Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Jay GW · 05-12-2007, 06:38 PM

Is a religion emphasizing deities and myths of war more likely to succeed than ones stressing peace?

I noticed after looking through http://www.godchecker.com/

an encyclopedia of gods, that

A search of deities/myths of war: 226
A search of deities/myths of peace: 49

There are far more gods of war than of peace.

Some pantheons are more one sided than others

The Aztec pantheon
14 related to war
0 related to peace

The Celtic pantheon
19 related to war
0 related to peace

Japanese pantheon
9 related to war
0 related to peace

Native American pantheon
18 related to war
1 related to peace

Norse pantheon
18 related to war
2 related to peace

and so on

Yosei · 05-12-2007, 09:57 PM

Quite sad. I guess gods can be as violent as their earthly subjects.

Ojuice5001 · 05-12-2007, 10:28 PM

Joseph Campbell has noticed the same thing you have. His answer is that war and killing are, in fact, a necessity for life. All human societies need to kill enemies like foreign soldiers or poisonous snakes-- just as every animal (including us, of course) can only eat if it kills weaker life-forms (whether that weaker life-form is a chicken or an ear of corn).

War and other forms of killing always have the potential to be a source of power, while peace and mercy are only sometimes useful for gaining power. And as Nietzsche has argued, life forms tend to do whatever their will to power leads them to do. Since aggression and killing are so useful, there have been many animals, many humans, and many gods whose lives were determined by the efforts to develop a better ability to fight.

It's true that sometimes the advantages of peace are so great that they outweigh those of war. And then we have mythologies of peace; people like the Jains who can afford the luxury of living a completely pacifist lifestyle. But given the nature of the world, there will always be fewer pacifist monks than there are fighting men. And the same kind of reasons explain why there are fewer gods of peace than there gods of war

premjan · 05-12-2007, 10:33 PM

In Hinduism, the only God of war I can think of is Karttikeya. The gods are the way they are - some are pacific and some are more temperamental but they don't have fixed exoteric roles for the most part. You could say Kali and Durga (the female deities) are the only ones who are explicitly depicted as violent, but maybe for women that is a bit more excusable as in real life they are probably more often at the receiving end.

Laurentius · 05-12-2007, 11:02 PM

Indeed, the pantheon reflects a way of life.
Tell me who your gods are and I'll tell you who you are.

Hydra009 · 05-12-2007, 11:27 PM

Oh yeah, it's quite a list.

list of war deities

Mizled · 05-12-2007, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay GW

Is a religion emphasizing deities and myths of war more likely to succeed than ones stressing peace?

If the supporters of that religion emulate and worship their gods then they'd be more willing to fight or go to war helping their society or tribe stay alive against other factions. Also it has an affect on theirs and their enemies psyche if they think a god of war has their back they'll fight better and likewise their enemies won't be as confident.

notasheep · 05-12-2007, 11:48 PM

War gods kick peace gods' asses.

Ponzi · 05-13-2007, 01:06 AM

Maybe it's because war is a risky activity that a society has to directly pursue, while peace is merely not performing that activity?

Laurentius · 05-13-2007, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ponzi

Maybe it's because war is a risky activity that a society has to directly pursue, while peace is merely not performing that activity?

No. It's rather because peace is preserved through war means.

05-12-2007, 06:38 PM	#1
Jay GW Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Lost In Space Posts: 3,465	Why are so many deities about war and so few about peace? Is a religion emphasizing deities and myths of war more likely to succeed than ones stressing peace? I noticed after looking through http://www.godchecker.com/ an encyclopedia of gods, that A search of deities/myths of war: 226 A search of deities/myths of peace: 49 There are far more gods of war than of peace. Some pantheons are more one sided than others The Aztec pantheon 14 related to war 0 related to peace The Celtic pantheon 19 related to war 0 related to peace Japanese pantheon 9 related to war 0 related to peace Native American pantheon 18 related to war 1 related to peace Norse pantheon 18 related to war 2 related to peace and so on

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05-12-2007, 09:57 PM	#2
Yosei Regular Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 227	Quite sad. I guess gods can be as violent as their earthly subjects.

05-12-2007, 10:28 PM	#3
Ojuice5001 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: A city in Florida that I love Posts: 3,416	Joseph Campbell has noticed the same thing you have. His answer is that war and killing are, in fact, a necessity for life. All human societies need to kill enemies like foreign soldiers or poisonous snakes-- just as every animal (including us, of course) can only eat if it kills weaker life-forms (whether that weaker life-form is a chicken or an ear of corn). War and other forms of killing always have the potential to be a source of power, while peace and mercy are only sometimes useful for gaining power. And as Nietzsche has argued, life forms tend to do whatever their will to power leads them to do. Since aggression and killing are so useful, there have been many animals, many humans, and many gods whose lives were determined by the efforts to develop a better ability to fight. It's true that sometimes the advantages of peace are so great that they outweigh those of war. And then we have mythologies of peace; people like the Jains who can afford the luxury of living a completely pacifist lifestyle. But given the nature of the world, there will always be fewer pacifist monks than there are fighting men. And the same kind of reasons explain why there are fewer gods of peace than there gods of war

05-12-2007, 10:33 PM	#4
premjan Obsessed Contributor Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 61,538	In Hinduism, the only God of war I can think of is Karttikeya. The gods are the way they are - some are pacific and some are more temperamental but they don't have fixed exoteric roles for the most part. You could say Kali and Durga (the female deities) are the only ones who are explicitly depicted as violent, but maybe for women that is a bit more excusable as in real life they are probably more often at the receiving end.

05-12-2007, 11:02 PM	#5
Laurentius Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Lucky Bucky, Oz Posts: 5,645	Indeed, the pantheon reflects a way of life. Tell me who your gods are and I'll tell you who you are.

05-12-2007, 11:27 PM	#6
Hydra009 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Has moved to greener pastures. Posts: 2,795	Oh yeah, it's quite a list. list of war deities

05-12-2007, 11:48 PM	#8
notasheep Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: California Posts: 309	War gods kick peace gods' asses.

05-13-2007, 01:06 AM	#9
Ponzi Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: California Posts: 628	Maybe it's because war is a risky activity that a society has to directly pursue, while peace is merely not performing that activity?

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