>
>Probably not, though you may be open
>to the idea that free choice requires that
>disbelief be allowed. On the other hand,
>many theists in the past were not so
>open, and an alarming number of theists
>in the present (primarily in islamic theo-
>cracies) require belief as an intrinsic part
>of daily life, with threats of imprisonment
>or even death to those that disbelieve in
>the islamic deity (Allah).
>
>Do you believe in agnosticism?
>
>Not likely, though you probably find that
>much more acceptable than atheism.
>
>Do you believe in humanism?
>
>To the extent it's consistent with your theism,
>you likely do, but to the extent it's inconsistent
>with your theism, as in secular humanism, not
>likely.
>
>Do you believe in Zeus?
>
>I dare say 'no' is your response to that.
>
>Do you believe in any of the following Gods?
>
>Probably not, as the christian God, your likely
>focus, is not among the following:
>
http://fire.prohosting.com/prohuman/disbelief/most_are_disbelievers.htm
>
>Excerpt:
>
>...
>
>________________
>
>Contents excerpted from "A Dictionary of Gods and
>Goddesses, Devils and Demons", by Manfred Lurker
>
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415039444
>________________
>
>Brief comments follow - for complete details, buy
>"A Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and
>Demons"...
>
>- - -
>
>A
>
>Aaxtxe - Evil spirit in the shape of a bull.
>
>Abaddon - Angel of hell, lord of the plague of locusts.
>
>Abattur - Mandeans'/Persian 'bearer of the scales' who
>weighs souls and/or their deeds.
>
>Abellio - Gallic local deity, God of apple trees.
>
>Abgal - Seven Sumerian spirits., some conceived as fish-men.
>
>Abhiyoga - Servile Gods in Jainism who help the supreme
>Gods to create rain and darkness.
>
>Abora - Supreme being worshipped by Canary Islanders on
>the island of Palma; sat in heaven and caused the stars to move.
>
>Abraxas - Graeco-Oriental gnostic God with the torso and
>arms of a man, the head of a cock, and serpent legs.
>
>Abu - Sumerian God of vegetation.
>
>Abundantia - Roman Goddess personifying abundance.
>
>Acala - The Immovable, a divinity in Indian Buddhism who
>has three eyes and six arms.
>
>Acaviser - God-like female being in the Etruscan pantheon,
>in the goddess of love.
>
>Acheloos - Greek river-god.
>
>Achilleus - Hero venerated throughout Greece; in the Black
>Sea area he had divine status as Pontarchus, ruler of the sea.
>
>Acoran - The supreme being, worshipped by inhabitants of
>Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
>
>Adad - Babylonian God of weather and rain.
>
>Adam(m)as - Parental godhead of the Naasenes, a gnostic
>movement in Phrygia.
>
>Adam Kadmon - Per the Kabbala (a Jewish mystic movement),
>the first man, androgynous, and partaking in or blending with
>God.
>
>Adam Kasia - God-like form of 'the first Adam', per the
>Mandeans. A redeemer who is himself redeemed.
>
>Adibuddha - Primeval or original creator who has created
>the five Dhayani Buddhas.
>
>Aditi - Indian Goddess (mother of the Adityas), a redeemer
>who frees those who believe in her from sickness, need, and
>the stain of sin.
>
>Adityas - Vedic grouping of seven or eight Gods (progeny
>of Aditi) offering salvation from all ills; post-Vedic portrays
>twelve Sun-Gods, connected with the twelve months of the
>year.
>
>Adonis - Phoenician-Syrian God, lover of Aphrodite.
>
>Adraste - Goddess of war in ancient Britain.
>
>Adrasteia - Trojan-Phrygian mountain divinity.
>
>Adro - God of the Lugbara people who live on the shores of
>Lake Albert in East Africa.
>
>Aegir - North Germanic sea-giant.
>
>Aeneas - Son of the Goddess Aphrodite, a Greek hero,
>embodiment of the Roman virtue of piety.
