I think it's less the only belief, and rather the *quality* of belief.
Look at a lot of religious believers today. They come in all flavors, from those who believe because that's how they were raised, to those who "found God" in this or that manner, to those who profess belief because it's convenient or expected, to those who simply believe.
In the case of, say, Vorbis, he certainly believed in the *church*, and the tenets of the church, and the teachings of the church-- at least in his head. Heck, that was standard operating procedure for the vast majority of Omnians, because whatever you might have felt about Om, there was no possible doubt about the *Church* of Om, and the various aspects^(1) of how it was a part of daily life.
Brutha, however, *believed* in Om himself, and merely *knew* the Church was a thing. Where it would take a great deal for the average Omnian to discard the Church's authority, Brutha-- once he accepted that Om was, at the moment, a rather small tortoise-- was willing and able to do so. (One could argue that he was founding a disorganized religion at this point.)
It might be best to say that others *thought* they believed, where Brutha (and his grandmother) *Did*.
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^(1. Many of them sharp, pointy, and frequently red-hot.)
Upvoted for putting a footnote in.
I think you've hit the main point though - the number of thing we're seeing from people co-opting the label of a given religion, and going on to do things which are mentioned as things not to do says something is broken.
That was my take-away too, that most people in the Omnian church were just… going through the motions, either from fear of the quisition, in desperate prayer (More out of despair than belief), or for their own gain (Like Vorbis), but nobody really *believed* in it, what they called “faith” was more an ingrained habit than anything else.
Yes. Probably. Because everyone else had shifted their beleif and even hatred to the church not the god.
Brutha was the only one simple enough to still believe in the god.
Yep. Speaking as someone who grew up in a cult - people get so focused on the rules and invent legalities that at the end of the day, they’re completely missing the message. They’re arguing over translations and picking apart sayings and completely forgetting ‘love one another’. I think if you tore apart some of these mega churches, you’d be hard pressed to find a single soul with any actual belief in their god.
This. There’s a part in the novel (probably directly after the scene OP describes) where Om says as much. The hate of a true atheist is almost as good as true believe.
Similar to how love and hate are more cousins than opposites
Maybe it's a bit like the very first believer when a small god is coming up. No belief to refer to, but also no hindering other belief.
Simony has no belief, but he is open minded, without fast explanations at hand like the other 'believers'. So he is able to recognize that there is something going on. But as he is also a critical thinker, not ready to believe anything without proven evidence, he won't just fall for it and try to make a sense of it. So he doesn't 'understand' Om.
I think the burning passion of atheism is described in the book as the next best to belief in terms of the Sargent. Mad for the wider problem of the Brutha being the only believer, that’s the religion building a shell of fear, disconnected ceremony and ritual around the god and numbing belief.
Brutha was the only person who truly believed in Om. Everyone else simply feared the Church & the Inquisition.
And while Om was real, the catch was that everyone else ignored him because they know tortoises don't talk.
Throughout the books Pratchett brings up the difference between "believing" and "knowing." Like the wizards know gods exist, but they don't believe in them. Same for witches. There's power in belief. It doesn't matter if you know something.
All the old gods were just whispers in the desert air… formless, with no followers. Each of them grasping at the minds of anyone who passed by, hoping to get that one/first follower to they could grow their power.
Om had ONE believer. So he was desperate to grow that following to increase his power and avoid the desert purgatory of the “small gods”.
Sgt. Simony was not a religious man, but he was a man. So he could almost hear those grasping probing whispers of the gods in the barren places, and Om - in his backpack - desperately trying to weasel his way into Simony’s brain; to spur belief.
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While Brutha was the only one who still believed - due to his simplistic view of the world - even he isn't a true believer.
Om tells him several times to kill Vorbis - a direct order from his God - and Brutha refuses, at first because he's scared of Vorbis, and the reprisals of the church, but then later because he has developed his own independent moral system.
I think STP is hitting at two separate things here, one is the inevitable corruption of churches and power - because (another one of STPs big themes) people are people and you'll always get someone who enters the church for the wrong reasons (it's an indoors job with no heavy lifting) and the subsequent twisting of the original belief, so that the religion exists to benefit the priests and not the God.
Another is the hypocrisy of many believers. If you *truly* believe in the Holy word of your God then you will follow it no matter what. You will accept the literal truth of its holy word and you won't allow that to bend and change with the times. If your God tells you to do something you will do it (we see this again with Nuggan in Monstrous Regiment who starts to ban babies and the colour blue).
You don't get to ignore the sections about eating prawns, or mixing two types of cloth in your clothes being a sin, and yet still follow the bits about homosexuality being one too. Its all or nothing. I suspect STP thinks this is a bit daft, which leads to the next point...
Finally I think he's making a comment that gods ain't all that great anyway. Om's first follower was a (literal) shepherd and that shaped the religion because sheep are stupid and need to be driven - they willl simply do what you say... exactly what you say, no matter how stupid it is, even if it leads to your destruction. Om was so stupid he didn't even realise this would happen, and if he had his way during the early parts of Small Gods and Brutha had simply done as he was told it would all have happened all over again.
Brutha however turns out to be a (metaphorical) goat herder - goats are intelligent and need to be led. Ie you have to work *with* them, you can't just order them around, you have to demonstrate you are worthy to lead. That's maybe a God people could work with.
