Don't be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his.
-- General George S. Patton
January 29, 2006
Does Superman Believe In God??
I guess the question should be written, would Superman believe in God since he (Superman) himself is nothing more than an American mythological character.
This weekend my girlfriend and I watched the first two Superman movies. There was a scene in the second film that made me ponder this question.
As a refresher for those of you whom haven't seen the original Superman films in some time, there is a scene in the second movie where Superman gets beat up. If you recall Lois Lane discovers his secret and confronts him on it. He decides to take her to the Fortress of Solitude and tell her everything. When she slips away to, "get into something more comfortable" he seeks guidance from his mother. She tells Superman that if he wants to be with "one of them" he has to live as "one of them" and be an "ordinary" man. He enters a "molecule chamber" and is stripped of his powers. A few scenes later Lois is being hit on by a very rude chauvinist truck driver. Clark tries to do the honorable thing and defend her only to get his ass whooped. One moment in that scene when he is lying on the ground in pain tasting his own blood he utters, "Oh God, Oh God." That made me think, hmmm does Superman believe in God?
I think this is an interesting question albeit a totally hypothetical one. Would a man who himself is basically a god among men believe in a being even greater than himself? Would he believe in God in the Christian sense because he was raised to believe? Would he cast off any belief in God because he himself is so godlike? Or perhaps he was simply whimpering, "Oh God" because that is what he has heard others do?
So what do you think, if Superman were real, raised in America's heartland would he believe?
I am not the first person to think of this odd question, in fact when I started this post I did a Google search for "Does Superman believe in God" and it returned 2 hits. I broadened the search by removing the quotations and it returned 1,480,000 hits based on the words Superman believe and God.
There were a few interesting threads. Starting with the comic book junkies such as Superherohype.com although this type of message board is more opinion Q&A it had a few interesting points.
Then there were things like this comparison of the Superman mythos to that of Jesus Christ. This was an intriguing comparison to say the least.
So, does Superman believe in God?
What do you think?
lagleRock Out!
I believe that Superman,if he were a real person,might believe in God.I say might because I have known many people that believe in God even though it came as a shock to me.I have also known people that I would have thought to be believers,only to find just the opposite.
In my youth,I was an avid comic book reader.I was a huge Superman fan.In my opinion,Jonathan and Martha Kent were the typical,God fearing church going types.They would have subjected Clark to their ideals and beliefs.This is not to say that all children grow up adhering to their parents beliefs.I do believe that the parents beliefs make an impact on the childs life.SlagleRock does not share all of my beliefs entirely but I do believe that my ideals have had a direct impact on his life.
Also,there is really no reason that Superman shouldn't believe in an supreme being.Even in this day and age,in many cultures,we would be cosidered Gods.
Would Superman believe in God?Would Superman believe in an supreme being?Are these one and the same?Although it is an hypothetical question,it is an interesting one.
I am sure the elder Kents, salt of the earth types that they were, provided young Clark with a righteous Sunday school education. And since Clark honors his parents so much, he carries those teachings with him every day.
Superman may appear as a god among us Earthbound types, but he sees himself as a man. His abilities and powers are endemic to him as a person from the planet Krypton. Superman is no more surprised he can fly than an eagle is.
Yeah, Superman believed in God. But it wasn't Allah.
Posted by: Acidman at February 6, 2006 10:12 PMIf one ponders on the martial art philosophy that even the masters have masters, then it stands to reason that even the gods have gods.
Posted by: Valgerd at February 16, 2006 02:10 PM