Godularity

Somebody online observed that sports teams thank God for their victories. Why is God only on our side when we win?

The same thing happens on a much larger scale when imperial nations attack other nations in the name of God.

No matter how we interpret a god, I’m pretty sure the universe doesn’t appreciate unjustified attacks.

The sports situation is more benign. Nobody dies, no buildings are bombed, both teams are playing by the same rules and accepting the umpire’s decisions. A win simply means a better performance plus a little luck.

In software terms, why shouldn’t the top-level program of God have local instantiations who celebrate small local victories? Why not a utility God with separate connecting points for each of us, like the connections of a power grid or sewer system? Our individual godmeter is happy when we do something right, and unhappy when we act like conquering nations.

Older religions had modular gods, pictured as a village or family of distinct personalities. Some monotheistic traditions preserve the old setup in patron saints or guardian angels or djinn, each connecting to a different personality type or ethnic group. People pray to their connected saint, not to the superclass God. Priests and popes stoutly maintain that these local modules are not parts of God, but real people know better.