London RC archbishop honors pagan gods

God is, by definition, not a heretic, but the orthodox of any faith are. When Paul wrote of heresy, he used a Greek word with roots in the concept of faction or party. The early church was split by factions adhering to Paul, or to Peter, to Apollos, or God knows who else. Lightly, compared to later centuries. Paul of course fell prey to building his own viewpoint up as The Truth at times, while humbly denying that at other times. For any authority to claim the mantle of orthodoxy, and from that position to denounce heresy, is ipso facto to commit heresy. The orthodox are merely the heresy in power. So, to say that God is a heretic is to misunderstand the term, but there is little doubt that if God returned to earth clothed in human flesh, he would indeed be denounced as a heretic as soon as he opened his mouth. That's what happened last time.

Hi, godisaheretic. I've always enjoyed your comments, fwiw. This one struck a chord with me. Your reference to the "Actual God" reminded me that when I was very young, I had a kind of imaginary friend that I called "the Real God." When I say "imaginary friend," I'm not trying to be snarky. That's just the only way I can think of to characterize an invisible entity that appeared to my child self to have an identity of its own, but which may or may not have been just a projection of my own mind. Unlike the God I learned about in catechism class, this entity was a source of truth and beauty, but was remarkably unconcerned about the rules, never got angry, and often disregarded the right-thinking authorities. When I listened to its interior advice, even to the detriment of proper behavior, things usually came out well. Something about this being was irresistibly attractive. There was a kind of indestructible laughter in its voice. The catechism God did not seem to have a sense of humor at all. The Real God was the kind of person who did take note of the sparrows, while the catechism God never seemed to live up to his billing in that regard.

You might think that it would be nice for a small girl to have her own God, but it was not nice at all. It was terrifying. I knew what happened to Joan of Arc. I knew about demons. I also knew that when you have your own God, people think you're crazy--although, when large groups of people have the same God, one who not only speaks in the silence of their heart, but writes books, showers them with money, kills people, and tells them who to vote for, well, that for some reason is perfectly sane. It was perplexing. So I thought as little as possible about the Real God, lest I be sent to Hell or a mental institution.

But I think I understand what you're saying about the Actual God. To ask whether such a being, if it existed, should be worshipped as Shiva or Yahweh is like asking if the ocean can be measured in a teaspoon or a pint pot. The only answer is yes. And no.