Thor vs. Religion

So, I recently read Thor: Heaven & Earth #3, in which Thor has a deathbed conversation with a Christian preacher whom he's evidently been talking with for some time, who has been challenging his faith in the Christian god vs. the irrefutable fact that Thor is walking the streets of New York. It's a neat little story, and you can find it here: arousinggrammar.com/2013/02/19/life-questions-with-thor/

Still, it's made me curious: in reality, what do you think *would* happen if Thor were to walk this modern world, in which the Abrahamic faiths have taken root so firmly? Would there be outpourings of anti-Thor protests from Christians and Muslims? Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?

Would Thor himself harbor some level of grudge against modern monotheistic beliefs? After all, he's not Superman - the all-loving, all-forgiving boy scout schtick has never been one he's tried to shoulder. Might there be, under his heroic attempts to put it aside, a certain resentment of the way that the reverence he was used to when he last walked Midgard all those centuries ago has been forgotten and he himself consigned to the realm of myth and fantasy?

For the sake of structure, let's presume that this is taking place in a world where the Abrahamics aren't in the right; it was not their One God, Alpha and Omega who made everything. There may have been a Judaic war god who sought power by leading his worshippers to henotheism, but he has been abandoned by his own former faithful. Jesus Christ may have lived, as man, mutant or other, but God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit does not claim sole dominion over this world.

Other urls found in this thread:

aminoapps.com/page/comics/5012613/thor-respect-thread-1
aminoapps.com/page/comics/5014144/thor-respect-thread-2
marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Arthur_Blackwood_(Earth-616)
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

>what do you think *would* happen if Thor were to walk this modern world

Assuming that it's a transplant of the comic Thor into our world as is we'd have a huge breakdown within the scientific community as nearly everything we currently understand does not allow for Divine intervention.

In your little scenario though I fail to see how it would differer from what we have presently.

>Still, it's made me curious: in reality, what do you think *would* happen if Thor were to walk this modern world, in which the Abrahamic faiths have taken root so firmly? Would there be outpourings of anti-Thor protests from Christians and Muslims? Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?
None of that will happen. The ONE ABOVE ALL is the one who intentionally have Marvel Earth its current religions. They are there to ensure the planet resemble Earth of the real world. This cannot be removed at any stage, because OAO wills it. The people orf Marvel Earth have their faiths forced upon them, faiths that lead nowhere. And they are not allowed to worship gods that actually answer prayers.

>Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?

Why'd you pray to something that's real?

>we'd have a huge breakdown within the scientific community

Yeah, because neither infinite energy, nore lossless transfer or lossless mass-to-energy conversion is possible in our current system. Also gravity wasn't mandatory up until he showed up.

Ultimate Thor goes into it a bit. There are cults following his teachings, but most think he's a crazy guy who managed to get a hold of some super tech.

>Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?
The MCU already showed that in their case, there is actually a Korean Church of Asgard that appeared in MCU.. You see one of the Churches in Homecoming. Pic related, right side.

Religious beliefs are not based in logic. If Thor walked the earth, I'm sure some would convert, but most would likely write his existence off somehow ("He's just some guy with extremely advanced technology he's not sharing / he's just an alien with a bad understanding of where he's from / here's the specific line from our holy book that mentions something like him, he fits in our narrative just fine").

...

>Why would you pray to something that's real
So they would help you.

Fuck, I missed that completely. That's a nice little detail.

>Would there be outpourings of anti-Thor protests from Christians and Muslims?

Most definitely.

>Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?

Almost certainly. There'd be a lot of it if Thor was demonstrating the ability to answer prayers and throwing around his divine powers.

Asgardians might be gods, but they are not creators right? They've had no hand in the creation of earth or our species

>Asgardians might be gods, but they are not creators right? They've had no hand in the creation of earth or our species
The technical creators of Earth and Earthlings in Marvel Comics is the Celestials. But no one on Earth worship celestials because celestials are dicks. Earth is actually a Celestial egg, and humans on Earth were planted on Earth to guard it. Humans getting random superpowers with ease was an intentional feature.

That's just begging.

Hickmann's SHIELD and Earth-X are alt-universes.

Abrahamic God is omniscient, omnipotent and without flaw. Thor, while powerful and cool, is capable of mistakes and failure. I do not see why people would worship him, or at least convert from christianity, judiaism or islam.

