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Which god is good with children?

 
 
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised)

Don2 (Don1 Revised)

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An unusual thing happened the other day. A person I know closely was asked to go somewhere they had never been before to engage in a spiritual journey. They were to meditate on what god or spirituality they'd like to be in their life and to imagine what kind of characteristics this being/spirituality has. They ended up going on a hike and came back with a particular god in mind. It's actually a god from a well-known mythology but I will not say which one.

Now the interesting thing here was that part of the reasoning for choosing this mythological god was that they said so-and-so "is good with children." I was thinking to myself this mythological god isn't known for that at all--even his extinct, ancient adherents never made such claims.

This got me thinking a little bit. If we like some god (say from a modern religion), do we project this particular characteristic onto it? (...because in modern society there is a big focus on the well-being and welfare of children...) YET, if we look at actual, objective evidence, there's a big mismatch between what we want to be and what is purported to be through the religious documentation, i.e. scripture.

So, suppose we examine such literature among different religions and mythologies....or at least keep the ancient stories in mind. Then, which god is good with children? Which god would be the best with children? Would it be some little known minor deity, like a Roman god of Babysitting? What is the reasoning for saying the answer you provide? Have you considered all the scriptures or just the ones you want?

Perhaps some harms and benefits to children should be considered in such an analysis. Not meant to be an extensive list...

Harms
  • Killing them off; mass fires; mass floods; first born sons of various tribes/races put to death; ordering wars, etc.
  • Ordering the sacrifice of children;
  • Torture; Slavery;
  • Locking them up because you are afraid they will challenge you one day.
  • Supporting various wars, making children orphans or murdered.

Benefits
  • Supporting the idea of feeding children.
  • Supporting the idea of taking care of orphans.
  • Supporting education.
  • Supporting peace.

So what's the best answer?
 
First, name a god that won't turn on you, like your stepdad hitting the Boone's Farm after a long shift at Piggly Wiggly. Even gentle Jesus, in his next-to-last appearance in That Book, has a giant sword coming out of his mouth. And how about his pa? Who, in the entire history of make believe, killed more babies, toddlers, pre-teens, and teens (along with parents, donkeys, etc.)? Nah, you're better off finding a nanny on Craigslist.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
If we like some god (say from a modern religion), do we project this particular characteristic onto it?
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There must have been something about that particular god that you liked (His hair?) before you started projecting your fav characteristics onto it. How else are you s’posed to create gods in your own image?
 
In light of 2 Kings 6, in which two mothers agree to eat each other's sons (and the first son does get cooked and eaten), I suppose it should be asked, which wine is good with children? I would think a nice merlot. Or sangria, which goes well with all sorts of children.
 
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ideologyhunter said:
In light of 2 Kings 6, in which two mothers agree to eat each other's sons (and the first son does get cooked and eaten), I suppose it should be asked, which wine is good with children? I would think a nice merlot. Or sangria, which goes well with all sorts of children.
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President’s pal recommends a nice Chianti.
 
But, but but....I was told..

"Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow black and white

They are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world."

Considering that racism is still a huge problem, maybe the conservative Christians are better off with the OT god. He was such a racist asshole.

I'm a woman so I want to be a female god.

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/venus/
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Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, prosperity, fertility, and victory. She was so important to Romans that they claimed her as their ancestress. According to mythology, her son AENEAS fled from TROY to Italy. He became the ancestor of Remus and Romulus, who founded Rome.
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You might be wondering why we have a planet named Venus. The planet is, indeed, name after the goddess. It was visible in the ancient night sky at certain times of the year, and looked like a very bright star. Because it was so bright and beautiful, it was named Venus. Ironically, the planet Venus is covered with acid clouds, so the name is not very suitable for a goddess of love and fertility. Nevertheless, the name shows us how much of an impact the Romans had on science.
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Venus sounds like a fun god to be. I choose Venus. I like all her traits and she even has a planet named after her. I'm Venus. :giggle: Since Venus is the goddess of fertility, she must be pretty good with children too.
 
Santa Claus is without a doubt the god who is best with children.

Unless you are thinking of the old-style Santa who punished naughty children in various way including (but not limited to) enslaving them or carrying them off to hell.

Or the modern day one who tries to sell them Coca Cola to make them obese, rot their teeth, and train them to be good little consumers for the corporations to bilk.

Yeah, it seems like there are zero gods that are good with kids. The only way to win is not to play.
 
"good with children" is a term which needs a more concise definition.

For a short period of my children's lives, I was God. Their world was created and controlled by me. They asked for whatever they desired, and sometimes I granted their prayers. There were times when I must have seemed to be Satan, but someone has to put the cookies out of reach an hour before dinner.

I could have made their early years a time of peace and complete satisfaction, and if they were cats, it might have been a practical course to take. As so many people have learned, an early life of doing what one wants, getting what one wants, and never suffering the indignity of being told "no", produces an intolerable adult.
 
In Hinduism, the Deva Parvati is the protector of mothers and children, and in general the manifestation of the creative spirit, Ganesha and Kartikeya, powrful deities in their own right, were her children, and they are often depicted as a happy young family in art and legend.

I keep a home altar for Brigid of Ireland, who is among many other roles a goddess of learning, insight, and culture. Her Catholic translation, St Brigid, is explicitly named the patron saint of babies. I tend to see her motherhood as more symbolic in nature, but the children of rural Ireland love her, and carry little effigy dolls around the community in honor of her feast day.

Kuan Yin is the mother Buddha of folk Chinese mythology, there are little wayshrines to her all through the countryside and they are lovingly tended; pregnant women pray to her for a healthy birth . She is the guide to the next permutation of the world and a guardian to the souls that are being prepared for it.

Not exactly a god, but in Haitian mythology Erzulie is the eternal mother spirit - kindly and loving to children, but capable of becoming a fierce and bloody warrior if needed in their defense. I would definitely trust her to babysit. She is usually represented by the image of The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, who is also a candidate in her own right.

Mara in the Elder Scrolls Pantheon is well regarded by nearly all the cultures of Nirn, a rare feat for any of the Aedra, and is the special patron of all mothers and children.

My lord Antinous was killed in the summer of his own youth and divinized after his death by his abuser, the Emperor Hadrian. I think he would be naturally sympathetic to and protective of children, given the events and tragic end of his life.
 
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We are god's children are we not?

It is an single parent family, no Mrs Yahweh. Maybe that is why us humans are so screwed up. No motherly guidance.
 
YHWH is also their own female counterpart, חכמה (Chokmah), acting as both Father and Mother to humanity in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. The New Testament added Sophia as the twin of Christ, until the Gnostics were wrested from power and their thealogy largely erased from historical memory.

I think it is not going out on too much of a limb to question their parenting skills, however, considering the unending avalanches of pain and suffering they have set their children to endure. An abusive parent, at best.
 
That is the moral story of Jesus. It is the appeal to the masses.

Take up your cross and bear your burden, believe in Jesus, and you will have a heavenly afterlife.

Catholicism is a cult of pain. Pain washes away sin, courtesy of Augustine. A little self flagelation is good for the soul.
 
Athena and her two parthenos sisters were special protectors of children, though. You may think of wars as aggresive, colonial affairs, and sometimes that is true. But the Hellenistic mindset framed war as part of, essentially, one's family duty. Children were helpless until they reached adulthood, and war was a necessary part of keeping them safe. There were some hidden hypocrisies in that mindset, especially in more belligerent city-states and those that relied heavily on the labor of enslaved war orphans for economic largesse, but there you go. Athena would never harm an Athenian child.
 
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