My Daddy Can Beat Up Your Daddy

What is the measure of a god? Perhaps I'm partly motivated by the recent StarGate theme in which evil beings with god-like powers are attempting to destroy our galaxy (which is protected by benevolent if strange beings with god-like powers). I've also been reading sections of the Bible where it talks about God working for his glory.

It's strange. I don't quite know why, but I think our society doesn't view deities as very different. The Jewish Yahweh? Allah? Jesus? Goddess? Buddha? What is really the difference between them anyway?

Are some gods better than others? Does what religion you are matter? And how would one evaluate deities anyway? Give them a multiple answer test? "If I were your loyal follower, would you (a) reward me with wealth and riches and power, (b) randomly smite me with lightening, (c) ignore me, (d) other -- please specify....?"

Since I tend to lean on the opinion that all religions are not equal (created, evolved, or otherwise), I'm curious in the distinctions. Where is my deity's power seen in my life? And where is it not seen in the lives of other, non-followers?

In some ways, I like the Old Testament where the non-Jews say something like "Let us go and fight them [the Jews] in plains, because the Jewish god is a god of the mountains, not of the plains." Then the two groups fight in the plains, the Jews win, and we see that Yahweh is more powerful than the other God. Hrm, maybe the playoffs could be like that. Each team chooses to represent a deity, and the nation converts for a year to the religion of the team winning the Superbowl.

Maybe part of the problem is that Americans frequently use "God" a generic sense rather than giving a name for God. Perhaps if we forced people to use a more explicit description of their god, the differences would be clearer. For example

"I believe in 'He-who-is-nice-and-keeps-my-life-from-having-any-problems'" Sam

Then we could judge whether or not Sam's deity was powerful and trustworthy by whether or not Sam had any major problems in his life.
or

"I believe in 'He-who-wants-me-to-be-a-millionaire-within-5-years-if-I-give-30%-of-my-income-to-the-church'" Tom

Then we could judge whether or not Tom's deity was powerful and trustworthy by whether or not Tom was a millionaire within 5 years along with stealing a peek at his financial records. Better yet, survey all of Tom's fellow believers and make sure Tom is not a statistical anomaly - or attending a church comprised of billionaires' sons and daughters.

(And yes, I know I haven't been blogging enough. I blame the evil corporations that disconnected my internet.)