in the morning, or doing the dishes that Saturday. You didn't think anything of it but you did something quite powerful that day. Things like this are automatically reinforced purely by their randomness and one's own innate qualities.

I would expect that, when extrapolated out to the realms of gods, planets, and swiss cheese, that the stab in the dark - the random, impulsive spark - makes a huge difference in this world. If you work magic in this world, my friend, expect it to be a sputtering, disloyal thing. It's headstrong; sometimes the collective Will of the world can only be disobeyed by an unexpected poke in the side.

Peace, or failing that, pwn.