The following diatribe was in my blognotes Word file and I don't remember writing it. I don't remember posting it either, so here it is. Forgive me if you have already seen it.

Before we had the concept of God, we had humanoids struggling to stand on two feet, to develop a language, to discover fire. Then we had humanoids vying for who was alpha in the community. At the same time, they were wondering about the forces of nature. Nature was so confusing and unexplainable that they invented god to explain it, and they thought that if they prayed to this god, things might go better, the landslide would not land on them, the forest would not burn ...

And then someone decided he would speak for god -- who would be able to tell he couldn't? That person would have a lot of influence over his fellows, could be an alpha. Thus priests were invented and they got spoils (gifts) and the joy of being all powerful, and they could speak for god and who could prove they did not know god? And to deal with the doubters, they invented the Spanish Inquisition and like minded movements, all with the strength of their numbers and their minions in this entity they called The Church that they had invented.

Please bear in mind that these humanoids did not have indoor plumbing, or a printing press, or table manners.(And even today, their descendants in the hills wipe with one designated hand,reserving the other for more or less clean stuff, like eating, which is why you should never offer to shake hands in an Arab rural area. I am not making this up.)

But they had God.

Nothing much has changed since then, except we now have technology and sanitation but very fallible human beings still put on the mantle of holiness and presume to tell everyone else how to live. They are called Christians and Muslims and Hindus, Rastafarians, and Baptists and Snake handlers. I do not see Jews out there tyrannizing anyone but other Jews and everyone in the clothing trades and the movie business. Some people of faith, of course, do not tyrannize others, but they do not either very often (or at all) call out those who do.

xx, Teal