Ask yourself! How is it that mighty gods die, yet the Daedra stand incorruptible? How is it that the Daedra forthrightly proclaim themselves to man, while the gods cower behind statues and the faithless words of traitor-priests? It is simple… they are not gods at all. – Mankar Camoran, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Before I write anything else I’ll explain that in the game Daedra are basically demons and their leaders are like many versions of the Devil. Mankar Camoran is one of the main villains of the game and he makes a few long speeches before your final confrontation with him. (Click here to read more) – Mankar Camoran seems to get some of the in-game lore wrong but there is the possibility that he knows something that the player doesn’t.

This is an interesting quote because of how it relates to real life and the gods and demons of our world. What do we know of them really? We get all out information on whatever gods we worship from books, art and religious workers. We get information about demons from the same except gods are often said to be benevolent, all loving. Why would an all loving god allow for death, madness, disease and natural disasters? Surely they would be the Devil’s work.

Demons do bad, gods do good; if we look at it like this then Mankar Camoran’s words are really important. All those people who worship gods should ask whether the gods they worship even exist or whether it’s demons that rule instead. We see evidence of demons but not of benevolent gods but then of course a god may not be benevolent. If it doesn’t love you, then why worship it? Fear? Are the gods as bad as demons?

Since I want this to be something people can take something from rather than a rant about religion then I’ll say that any belief you have, scientific, religious, political or otherwise ask yourself: Why do you believe it? What factual evidence or logic can back up your belief? Don’t stop believing because there is no evidence but make sure that you know why you believe what you believe and don’t just follow something blindly.