Full disclosure: I’m totally ignorant when it comes to religion.
I was raised in a Catholic household, but I never really took any of it all that seriously and I never explored any other religions.
But I’m open to learning about it!
And that’s why I’m looking forward to hearing these responses from other non-religious people.
Non-religious people talked about their favorite gods on AskReddit.
Here’s what they had to say.
1. A lot in common.
“Hestia. She doesn’t meddle or succumb to vanity or start wars over dumb s**t or take the form of animals to sleep around.
She isn’t an obvious favorite or anyone’s hero. No one fears her wrath. There are no surviving myths dedicated to her. But she’s a constant, vital presence in everyday life and was unobtrusively worshipped by everyone in Ancient Greece.
She maintains the hearth for all humanity and is present in every home. Ancient artwork suggests that, over time, her honored position as the 12th Olympian was transferred to Dionysus. Scholars have theorized that perhaps she willingly gave up her seat to avoid conflict and maintain the peace.
I always identified with her a lot.”
2. He did it!
“Odin, he promised us to defeat the ice giants.
I have never seen a giant my life so he did a good job.”
3. A smart one.
“Thoth, because he created writing, maths, and other feats of intelligence.
He also tends to be very level-headed in Egyptian mythology.”
4. A good one.
“I like Nienna. Turning grief into compassion and understanding.
I even have a grey tabby cat that has this super mournful sounding meow that I had to name after her.
She’s my little grey lady who is constantly crying.”
5. Shiva.
“Shiva probably, from Hindu Mythology.
He’s supposed to be a “God of Gods” cuz the other Gods look up to him, plus he’s also the God of Destruction who incinerated 3 planets after firing a single arrow.
I mean, I dunno, but that sounds pretty bada**.”
6. Seen her at work.
“Annoya.
There’s a goddess I can believe in, the goddess of things stuck in the drawer so you can’t open it all the way.
She exists; I’ve seen her work, and not just in my own home.”
7. Very cool!
“Anazi the trickster spider!
I like that he is always out for himself but often doesn’t win in the end.
He never gives up!”
8. Don’t mess with her.
“The Hindu goddess Kali. She’s just a total bad b**ch.
Divine femininity, cutting off evil dudes’ heads left and right.
Inspired The Rolling Stones tongue logo and the Beatles centered a plot to one of their movies around a cult of her followers.”
9. Fascinating.
“Persephone, as sad as her story is.
Getting kidnapped and taken into the underworld. Her story always fascinates me.
Nowadays though I see many people romanticize her story which I find kind of weird.”
10. Baphomet.
“Baphomet.
The symbolization of equilibrium of opposites is really neat, and I love how the imagery is very representative of that symbolism.
Plus, people think it is Satanic so it is fun to watch people get wide eyed when I mention Baphomet.”
11. A titan.
“Prometheus. He’s one of the titans in Greek mythology.
When I heard his story, I was surprised at how ungod-like he was. He actually cared for his creation and prioritize us gaining knowledge over worshipping some deity. He tricked zeus for the benefits of humanity. Stole fire for humans despite zeus not allowing humans to have fire anymore.
Zeus found out and sentence him to be tied to a rock where his liver would be eaten by a vulture. He would heal every night only to be t**tured again. To top it all off Zeus offered freedom in exchange he would hide the knowledge of fire from humans. Without hesitation he refused.
Despite being an atheist and not actually believing he exists, he has been my go to god to ask for help in times of desperation and when I just feel lonely (especially when flying and the plane shakes a little). I also use his sacrifice to get myself motivated.
For those of you who’s wondering what happened to Prometheus next. When Hercules was doing his 12 labours, one of those labours was to k**l the vulture that is the same vulture that was in charge of torturing Prometheus.
Hercules k**led the vulture and decided to just set Prometheus free.”
12. Old school.
“Gotta go old school.
Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and war that became Ishtar to the Assyrians, Astarte to the Canaanites, Astoreth to the Semitic, and Aphrodite to the Greeks and influenced another half a dozen goddess mythologies throughout the ancient world – the Hindu Durga, Ainina and Danina to the Iberians, Dali to the Georgians, and even early Christian’s with the Virgin Mary and the Jews with the unnamed “Queen of Heaven”.”
13. Respect it.
“Antinous, the deified lover of Hadrian.
He is the third most known statue subject. Of all Roman statues of a formerly living perso , we have the most of Augustus. Second most of Hadrian. And third most are of him. If you’ve been to a greco Roman section in an art museum, you’ve probably seen a statue of him.
How did he die? He drowned. Why? We don’t know. An accident, suicide, a sacrifice? No idea really. We know very little about him as a person. He’s very much an enigma.
But he also d**d as a young man and was then worshipped and so I like him because if I prayed to him I can imagine him just being like…. F**k if I know, Hadrian and I didn’t exactly discuss this part of my afterlife, I can’t help you with your problem.
And if I was a god I’d be about that clueless too. So I can respect it.”
14. We need it.
“Siva. God of destruction.
Because destruction allows creation and this world needs both (in that order).”
15. Totally emo.
“Satan.
Emo, free-thinking angel, getting people to embrace knowledge, being all about questioning and rebellion.
What’s not to like?”
16. The first rebel.
“Lilith.
The devil’s mistress and the 1st wife of Adam. She is said to be the first rebel and she’s the mother of all witches.
“Lilith” in Hebrew means “screech owl” because in legends, she is depicted as an owl-lady.”
Do you have a favorite god?
If so, please tell us all about it in the comments.
We’d love to hear from you!
