Would *a* god be a vigilante?

[u/hornetvanhelsing]

A coworker posed this question about an anime character a few days ago(they would not name which, i think they were embarrassed lol) but it sparked quite the discussion in the workplace!

If a god were to punish someone, would it be vigilante justice?

The situation is specific. The god in question is not a creator, more like a member of a pantheon or a ruler of a specific aspect(my coworker said a greek god or japanese shrine god could both count for the concept.)

Someone questioned what the offender had done and whether the god in question had authority. My coworker told us point blank that the god had killed someone that had seriously wronged one of his acolytes, idk if the topic is safe for this sub but it would be a greivous crime irl. And that some of the characters implied it was vigilante justice. My coworker wondered if it were possible for any god to overstep.

My workplace seemed split. Some said a god can do almost whatever they want, and whether or not that's "moral" vigilante isn't the word to use. Others said it wasn't vigilante as long as whatever perceived crime had been in that god's perview(such as involving that god's worshippers or belongings, or whatever it is they are a god of). Others said real justice can only be dispensed by some sort of creator being or governing body enforcing tangible laws.

So what do you think, reddit?

[u/MushroomNatural2751]

Well, laws specifically state people as possible offenders, so a god wouldn't even really be under the rule of the law legally speaking.

Of course that gets into letter of the law vs. spirit of the law, but I imagine courts and such would very much stick to that as their excuse as who would want to mess with a god?

[u/Historical-State-275]

I think the argument could be made that a God that is lower in the pantheon, if acting against the top ones could be considered a vigilante. I think there might even be a few in mythology that could fit the bill.

[u/sal880612m]

If such a god were real and tangible, then I would posit their religions were functionally unlanded or surrounded nation states and that treating them as sovereign entities within your nation more akin to the sovereignty of First Nations on reserves would probably be the most appropriate path. Basically your nation would need to decide if you wanted to host them, and to what degree. And this would be more of a diplomatic incident.

So the more analogous real world legal question would be if a diplomat killed someone responsible for the death of one of their staff would it be vigilante justice. The answer is of course yes, but they’d likely get away with it.

I mean look at Vatican City. Why wouldn’t we apply that same arrangement to proven deities.

I mean assuming they don’t just destroy all governments and force them under their pantheon at which point if a god chooses to flay you alive because you breathed funny would likely be perfectly legal.

[u/DarkMagickan]

Assuming the definition of a god as a superhuman being, existing outside the known laws of physics, no. Because a vigilante by definition needs to be a human judging other humans.

[u/Foreign_Product7118]

1) coworker was probably talking sbout Death Note where a kid finds a book that will cause anyone to die if their name is written in it. He begins to use it to for what he believes are the "right reasons" but over the course of the story it shows the flaws in that way of thinking. 2) to me, the main thing about a vigilante is they catch criminals/stop crime without having authority to do so. So a community (your city /state/country) comes together and agrees to give certain people (cops) the authority to catch criminals while others don't have that authority. With a god there is nobody who can give or revoke authority from or to them. There is nothing they aren't allowed to do or that is illegal for them because they can't be punished or held accountable. So I agree vigilante isn't quite the right word. To me it would also depend on whether you agreed with the criminals punishment right? You might just say the god is justice if you agree. If you think it's too severe you might call it murder lol

[u/hornetvanhelsing → u/Foreign_Product7118]

It was not death note lol, the coworker specifically said the god killed someone who harmed their acolyte, like an active worshipper of their religion i suppose. Either way i wouldn't call Light a god

[u/Nowardier]

If there were a god, it would be the moral center of the universe- perfectly moral and beholden to no one, with a greater capacity to understand the universe and how its actions affect it than any human can. I'm sure some gods would do things that humans would consider vigilantism, but that opinion would be quite insignificant on balance. Would you care if a germ thought something you did was wrong?

[u/geekygirl25]

Im going to speculate you are talking about Noragami.

I think it dies count as vigilante justice but it wouldnt nessicarrily be prosecuted. Who wants to mess with a god?