It has been noted in the past that one of the first recourses of opponents of Pandeism is to treat it as if it has something to do with the worship of Pandas. But perhaps it is the Pandas who ought to be asked why they're named something so pandeistic-sounding....

After all, both "pan" (in the Ancient Greek sense of referring to "the all") and "Deism" were around long before Pandas were ever called by that word; and so, even, was the term "paṇḍita" -- Sanskrit for learned master, and certainly more coincidentally cognate. Indeed, the entire Pandas/Pandeism connection only makes sense to Western ears, where the combination of syllables has that connotation, not in the East, where entirely different, and often more sacred things come to mind.

Meanwhile, if you were to ask an average man-on-the-street in rural China where to find a "Panda," you'd likely draw a blank stare. You see, the Chinese, being more sensible about their resident creature, call it xióng māo -- literally "bear cat," since, by their estimation, it combines the ursine and feline characteristics of a bear and a cat. The closest thing to "Panda" in the Chinese language is Pángǔ -- which happens to be the name, in Chinese mythology, of a god (or, at least, godlike being) who becomes the Earth!!

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