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Erica, the Designer of Gods
Before there were gods, there was a question.
No one could answer it.
The question was simply: “Where did the gods come from?”
To satisfy the question, the First Philosophers imagined Erica, the Architect of Divinity.
Erica was said to dwell in the Workshop Beyond Explanations, a place that existed outside every universe, every timeline, and every chain of cause and effect. There she forged gods the way blacksmiths forge swords. Every deity ever worshipped—whether of thunder, wisdom, war, love, oceans, or creation—was merely one of Erica’s completed designs.
She shaped them from ideas rather than matter. Omniscience was hammered on an anvil of certainty. Omnipotence was poured into molds of limitless possibility. Eternity was woven into their essence so no one would ever ask who made them.
When a civilization required a creator, Erica delivered one.
When a people feared storms, she designed a storm god.
When they needed morality, she crafted a lawgiver.
When they desired meaning after death, she assembled guardians of the afterlife.
Each god was customized to the imagination, language, and culture of those who would eventually believe in it.
Yet there was one commandment written above Erica’s workshop:
“No god shall remember who built them.”
Thus every creator god sincerely believed itself to be the first.
Some gods insisted they had always existed.
Others claimed to have created time itself.
A few declared they had spoken the universe into existence.
Erica smiled at each new proclamation and added another finished blueprint to her endless archive.
Naturally, philosophers eventually asked the forbidden question:
“Who created Erica?”
The High Priests answered that such a question misunderstood her nature. Erica had no origin. She was eternal, necessary, outside time, beyond causation, and therefore required no explanation.
When skeptical apprentices pointed out that these were exactly the same qualities previously assigned to the gods Erica supposedly created, the priests declared this profound rather than circular.
A tiny dissident sect, known as the Infinite Designers, rejected this conclusion. They taught that Erica herself had been designed by an even older deity named Margaret, who in turn had been crafted by Theodore, who had been assembled by Susan, who had been imagined by another designer before her. Their sacred scroll consisted mostly of an infinitely long family tree and ended abruptly with the note:
“Additional pages forthcoming.”
The mainstream priesthood mocked them. “Infinite regress is absurd,” they said.
“But Erica is exempt.”
“And why is Erica exempt?”
“Because otherwise we’d need another Erica.”
The skeptics nodded.
“Exactly.”
To this day, the followers of Erica insist she solved the mystery of where gods come from.
Her critics reply that she merely moved the mystery back one step and gave it a name

His mom died

https://www.youtube.com/live/zgU4UnGqJLo?is=Ofi6tfgT7Vzbw-47

Terms and Conditions of Faith Agreement
By accepting this Agreement, you (“the Believer”) acknowledge that you voluntarily agree to the following statements:
1. Acceptance of Divine Authority
You agree that God is perfectly good, perfectly just, and incapable of moral wrongdoing, regardless of whether you understand or approve of any recorded action.
2. Historical Acceptance
You affirm that, where your interpretation requires it, the following events are true and morally justified because God commanded or performed them, including but not limited to:
The global flood that destroyed nearly all humanity.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The death of Egypt’s firstborn during the Exodus.
The conquest of Canaan, including passages describing warfare against entire cities.
Commands prescribing capital punishment for various offenses in the Mosaic Law.
The account of bears killing youths after they mocked Elisha.
The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart by God.
Other divine judgments recorded throughout Scripture.
3. Moral Agreement
You agree that actions commanded by God are, by definition, morally good, even if similar actions performed by humans would ordinarily be considered immoral.
4. Human Limitation
If any biblical account appears cruel, unjust, or contradictory to your moral intuitions, you acknowledge that the limitation lies in your understanding rather than in God’s character.
5. Suspension of Independent Moral Judgment
You agree that your personal moral reasoning is subordinate to divine revelation whenever the two appear to conflict.
6. Selective Interpretation
You acknowledge that sincere believers may disagree about whether certain passages are literal, symbolic, hyperbolic, historical, or culturally specific. Nevertheless, you agree to maintain that whatever God truly intended is both true and good.
7. Eternal Consequences
You acknowledge that Christian traditions differ regarding salvation, judgment, and hell, but you accept the theological framework of the community with which you identify.
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René Girard’s triangular desire (also called mimetic desire) is one of the central ideas that many Christian thinkers have adopted because Girard himself eventually became a Christian.
The basic idea is that we don’t simply desire objects directly. Instead, our desires are mediated by other people.
Instead of a simple line:
Person → Object
Girard argues desire is a triangle:
Model (Mediator)
/\
/ \
/ \
Person --------> Object
The person desires the object because the model desires it or seems to value it.
Example
A child ignores a toy until another child starts playing with it. Suddenly that toy becomes irresistible.
The toy isn’t inherently more desirable—the other child made it desirable.
Girard argues this pattern extends to:
wealth
status
careers
romantic partners
political power
religious prestige
Mimetic rivalry
When two people imitate each other’s desires, they become rivals.
For example:
Person A wants promotion because Person B values it.
Person B now sees A as competition.
Each person’s desire intensifies because of the other.
Eventually the original object becomes almost irrelevant—the rivalry itself dominates.
The scapegoat mechanism
Girard argued societies naturally resolve escalating rivalry by uniting against one victim.
Everyone blames a single individual or group for the conflict.
Examples he discussed include:
witches
heretics
ethnic minorities
political enemies
The temporary unity creates the illusion that the scapegoat caused the disorder.
Why many Christians find this compelling
Girard believed the Bible uniquely exposes rather than endorses scapegoating.
For example:
Joseph is falsely blamed.
Job is treated as though suffering proves guilt.
The prophets defend innocent victims.
Jesus is condemned despite innocence.
For Girard, the crucifixion reveals the innocence of the victim and exposes the scapegoat mechanism instead of justifying it.
He argued that many myths present the victim as guilty, whereas the Gospels present Jesus as innocent.
Christian applications
Many Christian writers use mimetic theory to explain:
envy
consumerism
violence
political polarization
church conflicts
They also argue Christians should imitate (mimetically desire) Christ rather than worldly models. In this view, imitation itself is not the problem; the question is whom we imitate.
Criticisms
Scholars from psychology, anthropology, and philosophy have raised several objections:
Human desire has many causes besides imitation, including biological needs, personality, and individual preferences.
Girard is often criticized for applying mimetic desire too broadly, making it a near-universal explanation for culture and conflict.
Some anthropologists dispute his reconstruction of the origins of religion and human society because it is difficult to test historically.
Many biblical scholars appreciate Girard’s literary insights but do not accept all of his theological or anthropological conclusions.
Despite these criticisms, Girard’s work has been influential across theology, literary criticism, philosophy, and social theory, especially among Christians interested in understanding conflict, violence, and the social dynamics reflected in the Bible.

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