I've been trawling through japanese history recently and came across a shinto kami called Sugawara Michizane, who had responsibilties for examination.

This got me thinking: A lot of polytheistic religions usually have gods for things like the sun, harvests, love and so forth. Why not have modern gods and godesses, as the world has changed since the inception of most major religions

For example: A god of computers, a god of sewage farms, a god of railways....
-- imagooAJ, Oct 21 2000

Saint Isidore of Seville http://www.catholic.org/isidore/
Proposed Patron Saint of Internet Users. [egnor, Oct 21 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

What's your religion? http://www.speakout...selectors/religion/
A sublime test of your holiest principles. [reensure, Oct 21 2000]

Laptop Buddha http://www.mcphee.c...cts/nerd/10476.html
In the same category: Computer Goddess and Voodoo Computer. Don't forget St. Jude, the patron saint of Lost Causes. [rmutt, Oct 21 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

What's your religion? http://www.selectsmart.com/RELIGION/
An updated version of the above link. [reensure, Oct 21 2000]

David Bradley's contribution to modern life. http://en.wikipedia.../Control-Alt-Delete
Now that he has retired, I propose David Bradley as the first saint of computing. [DrBob, Oct 04 2004]

Neil Gaiman, American Gods http://www.neilgaim...americangods_pb.asp
contains new Gods of technology [rambling_sid, Dec 29 2004]

'Kami' translates better as 'spirit' than 'god', although it isn't exactly either. Us computer geeks often refer to things like 'repair fairies' <leave a b0rken computer turned off overnight and sometimes the repair fairies will fix it> or gremlins...Much like the WWII aviators...
-- StarChaser, Oct 21 2000


I kid you not, here is a "Prayer Before Logging Onto the Internet":

Almighty and eternal God,
who has created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person
of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
bishop and doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes
only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience
all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

I dunno, it seems a little hastily adapted to me. But I think the idea is baked, in some circles anyway.
-- egnor, Oct 21 2000


My translation was "the gods and the godesses", and Japan did refer to itself "the land of the gods and the godesses", particularly so after the Meiji restoration.
-- imagooAJ, Oct 23 2000


If you actually speak/read Japanese, I bow to your experience; it can have more than one translation anyway...

Hey, if you do actually speak and read Japanese, email me? Check my profile and look on my webpage for it. I've got something I want desperately to have translated...
-- StarChaser, Oct 24 2000


StarChaser, we've got the repair fairies and the gremlins in the ISP tech support pantheon as well, but we seem to have quite a few more:

PPP pixies- for the bad connection that's mysteriously restored the minute you get a tech on the phone

Web Gnomes (who knows why?)

FTP fairies- for file downloads that look like they're dying but somehow mysteriously spring back to life

LDAP leprechauns (hey- LDAP can be a finicky protocol sometimes...)

TCP/IP Trolls- reputedly responsible for packet loss

and many more......
-- BigThor, Oct 24 2000


Different but in the same general vane, I heard a bloke on the radio a little while ago proposing that people adopted more relevant and modern surnames. After all, there aren't many real Smiths, Carters and Wheelers around these days. So the future belongs to Pete Programmer, Bill Busdriver and Judas Management Consultant. It's the sort of idea that deserves a mention on the half-bakery but, as it had already been suggested in another medium, I didn't feel that I could put it up as an idea myself. This seemed like the ideal opportunity to mention it though.
-- DrBob, Oct 24 2000


Perhaps the only way to ferret out the real demi-gods is to come right out and ask them. If you ask Madonna, and she gives you one of those rueful little half-smiles and smites you with a thunderbolt, well ... good guess.
-- 1percent, Mar 28 2001, last modified Mar 29 2001


I think it was in "Expecting Someone Taller" by Tom Holt that a large number of minor gods from the old days were reassigned to watch over major highways and the like.
-- baf, Sep 16 2001


It's been my experience that a computer - which should otherwise be fully capable of operation - will mysteriously begin to work after I nick myself on burred piece of metal, providing a blood sacrifice.
-- phoenix, Sep 16 2001


Aries?
-- bristolz, Mar 31 2003


<linky>
-- DrBob, Mar 30 2004


Neil Gaiman's book 'American Gods' (linked) tells how the old Gods have been surpassed by the new Gods of technology such as the car and computer, damn fine book too.
-- rambling_sid, Dec 29 2004


Neil Gaman's "Neverwhere" is good too.

And so is the book "Good Omens" co-written with Terry Pratchett.
-- DesertFox, Dec 29 2004



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