"Thank you everyone for coming to the Debate Theatre tonight! Our guests will be discussing and debating various religious views. Each guest will explain his or her religious views, and additional questions might be asked. It's allowed to refuse to answer if one does not want to. In that case, someone else might answer that question as well", explained Logos, the host of the Debate Theatre.
(The public clapped)
"My name is Null, I'm a disciple of Pan-Sophia", explained Null.
(The public clapped)
"And who isn't? Everyone is a disciple of Pan-Sophia: the Universal Teacher of Philosophy", said Logos, not seeing the point of such an obvious disclosure, "what is your view, Null?", he asked.
"My view is that there are no gods, I'm an atheist", said Null.
(The public clapped)
"Interesting, Null. I might ask additional questions later, but for now, let's see what are the views of the other guests", said Logos.
"My view is that there is only one god, I'm a monotheist", said Mólður.
(The public clapped... but from now, this detail won't be repeated anymore)
"Interesting view, Mólður. An additional question is needed, in my opinion. What is the nature of the god you believe in? Is it a creator god? Is it an incorporeal entity who interacts with our physical world? Or it doesn't interact with our physical world? Is there even a physical world, in your view?", asked Logos. So many questions, but Mólður declined to answer, stating that "those answers go beyond the scope" of his view, and that his disciples are "free to decide those details for themselves".
"I believe in one god and I believe that god is the creator of our Universe", said Molkha, a priestess of her own religion, and a disciple of Mólður (as well as Pan-Sophia, but everyone is a disciple of Pan-Sophia, so it's useless to state that)
"I believe in one god, but that god is not the creator of our Universe, that god IS our Universe. I'm a Pantheist", said Marina, she was a disciple of Mólður as well.
"I believe in one god and the Universe is a part of God, but God also transcends beyond the Universe. I'm a Panentheist", said Zephyr, and she was also a disciple of Mólður.
"I believe in one god, but that god is neither the creator of our Universe, nor is our Universe. I believe the Sun is God. I call my view Heliotheism, and the god I believe in, I call it Sol!", said Solaria, she wasn't born with that name, she named herself like that to honor the Sun God. Of course, she's also a disciple of Mólður.
"I believe in one god, and God is the Moon", said Selene (she named herself like that on purpose), also a disciple of Mólður.
"I believe in one god, and God is the Earth", said Gaia (same as above for both name and who is she a disciple of).
"I believe in two gods, I'm a duotheist", said Theresa, and no, she's not a disciple of Mólður.
"What is the nature of those two gods?", asked Logos, but Theresa refused to answer for the same reasons Mólður did, she said that those answers go beyond the scope of her view, and that her disciples are free to decide their own views about that, as long as they believe in two and only two deities.
One of Theresa's disciples, a man named Inuneko, answered: "For me, one of those gods is the creator god who created our own Universe, and as such, is wholly transcendent, while the other god is, in fact, our own Universe, and as such, wholly immanent. So we can say one god created the other god, and we live in one of those two gods, since that god is the Universe. My religious views are strongly based on creator-creation dualism and duotheism, since both the creator and the creation are gods, but different gods. There's no god other than those two", he explained.
Another one of Theresa's disciples, a man who is simply known as Mr Y, said: "For me, rather than creator-creation duotheism, I believe in good-evil duotheism, and as such, I believe there are only two gods, a god of good, and a god of evil"
(Another disciple of Theresa), Solgaius: "The two gods for me are the Earth and the Sun"
(Yet another disciple of Theresa), Delta: "For me, the two gods are the god of creation and the god of destruction. All that is created is a manifestation of the creation god, and all that is destroyed is a manifestation of the destruction god. Change, or transformation, is the result of the interaction between these two gods, while permanence is the lack of interaction between the two gods, and our physical Universe is the playground of the gods"
(A disciple of Theresa...), Hylos: "For me, the two gods are matter and mind"
And now that the disciples of Theresa have finished speaking, Multitron can speak: "For me, there are many gods"
"How many? And what are their characteristics?", asked Logos, but just like Mólður and Theresa, Multitron declined to answer, for basically the same reasons, and so he let his disciples give additional details about their own views.
An infinite number of disciples were awaiting to give their own answers, just for the question "how many gods are there?". Each disciple had their own answer to that, each disciple a different answer, and there were as many disciples as there are positive integers. So, infinite. Logos understood that it was impossible to let them all speak at the Debate Theatre, so he chose only a few of them, and he apologized for the other infinite disciples that all wanted to say something at the Debate Theatre.
For Zors, there are 12 gods, each for every month of the year, and each god is symbolized by a different constellation in the skies. Each god is also a bringer of different weather, in most non-tropical places of the Earth.
For Cals, there are 365 gods, each for every day of the year, so every day is sacred and holy, except for February 29th which happens once every four years. Whether that is supposed to be a lucky or unlucky day, or whatever other meaning, is up to his disciples to decide.
For Princess Sarah, the number of gods is indefinite, the gods cannot be precisely counted.
A quasi-disciple of Cals bring his own theological variation to Cals' view: "My view is similar to the one of my quasi-teacher Cals. For me there are 366 gods. 365 gods for each day of the year, but February 29th is not an unholy day. Quite the opposite, it's the day of the most supreme god, our creator god, who also created the other 365 gods. For me, February 29th should be celebrated in the highest form possible, to honor the supreme god"
Among the disciples of Cals, there is debate as to what the 365 (or 366) gods represent. It's clear that all those gods are part of a pantheon, a pantheon that consists of 365 (or 366) deities, but what do they represent, other than the days of the year? Does each god have a particular domain? Is there a god of thunder, a god of rain, a god of death, a god of earthquakes, a god of love and so on, or are the gods defined solely by which day of the year they represent? Each disciple (or quasi-disciple) of Cals gives a different answer.
