Apex Publications discussion

I loved this story. The whole concept of there being a store where you can buy a personal god hooked me from the beginning. I couldn't help wondering what sort of god I would need if I were to purchase one as I read to find out why Alan felt he needed one so badly.

What sort of god do you think you would need?

As far as your direct question, I've come to the worldview that the existence or nonexistence of a deity won't affect how I live my life, so the question of God doesn't matter (call it atheism or agnosticism as you will; I just look at it as efficiency). Personally, I would not avail myself of the wares at a divinity boutique.

It's an interesting concept, though. I know very few people who take the every tenet of an off-the-shelf religion to heart. Most pick and choose the parts that are important to them. The "cafeteria Catholic" is a phenomenon that is by no means reserved for Catholicism. Much like the personal deity of Night Train, people focus on some parts and ignore others, and essentially create their own deity. Taken to extremes, it's hard to identify from practice that some of these people are, at least in theory, followers of the same deity.

This raises the question of whether adherents are supposed to mold themselves to one of the prefab deities, or whether people should search for a religion that most closely fits what they need out of a religious experience.

This is largely an issue of monotheism, though. In a polytheistic tradition, there's a division of divine labor, so that within the same religious structure, different deities are fulfilling different needs at different times and under different circumstances, or working together/against one another.

What a neat idea, picking my own god. I couldn't begin to imagine what that god would be, or if I would even want to actually purchase a god. I do not live my life with any set religion, but rely on my own morals to be my guiding light. That being said, it might be fun to "test drive" a few gods to get a better understanding of who they are and the Universe as a whole.

This story was a fabulous idea. I've known several people who have struggled with the "available" religions and some who have settled for one or another, but not truly satisfied with what they have. I'm sure many have wished they could custom make their own divine being instead of having to follow the ways of an already established deity. I think this story represents that desire to want to seek something that isn't available, or perhaps find something that hasn't been discovered yet.