One day, several years ago, a man named Gronk said, “Ugh
grok wiiny,” and he picked up his club and spear, and set off from the shelter
of his cave to slay a beast for dinner.
Since that day, man’s language, tools, occupation, skills, neuroses,
and gods have become increasingly modern.
These, as well as many other accoutrements, have evolved to enable Gronk
to exchange his cave, for a 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 3-car garage (which will probably
never see a car), and a 20 year mortgage, to become the sophisticated,
debonair, dandies we are today. Even
though all of mankind has not yet reached a uniform communication, i.e. “the red
house,” “la casa roja,” “La maison rouge,” “cave, red,” we can still get the
picture in some rudimentary form.
When we examine the trappings man has brought with him through
the past 3 million years, we find the level of refinement has evolved with
man’s growth from a Gronk to an Einstein.
The language, tools, occupation, skills, neuroses, and gods have become
refined in each culture through their confrontation with the environment in
which they live.
Just as the earliest tools were quite crude by today’s
standards, so too were their gods. Deitomical
names given unseen forces to explain the mysteries of nature (volcanoes,
earthquakes, storms, etc.), in the same way the word, “wiiny” was used to
identify the “beast” usual served for dinner.
As natural threatening forces became better understood and predictable, deities
became refined and re-associated with other mysterious events that continue to
threaten, such as debilitating illnesses, misfortunes, the unknown, etc.
The sophistication level of gods has continued to grow
within cultural limits. Greek gods were worshiped
and legitimized by Grecians; Roman gods
worshiped by Romans; the Buda adorated by Buddhists; Yahweh claimed by Jews;
Allah created by Muslims; and the multiple configuration of a Trinity by
Christians; and so on, and so on, ad infinitum – and, never the twain shall
meet. Each deity seems to reflect the
traits of the culture by which they are embraced.
Gronk’s gods had a far simpler task in meeting Gronk’s daily
survival requests than the gods of the 21st century. We have become increasingly neurotic and absorbed
with multiple events that threaten our perceived daily survival, and have
developed coping habits with ornate buildings, complex and organized social structures,
prayer warriors, beads, incense, candles, etc., for things our deities can, or
must do, for us.
In short – we, like the Gronks, continue to struggle against
the perceived powers of darkness which we believe have been intentionally placed
before us to threaten and interfere with our desires and destiny. We want our path cleared of any impedance,
and straightened for ease, and seek the gods who can do this for us - if we
only believe in them.
The Gronks have succeeded in their created task, either in
spite of, or due to, their belief in unknown powers they feared, by the
evidence of our existence today. Our
created purpose is to continue to support the wave of life surging through time,
and has been so successful that it is now pressing the limits of this planet to
sustain us. Will we resort to beseeching
the gods to save us from ourselves and our imagined fears, as demonstrated by
the swollen numbers attending church services the Sunday after 9/11? Or will we, like lemmings, continue our rush
into the sea.
After 80+ years of actively participating in religious life,
all of which has been plagued with unsatisfactory answers to a myriad of
questions, I can no longer accept the philosophy of a god who manipulates lives
or answers prayers. The ancient texts
upon which religions are based were written hundreds or even thousands of years
after the subjects of their texts (all of which were located in one teeny tiny
corner of the planet), by men who fitted pieces of oral traditions together to
answer Gronk’s questions – not the questions of an enlightened scientific
generation who has measured, weighed, and defined the universe in which we find
ourselves.
Where was Yahweh when unanswered prayers of millions of
people were marched into Holocaust ovens?
Where was the Christian Trinity when thousands of prayers were
unanswered when Allah inspired terrorists attacked on 9/11? Where are the gods of the millions of
unanswered prayers offered from hospitals, hospice facilities, Iraq, Iran,
Syria, Turkey, and 100 other countries of abused humanity around the world? Apparently, modern deities prefer to dwell in
comfortable ornate and gold-laminated temples and enjoy incense, communion
wine, candle light, and offerings (cash or sacrifices only).
I think - an unknowable Creator
made the universe which began in an instant of unimaginable conflagration,
commonly referred to as the “Big Bang,” 13.7 billion years ago.
I think – there is no possible way a created entity, such as we
are, has, or will ever have, the capacity to understand, know, or even imagine
the essence of a Creator capable of initiating a universe.
I think – all life forms of this planet are the products of
evolutionary development by influences of the physical characteristics of this
island in the Milky Way galaxy, its gravity, temperature, atmosphere, daily
cycles, annual cycles, and orbit.
I think – the closest thing to eternity, or an eternal
existence we can imagine, are the elements (atoms) of which everything is made
– organic, inorganic, biologic, flora and fauna, the cosmos. The essence of atoms is eternal, unchanging,
and the building blocks of the universe.
I think – gods were created and characterized by mankind to
relieve our fear and anxiety of the unknown.
I think – our minds and bodies are capable of more natural
healing than we know, compliments of our evolutionary development, and that
dietetic abuse is a detriment not only to a healthy existence, but to the
temples in which we dwell.
I think – the sense of taste is a defense mechanism to warn us
of nutritional harm, not a habit to be continually satiated.
