On Gods

A few months ago I read Dan Brown’s Terror, which I did not particularly like, but which made me think about one thing.

Which is – how do gods die? It is unquestionable that they do. Pagan nature spirits: elves, pixies, bear people, wolf people, Father Pan, nymphs, satyrs and all that merry crowd died together with tribal way of life. Little gods of lakes, trees and hills died about when humanity adopted a new way of life.

New Gods ruled over entire natural forces and entities: they were gods of Sky, Sun, Earth and Sea. There was less of them now and they were more or less equally powerful.

Then, together with earthly feudal order rises a new brand of Heavenly order – a single Lord with numerous lesser servants – angels and saints. And a rival who was not just mischievous but thoroughly evil; an usurper.

Finally, with establishment of monarchy, a new, Absolute God becomes prevalent. A god who is perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful and does no longer need even servants – a god who is completely separated from its “power base”, as surely as monarch’s court was separated from peasants and serfs.

Looks like we have a pattern here. Gods of humanity are just that – gods of humanity. They are as we are. They die when we change and are replaced with new ones. When humanity found a lifestyle that enabled it to grow its own food we were no longer dependent on the gods of the hunting grounds and lost respect before them. Once we had cattle, the game became just a luxury snack and we no longer needed ask its forgiveness when we killed it. The game held no longer any power over men who had agriculture.

But now we became fearful of natural forces. Rain could bring the floods. Lighting could burn the house or fields. Sea could swallow the men who went out fishing. Together with humanity’s social organization changed the social organisation of gods and the nature of their power.

When the science appeared and humanity started to understand and control natural forces, scholars generally believed that religion would now disappear. I think it was Karl Marx who said – “belief of gods must disappear once real control over natural forces is established”. Hephaestus can’t compete with a steel factory. Zeus looks weak next to a power station. Jahweh’s burning bush or pillar of flame is pitiful compared to mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb or the trail of a rocket.

And yet, with amazement the scholars observe that religion and worship endure; moreover, are prevalent. They aren’t unknown even among scientists! How could that be?

As so far the nature of society has helped us to understand the nature of Gods, perhaps we can now deduce from the nature of our God something about our society. Contemporary religious sects do not worship natural forces. Their God is not Lightning or Sea, much less is it a bear or a mountain. God has made one final transformation and become even more abstract, to take on its final and ultimate form. God of contemporary religions is thought of as The Cause, The Ruler, The Fate and The Law. In fact he’s pure, quintessential Power.

While it is true that we, as humanity, have learned to control and manage natural forces, we still have no control over social constructs that we use to control them. We may control Lightning, but we do not control Economy. We can redirect rivers but we can not prevent wars. Like Ancients, we live among forces that affect directly our lives and that we can’t control. Our God, the One Power, reveals it’s might in forces like Politics, Crime, Hunger, War and Poverty.

In order to move beyond the religion of Power, we need to understand and control Power itself; both on individual and social level – so it would release its grip on human life. As long as we haven’t done that, as long as there are uncontrollable forces beyond rational explanation affecting our everyday lives, religion of Power will endure.