Honestly, most of the "gods" in comics are just really powerful assholes that seem to fuck up a bunch and need mortals to fix their problems.

if anything I think the main reaction would be 'well shit, if even fucking Thor is here then surely man jesus is gonna show up any day now'

actually come to think of it, the main difference between comics and IRL is there would be way more people IRL who would upon gaining superpowers declare themselves the second coming of Jesus or otherwise a true prophet of God like Mohammed/Moses/David etc. especially psychics who would be able to replicate 'miracles' like walking on water, removing someone's cataracts without surgery, inducing shared visions and all that

there being a celestial egg in the earth got made canon to 616

In Islam it is already taught that if there is someone claiming to be god, that means it is lying. The only way to see god is after the end of the world. That's it.

>I do not see why people would worship him, or at least convert from christianity, judiaism or islam.

when you're in your burning house clutching your children and hoping you will at least all die painlessly before the bormagorgonite soldiers from the q dimension have you publicly drawn and quartered by laser horses, and suddenly this statuesque fucker crackling with lightning levitates into your house, summons a storm to put out the flames, drapes a blanket overyou and your kids and says "Fear not, I the might Thor, god of thunder, have smote the the foul interlopers who threatened you. its safe now." becoming a Thorite is gonna seem a lot more compelling.

hell your second point supports my first. when there's documented evidence that most gods exist and are selfish assholes, the one who actually goes out of his way to help people is gonna quickly become the most popular

>when you're in your burning house clutching your children and hoping you will at least all die painlessly before the bormagorgonite soldiers from the q dimension have you publicly drawn and quartered by laser horses, and suddenly this statuesque fucker crackling with lightning levitates into your house, summons a storm to put out the flames, drapes a blanket overyou and your kids and says "Fear not, I the might Thor, god of thunder, have smote the the foul interlopers who threatened you. its safe now." becoming a Thorite is gonna seem a lot more compelling.

Yeah I guess. Thor would be beloved by most people, but I do not think he would be worshiped to the level of replacing major religions.

God in Abrahamic faith offers, in theory, morals, values and a way for someone to live the good life without sin. God can offer comfort and purpose. Thor doesn't do any of that. He does not offer a lifestyle or way of worship. He just saves people and beats the shit outta bad dudes (which is good).

Most religions are built on living a life with rules so that when you die you get to go to heaven/ reincarnate. I imagine Thor would receive a super version of celebrity status, not exactly religious worship.

I don't know. I'm bad at explaining it.

The Abrahamic god is a jealous god by its own supposed admission.Thor on the other hand most likely doesn't give a shit.
Well he probably hates assholes, which many theists are so there's that I guess.

Source? I want to read that

Pretty sure SHIELD is canon. Newton has been running around with Dr. Strange.

>Pretty sure SHIELD is canon.

The Gay Agenda is real then.

>what do you think *would* happen if Thor were to walk this modern world
That's literally the point behind how everyone reacts in marvel comics generally in the first place.

Didn't thor say he was a Christian and that Jesus was his Lord?

Thor is not really a God by the standards of our extant religions.

I know Thortards get real triggered when you call him an alien, but even if he is a "god" his caliber of God might as well just be an alien.
And worshipping him is completely pointless unless Jason Aaron is writing him.

Most religions would not be affected. Some would call him a devil, most would ignore any theological implications.

Shield has not been revealed as an alt-universe and has had a few references to it outside of its own series.
It's probably canon until someone does something else with it.

Most treat him as a super powered alien. The only thing that separates him from any other cape is his raw power which has been matched by others like the SIlver Surfer or exceeded like Galactus.

If Marvel didn't force the sliding timeline then a church of Thor could eventually become a major religion on Marvel Earth but the way things are, he hasn't been around for longer than a decade of modern times.

That's essentially what prayer is.
I mean, do you think everyone who prays is just pretending?

>without flaw
Um, objection. That's bullshit.

>That's essentially what prayer is.
That's what praying in movies is. In reality it's basically about waifu'ing your deity.

>And they are not allowed to worship gods that actually answer prayers.
Thor is worshiped and prayed too AND answers prayers. So you are wrong

Most of this questions was explored with Jurgens's run, that cummulated in "the Reigning" story arc.

Issues 63 - 74. I'd even add 61 where deities from other pantheon question his right to be a god.

How is that to asgard? I don't speak slanty

...

Look beneath the big white korean word and you can see it in small english

>Abrahamic God is omniscient, omnipotent and without flaw.
See, this is why I don't get why people worship the abrahamic god. It just doesn't hold up against, well, itself. It leads too all sorts of contradictions and inconstancies.

honestly, I would probably be one of those that would pray to Thor. Cause he is a god who makes more sense than some omniscient god.