>
>Aesculapius - The God of healing, introduced in Rome in
>293 B.C.
>
>Aesma Daeva - Parsee demon of lust and anger.
>
>Aeternitas - Roman personification of eternity.
>
>Afi - God of rain and thunderstorms among Abkhaz people
>of the western Caucasus.
>
>Agas - Demon of illness in Iranian religions.
>
>Agathos Damon - Good Greek genius or guardian spirit.
>
>Agdistis - Phrygian hermaphrodite being.
>
>Aglaia - Splendor, one of the trinity of graces of Charites
>who bring beauty and pleasure to mankind.
>
>Aglibol - Moon-God of Palmyra (ancient Syria).
>
>Agni - Vedic God of fire.
>
>Agnostos Theos - The Greek Unknown God.
>
>Ah Bolom Tzacab - Mayan God of agriculture.
>
>Ahone - Supreme God of Indians who once lived in Virginia
>area.
>
>Ahriman - In Mithraism and Zervanism, venerated as a God.
>
>Ahura Mazda - The one true God preached by Zarathustra.
>
>Ahurani - An old Iranian water Goddess.
>
>Aiakos - Greek God of the underworld.
>
>Aiolos - Son of Poseidon.
>
>Aion - The Lord of Time.
>
>Airyaman - Old Aryan God of marriage.
>
>Ai Tojon - Creator of light (among the Yakuts in Siberia).
>
>Aitu - In Samoa, a word for the lower order of Gods.
>
>Aitvaras - A Lithuanian household spirit, a creature of the
>devil.
>
>Aius Locutius - A Roman nonce God.
>
>Akasagarbha - Whose origins is the ether, in Indian Buddhism
>a Bohidsattva with characteristics of a celestial deity; appears
>in Tibetan Books of the Dead; in Japan he is known as Kokuzo
>and is a personification of supreme knowledge of the absolute
>void.
>
>Akephalos - A headless being regarded as a demon.
>
>Aker - A God which is the embodiment of earth in ancient
>Egyptian texts.
>
>Akerbeltz - In 16th/17th centuries, venerated as a God by witches
>and wizards.
>
>Akongo - Supreme God of the Ngombe who live in the Congo area.
>
>Aksobhya - One of the five Dhyani-Buddhas.
>
>Ala - Earth Goddess of the Ibo people of Nigeria.
>
>Alako - God of the Norwegian gypsies.
>
>Alalu - First of heavenly kings of the Hurrians who lived in north
>Syria in the 2nd millennium B.C.
>
>Alardi - Per the Ossetians of the Central Caucasus, a spirit who
>on the one hand causes smallpox and, on the other, protects
>women.
>
>Alaunus - Celtic name for the God Mercurius.
>
>Albriorix - Gallic war God Teutates.
>
>Alcis - Divine pair of brothers in the belief of the East Germanic
>tribe of the Naharnavali.
>
>Alisanos - Local God in Gaul.
>
>Allah - In the pre-Islamic period, the supreme deity, creator of
>the earth and giver of water. Interpreted by Muhammad as the
>one true God.
>
>Allat - The Goddess venerated in Central and North Arabia in
>pre-Islamic times.
>
>--- Time out --- There are over 1,800 Gods, Goddesses, Devils,
>and Demons in this book. Heck, even giving a brief description
>of 'em is taking me far too long. If you really want to play it safe,
>just buy the book and, for further elaboration, check out the
>following book.
>
>Welcome to the crowd of disbelievers! (-:
>
> Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions
>
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0877790442
>Excerpt from the back cover: "All religions, all eras,
>all cultures, all regions. 3,500 entries deliver compre-
>hensive coverage of religious movements and concepts,
>historical and legendary figures, divinities and super-
>natural characters, and important religious places.
>30 in-depth articles provide detailed discussions of
>major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
>Hinduism, and Buddhism, as well as other important
>religious topics."
>
>... to be continued (maybe) sometime in the future ...
