My hero, Prometheus

I remember a class, maybe in junior high school, in which we studied the Greek myths. And we each had to pick out a mythical character we liked, and then tell the class why. And I chose Prometheus. And what I liked most was that he had the courage to defy god (Zeus). By stealing fire and giving it to humankind. And I thought it horrible that god would punish him for that. I think that I had a feeling that I would defy god, defy authority, for good reason, and I thought that shouldn't be a punishable offense. I was being brought up as a Christian. Hauled off to Sunday school every Sunday. And I already had the impression that god was vengeful. Unjust. Too autocratic. Yes, I was already rejecting the Christian notion of god that I was being taught. But I didn't quite yet know how to formally reject it. But I was questioning. Right from the beginning. Of course, I've come around to the notion that god is love. And all this other crap about a vengeful god doesn't fit in with a god of love. --Jim Broede