Meditations on achieving godhood
Had a strange conversation with SagaSorceress today after reading a book about deogenesis in Hinduism, and how new gods are arising all the time, including one based on a movie character. Not the actor, mind you...but her CHARACTER...who now has a following that earnestly worships that character as a god, and thus she's pretty much "in" the pantheon (along with several hundred thousand other gods). An IDEA becomes a deity...very Neil Gaimanesque.

Somehow got us on the topic of if Oprah has become a goddess in people's minds, and if so, does it matter that there is a real live Oprah who is not a goddess. I mean, in the eyes of non-Christians, there was a real live Jesus but that doesn't stop Christians from worshipping the IDEA of the god-Jesus.

That got us talking about Barack Obama, and how his campaign has essentially been about creating the IDEA of a hope-producing, nation-saving changemaker even though the actual GUY is kind of an ordinary centrist, and if anything gets him elected it will be that IDEA and people's faith in it...

Thoughts, anyone?

-SW