Elijah and Azuu

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#1004 Youth: All a Game

Inkmonkey

on May 11, 2006

I spend a lot of time thinking about God, or what I think God would be like. At varying times I think of God as a disembodied essence (no real personality to speak of), other times I find him vengeful or self-centered, or at other times I believe him to be like a child playing with a new toy.

But, the long and short of it is, if you're to believe in the whole "omnipotence" thing, then it also implies that God, no matter his form, is allowing me to possess these thoughts.

Clearly, as an omnipotent being, God can see everything I do and know everything I think. He could have just as easily skipped the whole faith thing, and just had everyone know that he was there, and that to follow his word was the right thing. In fact, he could have made it physically impossible to defy his will (or for the concept of "defiance" to exist in the first place.)

So that leaves me wondering, "Why existance?" God could have created a world where the bible wasn't necessary. Where everyone simply knew what to do and did it. He could have left out the part of Adam's brain that would make him curious about the fruit, or simply not put the fruit there in the first place, or simply not bothered with "fruit" and just left us with vegetables (or, ideally for me, meat).

And thus you get this story of Elijah's inquisitive youth. Anyone who's read this comic long enough will know that I'm not much a man of faith, so I tend to view these sort of things as more "legends" than facts, but I do believe in some sort of greater power. And if there is such a thing as omnipotence, then that power gave us the ultimate gift; the gift of freedom. Despite the laws of society, within the universe you are free to think as you wish. Faith may say that you will be punished for defying God's will, but at least you have the choice.

Ultimately I find God difficult to write for. Unlike Satan, who is a largely human (selfish, proud, deceptive) character, God is on a whole other level. I personally believe that his perception of the world is very different from humanity's, since he can see beyond just mortal life and to the eternity of everything. He wouldn't prioritize a human life, because to him that's only one part of the longer journey of the soul. Still, I believe that he is a father, and he cares deeply about his creations. I try to write him as a kindly old man, with a sense of humor about himself and what he does.


I'm sorry if I went off on a bit of a rant there, but I've had more than a few people seem upset about this latest story arc, and I felt the need to clarify a bit about myself and what I believe. I have only a vague understanding of what is actually said in the bible, though I don't place too much stock in the book as it has been tampered with too many times over the years by faulty translations and corrupt members of the clergy (aside from which, some of the stuff in there seems just plain mean).