How men create their Gods

"Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life." Aristotle.

Agnostic and atheist rejection of religious belief has a long history and stretches back even to the ancient Greeks. Sometimes Atheism is projected by creationists as the handmaiden of those who accept the facts of Evolution and the theory of natural selection but this is a distortion.

Aristotle shows that even thousands of years ago there were great thinkers who questioned where the belief in gods came from. In many ways it is remarkable that Aristotle was able to see so clearly that the foundation of the belief in the existence of Gods is to be found in the nature of men themselves.

Aristotle sets out that not only do men create their own gods but that they shape them in an images of themselves and their culture.

It is interesting to think about this in relation to the various strands of thought that we see in the world today.

One of the things that all religions appear to have in common is the belief in some form of afterlife. For the Christian, Jew or Muslim this is some form of imagined heaven. In more eastern religions there are supposed cycles of rebirth leading to Nirvana or to eventual release.

Invariably the imagined heaven offers a release from and a contrast with the hardships of this life. Grieving for a deceased relative or worried that in death you will lose your family for eternity? Fret not for you will see them in heaven. Weighed down by care or the pain of illness? Take comfort for in heaven all will be well.

For those who live the affluent lifestyle of the US there are the fundamentalist christian interpretations. Aristotle would I am sure not be surprised to have found that it was in the US, where so much emphasis is placed on material possessions, that there are preachers who promise rewards on earth for those who are born again.

In many Muslim ( and fundamentalist Christian) cultures women are traditionally tightly under the control of men. And guess what? Surprise surprise - their concept of God is of a supreme being who is essentially male and who supports their cultural prejudices.

Living in a culture which heavily controls free association of the sexes and sexual activity outwith marriage? Hey! - No sweat! - there will be forty virgins waiting for you if you die for Allah.

Want your religion mixed with some female emancipation? - Don't worry! The faithful can create gods in that image as well. Become a Pagan and worship "mother earth" !

In all this we see that belief and worship of gods is about wish fulfillment.

There is of course no obvious reason why an omnipotent god or gods would care a jot about humans collectively - let alone any individual human being. But believing in those types of Gods would be singularly unfulfilling - so it seldom happens.

Perhaps the argument that there is an omnipotent creator would be more compelling if the nature of this being wasn't so obviously tied to the hopes and fears of the humans who believe in this stuff.