"It's clear to me that each god represents a day of the year, and nothing else, for if we add additional information about each god, then based on what should we add that information? Is June 21st supposed to be the god of summer, since it's the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere? But what about June 25th? What should that be? And why? We do not know enough about the gods to have such arbitrary assumptions. It's better not to be so arrogant as to claim things that we mortals know nothing about", said Minimus of Gnosis.
"Stating that June 21st is the god of northern summer - and southern winter - is a good start already, and even when arbitrary, we can infer the domains of the gods in various ways. For example, we can ask the shamans to communicate with the gods and we can therefore arrive at reasonable - though not certain - conclusions. June 25th might be the god of procrastination, because why not. Some days might be gods that tend more towards hedonism, and some more days might be gods that tend more towards asceticism, although, in that case, it remains the question of whether a proper rite would be indulging in hedonism or asceticism depending on the day of the year", speculated Tsuvt, giving his own ideas a space tonight at the Debate Theatre.
"If that is the case", said Piera, "then yes, indulging in hedonism during the days of hedonistic gods, and practicing asceticism during the days of ascetic gods would be a proper rite"
"I disagree", said Ina, "even if a day represents a hedonistic god, doesn't mean in that day it's proper - nor improper - to indulge in hedonism. Likewise for days that represent ascetic gods, it doesn't mean one should practice asceticism. That doesn't mean a certain god is not hedonistic or ascetic, but rather, that us mortals are unlike the gods, and therefore, what the gods do or represent, is not our duty to emulate, although one is allowed to do so if he or she wishes", she said.
"Ina has a point here", said Minimus, "We don't even know if the gods even represent other ideas other than the days of the year alone. It's probably not a wise to mandate or even encourage people to emulate what we speculate the gods to represent, for it is merely the speculation of us mortals", he said.
"We could ask the shamans to give us more information about each god, and then try to behave as proper for each god, every different day of the year. May such rites bring us prosperity and success", said Tsuvt.
"Do you think we mortals should aspire to emulate the gods... or at least behave in a different way depending on which god the present day represents?", asked Ina.
"I believe so", said Tsuvt.
Null joined the conversation: "I don't believe any god exists. I'm an atheist"
"You don't believe that the days exist? You don't believe in time?", asked Cals.
"I do believe that the days exist, but I don't believe that they are gods", Null explained.
"Do you believe that the Sun exists?", asked Solaria to Null.
Null didn't know how to answer Solaria's question. "Uhm... I don't know about that. I don't believe any god exists. I don't know how to answer your question, Solaria, sorry. It's such a difficult question for me to answer. Perhaps it's not up to me to answer, but to my disciples", he said.
Null's disciples are all atheists, of course. And they were willing to answer Solaria's question.
"Of course the Sun doesn't exist!", said Nozul, "The Sun is a god, and I'm an atheist, I don't believe in the existence of any god. Therefore, the Sun does not exist", he explained, proud of his own logic and answer.
"I believe that the Sun exists, but it's not a god", said Azul (Nozul's sister, who is a disciple of Null like her brother), "we see the Sun in the clear skies during daytime. To me, it's clear that the Sun exists, I don't believe it's an illusion. However, I don't believe that the Sun is a god", she explained.
"Do you believe that the creator god of our Universe exists, Azul?", asked Molkha. Azul didn't know how to answer that one so she encouraged her disciples to answer that question for her. Azul's disciples are all atheists, of course, and if one is the disciple of Azul, then he or she is also the disciple of Null. Everyone is a disciple of Pan-Sophia, regardless of what they believe in.
"Of course not!", said Paul (a disciple of Azul), "my theology is atheism and my ontology is materialistic monism, therefore I only believe in matter, and stuff like energy and laws of physics. I don't believe in any transcendent deity. Also, anything immanent - that is, anything made of matter, energy or physical laws - is not a god for me. So to me, there's no god, not even the creator god you believe in, Molkha. The Sun for me exists, even though it's not a god, but that's because it's made of matter and there's clear evidence of its existence. But again, anything that is made of matter is not a god to me", he explained.
"I believe in your creator god, Molkha", said Martha (another disciple of Azul), "I'm an atheist, and my ontology is a dualism between physical materialism and a metaphysical cause to all matter and each thing, so it makes sense to me that the Universe as a whole also has a corresponding metaphysical cause. However, to me, metaphysical causes are not gods, and your creator god is not a god to me", she explained.
"Your ontology is pretty much identical to mine, Martha!", said Catherine, a disciple of Princess Sarah, and therefore also a disciple of Multitron (and therefore a polytheist), "I also believe in a dualism between physical materialism and a metaphysical cause to each thing. But our theology is different because to me, metaphysical causes are indeed gods, and the creator of our Universe is merely the metaphysical cause of the sum of all physical existence. It's so interesting that we three all believe in the existence of the same god - or entity, at least -, even though I'm a polytheist, you're an atheist, and Molkha is a monotheist!", she said, intrigued.
"I also believe in the existence of that entity - though to me that is a part of God, not its entirety", said Zephyr, "I'm a panentheistic monotheist, I believe that everything is a part of God, both our Universe - which is the immanent part of God - and anything beyond - which is the transcendental part of God -. The creator entity, or at least, the aspect of our Universe's creation, is a part - though not the whole - of the transcendental part of God, so yes, I also do believe in that entity. Different theologies and ontologies can share the same gods or the same entities", she explained.
"I share Paul's ontology", said Marina, "I'm a materialistic monist, and I believe the Universe as a whole is God. I don't believe in anything transcendental or immaterial. I'm a Pantheist", she explained.