False Gods Can’t Laugh: The Power of Names and Mockery

My family plays a regular Dungeons & Dragons game, which I’ve referenced before in A Knight’s Tale. For those who have never played, D&D is essentially a shared story constrained by rules, terrific fun for people who enjoy storytelling. In our game, we kept running into cultists devoted to Orcus, a demon king.

Eventually, it became clear that something more ambitious was going on. These cultists were not merely serving a powerful demon. They were advancing his attempt to become something more. Alongside Orcus the demon existed Orcus the Roman god, a judge of the dead associated with oaths, punishment, and the underworld. By infiltrating temples meant for the god, the demon’s followers were siphoning reverence and authority toward their master, attempting to elevate him into godhood.

Rather than responding with force, my character tried something different. She renamed both of them.

The demon became “Poopyhead Orcus.” The Roman god became “the Bearded Judge Orcus.” We leaned into the distinction deliberately. As the names spread, the world responded. Statues changed, sprouting interestingly humiliating headgear matching the new name for the demon while the Roman god's beard just became thicker and more luxurious. The cult lost cohesion. Other gods were openly amused. The demon, we were warned, was furious.

Within the logic of the game, this worked. What surprised me was not that it worked in a fictional world, but how closely it mirrored the real one.

https://pjmedia.com/jamie-wilson/2026/01/04/false-gods-cant-laugh-the-power-of-names-and-mockery-n4947886

Trump understands this…