The book is about a British psychologist who gets pulled into a murder investigation, and he asks that question to one of his patients.
And it made me wonder: do we get to choose what type of god we get? -- Isn't S/He passed down on a generational level until we decide to take our shopping cart to another section in the Deity-tessen?
As a teenager I read a lot of Robert E. Howard's stories and I remember thinking that his description of one of the gods was perfect: He gives us life. What more can one ask of a god?
(Or, according to the internet, "But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian's mind, was all any god should be expected to do." --> obviously Conan's god, over the years and in my paraphrasing, editing mind, has become a bit more gentle.)
If I had a choice, I guess I'd go with a forgiving god. But I don't expect a lot from Him/Her. I am not a huge fan of the Book of Job because I don't like how God comes off as all-knowing and all-arrogant at the end of the story. Especially after God put Job through the ringer, I would think there would be a bit more respect and perhaps even an apology of some sort: "Hey, Job, sorry about the disease and the death of all your kids; I don't expect you to understand, but here's what happened..."
But if my god is forgiving and your god is vengeful, does that mean we're worshiping the same god? -- Is it possible for god to be both? Sure-sure, god is all-powerful, all-knowing, all etc, but isn't being both forgiving *and* vengeful a huge contradiction?
I guess I see my God as a gentle watchmaker: things are set in motion, and it's my job to do my best and see it through. Do unto others; Karma will be a paybacking bitch; don't trump your partners Ace; and never spit into the wind.
Bottom line: I don't think S/He is going to step in to help.
We're all on our own. Together.
That quote on Crom was from "The Tower of the Elephant," one of the most philosophical of the Conan stories.
ReplyDeleteHere's another from "Queen of the Black Coast," a story that also has a fantastic passage where Conan gives his account of existentialism and spirituality. Still, Crom isn't exactly the most traditionally beneficent of deities:
"He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?”