MAN MADE GOD IN HIS OWN IMAGE
This is not a question of the existence of a higher power.
The universe and all its energy is the power that has existed long before humans came into existence and became aware of it. All its chaos and patterns are what we call the laws of nature, from which the stars and humankind developed, long before humans squeezed it into stories of science and myth to make it somewhat comprehensible to our finite intellect.
I didn’t make my own body.
I manage my body.
My body is here as part of a chain of existence bigger than myself.
There are patterns in the way the energy of the universe organizes itself from chaos.
Humans observe the universe and its patterns to improve our chances of survival as a species. During our sojourn as a living element of humankind, we help develop systems to improve the experience of the group so we may benefit as individuals within the group.
Developing communication skills has helped us develop a consciousness of our experience that we can share with each other for the survival of the species as a whole not limited to the mortality of an individual. In essence, our shared consciousness becomes our immortality.
We observe nature’s patterns and innovate systems to assure we have food, shelter and companionship, each an essential element of the perpetuation of the species.
The species is made of individuals and the survival of the individual requires that they have access to the resources necessary to thrive.
Living as a group (civilization) creates opportunities for the group that are greater than the potential of a single individual. Diversity within the group strengthens the group as the aptitudes of different individuals become apparent.
The distinction between individuals creates a natural hierarchy based on intellectual and physical strengths.
In a pack of wolves the hierarchy is made clear through gesture and physical prowess. This is true of humans, but we have added the skill of abstract thought and verbal communication to our tools for domination and survival.
Verbal communication has made it possible for us to tell and recall stories. These stories can be as mundane as which foods are safe to eat or as abstract as deducing what might happen tomorrow or how to understand the mysteries of nature through mythology.
A hierarchical gap widened between those adept at abstract thought and those more suited to physical pursuits. Clever abstract thinkers devised systems to organize the pursuits and functioning of the group.
Humans with a more highly developed capacity for abstract innovation could see that the mysteries of nature and the observable powers of nature could be combined with human fear and insecurity to concoct the perfect recipe for some humans to control other humans through the formidable power of Story.
This was and has always been the fundamental principle behind organized religion and political and economic dominance.
For example, if you take the most fundamental human drive (procreation) and vilify it so its never-ending existence ensures you have a platform of perpetual control over all those who will never be free of nature’s design to procreate to ensure the survival of the species, you have willfully created a conundrum to which you can also claim to have the only key.
By writing the rules, you have made it your game. By claiming that these rules were devised by some mysterious invisible power of the universe, you have deflected responsibility and vulnerability away from yourself while retaining a perceived power as agent.
Not all cultures view sex as sin. Some honor and cultivate its higher spiritual potential as the very essence of continuing life. Which it is.
Humans are masters of Story and it is Story that can lead us to greatness or tear us apart.