Hell, if I did want to worship a religion I would probably be into one of those old large pantheon type religions anyway.

there's no need for a what if because it won't happen, my fellow redditor. paganism is crypto-atheism.
atheism is the degeneracy that caused europe to fall.

fuck varg vikernes and fuck scandinavian "people"

Odin claims to have created humans at some point. His dad got pretty mad about it. We see Thor's granddaughters recreate life on Earth at some point in the future, too.

oh shit, thanks

I really love that Thor story. That one and the suicide bomber one are really touching stories. Then you get a silly fun story with the dragon. Great book

stop posting on Sup Forums

>Thor doesn't do any of that
Not the Thor in Marvel doesn't do that but the real Thor does.

>Thor is not really a God by the standards of our extant religions

Yes he is he just doesn't claim to be all-knowing and all-powerful but he easily has feats to match Jesus, Muhammad, Yahweh and Allah.

So what is payer in real life?

a waste of time

>Would there be outpourings of anti-Thor protests from Christians and Muslims?
Most likely no because protesting against something that is actually exist and you can do nothing about it is not the popular idea even among the dumbest muslims. The protests happen where some conflict of ethics or interests is present, which is not the case here cause Thor, AFAIK, doesn't actively build a new religion around himself or question the existing ones. In Marvel universe, he is just another superpowered being that happened to be worshipped in the past. Sun and fire once were worshipped too, yet no one protests against them.
>Would there be an upsurge in Neo-Nordic Paganism?
No, though neopagans would wear smug faces.

>Thor on the other hand most likely doesn't give a shit.
And that's precisely why no one will worship him like ancient normanns did because the whole point of worshipping in the religion is the hope that the god does give a shit. The basic assumption of worshipping some god is that he will reward you for you actions, being them just an offering or devoting the whole life to him and the reward varying from good rain for your crops to the ethernal life in heaven. Marvel universe Thor doesn't answer prayers.

>Marvel universe Thor doesn't answer prayers.
Well... I wouldn't entirely say that...

Part 1, for context.

Would he still come if it was a distress signal, or the prayer was to another god? If yes, that's not answering the prayer, just doing the superhero thing.

In context, yes, i admit i am wrong.

> the god does give a shit.
even putting aside the pages user dropped about Thor answering prayers. Thor gives a shit a lot more than any other God. You could literally ask him for help and he WILL help you if you need a hand. And he won't just donate money to a homeless man, he will teach that man a trade and get him a job. Comic Thor is one of the most heroic characters in Marvel because until Aaron got his hands on him, he didn't care about being devine, he just cared about helping people.

Only other person worthy of being worshiped in Marvel is Beta Ray Bill

Maybe thread relevant, maybe not; ain't sure:

aminoapps.com/page/comics/5012613/thor-respect-thread-1
aminoapps.com/page/comics/5014144/thor-respect-thread-2

There is an nordic-afterlife in which you can get. Aliens can't create an afterlife but a god can.

Valhalla seems better than heaven tbqh

Thor once had an enemy called "The Crusader", who was offended by Thor's claims of godhood.

>marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Arthur_Blackwood_(Earth-616)

lol

Doesn't Christianity state that other gods do exist, they just pale in comparison to Capital-G God, and that "you will have no other gods before me" or something? It seems like Thor showing up would be perfectly compatible with that sort of ideology.

the bible says all other gods are fake gods and those worshipers should be murdered

Well thank you anonymous poster on a Taiwanese paper-folding board, I'll just take your word as gospel.

god exists in marvel universe, the one above all.
other gods are always saying that they were created

>amerifats don't read the bible and yet worship it

read the fucking thing, it's not THAT long

Norse gods are just really powerful humans that aren't not even immortal by themselves and need to eat magical apples to not die.

Christian God is all powerful and encompasses them.

Think in the Valar and Maiar from Tolkien, he made them in a way that there isn't much conflict with Christian view of the world, even if they are basically gods.

Also, Hellboy also has smaller gods, living and dying in a world created by an all powerful God.

Even Percy Jackson adressed it by commenting on the differences and limitations of both concepts of God's, and that in a way, many of the classic philosophical arguments for an all powerful monotheistic God can still be right in a world with Greek gods.

>mutants on Earth were planted on Earth to guard it
FTFY. And Wakandan vibranium is the sperm, and Galactus the abortionist. That's why he keeps coming back.

Pilaging and dying with a sword in your arms in battle is not an option these days. Mythological Thor doesn't tell you about morals, he will just help or fuck with you depending on how he feels.

I miss god king Thor, you think he still remembers killing all his pals?

>Pilaging and dying with a sword in your arms in battle is not an option these days.

If someone like Thor(someone who can do things just as impressive as the greatest prophets or deities from the most popular modern-day religions and CAN PROVE IT) said that's the way people should live than a lot of people would start to live that way.

> Mythological Thor doesn't tell you about morals,

Yes they do they're just so foreign for modern-day morals most people would not recognize them as such.