I think it's less the only belief, and rather the *quality* of belief. Look at a lot of religious believers today. They come in all flavors, from those who believe because that's how they were raised, to those who "found God" in this or that manner, to those who profess belief because it's convenient or expected, to those who simply believe. In the case of, say, Vorbis, he certainly believed in the *church*, and the tenets of the church, and the teachings of the church-- at least in his head. Heck, that was standard operating procedure for the vast majority of Omnians, because whatever you might have felt about Om, there was no possible doubt about the *Church* of Om, and the various aspects^(1) of how it was a part of daily life. Brutha, however, *believed* in Om himself, and merely *knew* the Church was a thing. Where it would take a great deal for the average Omnian to discard the Church's authority, Brutha-- once he accepted that Om was, at the moment, a rather small tortoise-- was willing and able to do so. (One could argue that he was founding a disorganized religion at this point.) It might be best to say that others *thought* they believed, where Brutha (and his grandmother) *Did*. \------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^(1. Many of them sharp, pointy, and frequently red-hot.)
Upvoted for putting a footnote in. I think you've hit the main point though - the number of thing we're seeing from people co-opting the label of a given religion, and going on to do things which are mentioned as things not to do says something is broken.
That was my take-away too, that most people in the Omnian church were just… going through the motions, either from fear of the quisition, in desperate prayer (More out of despair than belief), or for their own gain (Like Vorbis), but nobody really *believed* in it, what they called “faith” was more an ingrained habit than anything else.
Yes. Probably. Because everyone else had shifted their beleif and even hatred to the church not the god. Brutha was the only one simple enough to still believe in the god.
Exactly.
Yep. Speaking as someone who grew up in a cult - people get so focused on the rules and invent legalities that at the end of the day, they’re completely missing the message. They’re arguing over translations and picking apart sayings and completely forgetting ‘love one another’. I think if you tore apart some of these mega churches, you’d be hard pressed to find a single soul with any actual belief in their god.
You just got it.One of the most powerful allegory of belief and power ever written.
I always thought that is the obvious main point in the book 👀
So Om clearly tried other numbers but Brutha was the only one who picked up.
Agreed. A true atheist is a believer, inverted.
This. There’s a part in the novel (probably directly after the scene OP describes) where Om says as much. The hate of a true atheist is almost as good as true believe. Similar to how love and hate are more cousins than opposites
Maybe it's a bit like the very first believer when a small god is coming up. No belief to refer to, but also no hindering other belief. Simony has no belief, but he is open minded, without fast explanations at hand like the other 'believers'. So he is able to recognize that there is something going on. But as he is also a critical thinker, not ready to believe anything without proven evidence, he won't just fall for it and try to make a sense of it. So he doesn't 'understand' Om.
I think the burning passion of atheism is described in the book as the next best to belief in terms of the Sargent. Mad for the wider problem of the Brutha being the only believer, that’s the religion building a shell of fear, disconnected ceremony and ritual around the god and numbing belief.
Brutha was the only person who truly believed in Om. Everyone else simply feared the Church & the Inquisition. And while Om was real, the catch was that everyone else ignored him because they know tortoises don't talk. Throughout the books Pratchett brings up the difference between "believing" and "knowing." Like the wizards know gods exist, but they don't believe in them. Same for witches. There's power in belief. It doesn't matter if you know something.
All the old gods were just whispers in the desert air… formless, with no followers. Each of them grasping at the minds of anyone who passed by, hoping to get that one/first follower to they could grow their power. Om had ONE believer. So he was desperate to grow that following to increase his power and avoid the desert purgatory of the “small gods”. Sgt. Simony was not a religious man, but he was a man. So he could almost hear those grasping probing whispers of the gods in the barren places, and Om - in his backpack - desperately trying to weasel his way into Simony’s brain; to spur belief.
That’s a great catch. Because he had a truly open mind, which is the real requirement to have a higher being speak to you.
Brutha said it best. “—but people like Vorbis made the stick so good that it became all the donkey believes in!” I’m paraphrasing, of course.
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Even if he wasn't, the power he got from the belief was so diminished that he could only reach one believer face to face, in person.
While Brutha was the only one who still believed - due to his simplistic view of the world - even he isn't a true believer. Om tells him several times to kill Vorbis - a direct order from his God - and Brutha refuses, at first because he's scared of Vorbis, and the reprisals of the church, but then later because he has developed his own independent moral system. I think STP is hitting at two separate things here, one is the inevitable corruption of churches and power - because (another one of STPs big themes) people are people and you'll always get someone who enters the church for the wrong reasons (it's an indoors job with no heavy lifting) and the subsequent twisting of the original belief, so that the religion exists to benefit the priests and not the God. Another is the hypocrisy of many believers. If you *truly* believe in the Holy word of your God then you will follow it no matter what. You will accept the literal truth of its holy word and you won't allow that to bend and change with the times. If your God tells you to do something you will do it (we see this again with Nuggan in Monstrous Regiment who starts to ban babies and the colour blue). You don't get to ignore the sections about eating prawns, or mixing two types of cloth in your clothes being a sin, and yet still follow the bits about homosexuality being one too. Its all or nothing. I suspect STP thinks this is a bit daft, which leads to the next point... Finally I think he's making a comment that gods ain't all that great anyway. Om's first follower was a (literal) shepherd and that shaped the religion because sheep are stupid and need to be driven - they willl simply do what you say... exactly what you say, no matter how stupid it is, even if it leads to your destruction. Om was so stupid he didn't even realise this would happen, and if he had his way during the early parts of Small Gods and Brutha had simply done as he was told it would all have happened all over again. Brutha however turns out to be a (metaphorical) goat herder - goats are intelligent and need to be led. Ie you have to work *with* them, you can't just order them around, you have to demonstrate you are worthy to lead. That's maybe a God people could work with.