Jenny and Erin

I recently read that another cow tested positive for Mad Cow Disease in the United States. Then yesterday I got stuck in a long line behind two people convinced that a recent tornado that destroyed a town was a punishment from God for wrongs committed by the people of that town. Well, when I’m bored my mind goes crazy places; I thought I’d take you along for the ride…

I started pondering just how common it is in religious thinking to feel like God or the gods are watching us with a big old checklist recording all the wrongs and getting ready to hand out punishments. You could use this thinking to explain your flat tire in relation to the mean thing you said to a neighbor last week, or to explain that another person is doing poorly because they angered God, therefore, although sad, they must need to learn a lesson. To me this thinking becomes especially dangerous when it is used to explain away (even if only said secretly to oneself) people’s pain or to justify ones own position.

What if we take this train of thought and flip it just a bit? Follow it and look at it from the perspective of pagans who worship the Cult of the Cow (Audhulma, Apis or so forth) in contemporary USA. If you’ve been reading the Pagan America Series you’ll be familiar with these two and their interesting linkages to Christianity, if not click here and here.

What would it look like if these ‘holy cows’ were punishing us for our wrongs? Would Mad Cow Disease indicate that the cow god Audhulma is really, really mad? Would lactose intolerant people be whispered about behind their backs as getting their “just dessert” for sins they must be committing? Could that beating you (or your company) are taking in the stock market be because the divine bull god Apis of the curiously named bull market has left your side, leaving you to fight that mean old bear market alone? Would your life be full of “bullshit” because your worship practices leave a bit to be desired?

Sounds silly, huh? All I’m saying is it’s a big world out there with lots and lots of theologies floating around. Maybe God or the gods (or whatever you believe) isn’t all that interested in punishing us for every little transgression, instead what happens day-to-day is the reward or punishment for the choices we make. But hey, maybe not.

This entry was posted in Pagan America on Friday, May 18th, 2007 by Jenny. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.