Are you familiar with the animated version of "Josie and the Pussycats"?
Oh yes. And that's exactly where my mind went the first time I heard "Buffy and the Vampires".
As for the rest, I'm going to have to agree with the above comment; I think it's actually one of the things that really works - there's really no place for belief in Buffy's life. She knows that some gods exist, because she's actually met them or at least seen their work first-hand, so believing in them becomes pointless. As for gods she hasn't met or experienced otherwise, being an existentialist hero, she can really only shrug - whether they exist and don't intervene, or don't exist at all becomes irrelevant; in either case, she'll have to make her own life on her own.
And even if Buffy went to heaven (or a heaven) I don't see why that would prove the existence of any particular god. If there's countless hell dimensions, why not heavens?
I assumed at the time that Holden was asking about a "Judeo-Christian" concept of God the Father
I still think he is. "Oh my God! I mean not my God because I defy Him and all His works - does He exist?" He's clearly talking specifically about the Abrahamic god, much like Spike does in "Beneath You" and the lead vampire in "Who Are You". And Buffy's answer is that she's never seen any sign that He - the god actually called God - either exists or doesn't.
Buffy's concept of "god" (ie hellgod) is simply a super-duper-powerful being who may come from one of the thousands of uncounted dimensions
I think this question is at the heart of the whole discussion of what "a god" is in a story where supernatural things are a matter of fact rather than belief. There's a huge grey area between "unusually powerful being" and "all-powerful, omniscient creator". The common definition of "god" that we use in traditionally monotheist cultures almost seems a bit narrow. (See also Captain America's comments about Thor.)
(And then there's the question at what point an increasingly powerful human gets classed as a god. A very early draft of this fic had Faith muse that when Willow says a prayer in Hebrew over a fallen Slayer, Faith's not sure if she's praying or just shooting the breeze with a colleague.)
no subject
Oh yes. And that's exactly where my mind went the first time I heard "Buffy and the Vampires".
As for the rest, I'm going to have to agree with the above comment; I think it's actually one of the things that really works - there's really no place for belief in Buffy's life. She knows that some gods exist, because she's actually met them or at least seen their work first-hand, so believing in them becomes pointless. As for gods she hasn't met or experienced otherwise, being an existentialist hero, she can really only shrug - whether they exist and don't intervene, or don't exist at all becomes irrelevant; in either case, she'll have to make her own life on her own.
And even if Buffy went to heaven (or a heaven) I don't see why that would prove the existence of any particular god. If there's countless hell dimensions, why not heavens?
I assumed at the time that Holden was asking about a "Judeo-Christian" concept of God the Father
I still think he is. "Oh my God! I mean not my God because I defy Him and all His works - does He exist?" He's clearly talking specifically about the Abrahamic god, much like Spike does in "Beneath You" and the lead vampire in "Who Are You". And Buffy's answer is that she's never seen any sign that He - the god actually called God - either exists or doesn't.
Buffy's concept of "god" (ie hellgod) is simply a super-duper-powerful being who may come from one of the thousands of uncounted dimensions
I think this question is at the heart of the whole discussion of what "a god" is in a story where supernatural things are a matter of fact rather than belief. There's a huge grey area between "unusually powerful being" and "all-powerful, omniscient creator". The common definition of "god" that we use in traditionally monotheist cultures almost seems a bit narrow. (See also Captain America's comments about Thor.)
(And then there's the question at what point an increasingly powerful human gets classed as a god. A very early draft of this fic had Faith muse that when Willow says a prayer in Hebrew over a fallen Slayer, Faith's not sure if she's praying or just shooting the breeze with a colleague.)