Evolution

When human beings were ignorant of the world, fearful of nearly everything around them, and had no way to explain what was going on, man had many gods. There were gods in the lightning, in the trees, in the streams and oceans. Gods were the wind, the sun, the moon, and the stars. When gods were angry, fires raged, eclipses happened, floods occurred, and people died. When gods were happy, man caught fish, had a clear, sunny days, and did not get eaten by predators. During this time, man's fears and greatest threats came from all sides-- food, shelter, and procreation were the main focus of life and there was not time to worry about the future or how the world worked or man's place in it.

As human beings advanced, a little bit of understanding of the world crept into the mix and man's gods coalesced into defined pantheons. These pantheons had gods in charge of specific areas of influence; Thor was the god of thunder and the storms, Ares was the god of war, Ra was the god of knowledge and understanding, Shiva was the god of death. Each pantheon had basically the same set of gods performing the same set of tasks-- tasks that were still for the most part out of the understanding of the common man and beyond man's ability. However, much more was left to man's ability and the idea of free-will and man's ability to overcome nature and other obstacles started to form and be discussed. Man's fears shifted from everything in the natural world to more esoteric and undefinable vagaries like death, man's place in the world, and the future.

Human beings progressed some more, and the idea of a smaller pantheon or singular god crept into the world. First with the Jews, who had an angry god and a bunch of angels and archangels to perform specific tasks, and the prophet Moses to bring the word; then with Christianity and its concept of "one god" (however, Christianity also paid homage to the pantheons by having that god in three incarnations -- a mini-pantheon -- of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost), plus angels of many types, and a variety of prophets and saints; and in Islam, with Allah and his prophets, in order, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, plus good and evil djinn. During this evolution of thought, man "conquered" much of nature, his understanding of the world and how it worked grew by leaps and bounds, and people's fears about the future, nature, and man's place in the world all dissipated. Man's last fear, of what happens after death, becomes the primary area in which his gods provide guidance and insight. The idea of man's free-will becomes the foundation of many faiths and belief systems.

Currently, there is a surge by many human beings, a groundswell, toward a truly singular god and even no god at all. People are unifying churches and religions into a streamlined and universal concept. Many are turning from the idea of a god toward philosophies and concepts that are more universally accepted by humanity as a whole, and which do not carry the baggage of previous religious concepts. The purview of this god is as a watcher and unseen force behind that which man understands and accepts, and the retribution behind those things man does not accept or understand. Science, as it helps to explain all things and demystify the world in which man lives, has almost become a religion unto itself. Man's greatest fears have turned full-circle back to Nature and his own survival, but now it is from a position of stewardship. He fears nature not because of ignorance but from knowledge-- he has broken it and must figure out a way to live in harmony with and to fix it. He still fears death, but primarily only from other men and his own bad decisions. Man's biggest issues involve cultural clashes and his inability to see himself as one part of an entire species with global diversity. Ironically, many of these conflicts stem from localized belief systems and concepts of god and religion.

If this evolution of thought continues, soon man will have no gods or religion, per se, but a concept of fair play, acceptance, and harmony that allows him to live in peace with himself, his fellow men, and with his world. He will give back as much as he takes. He will accept the wild diversity that nature provides and will revel in harmony with nature and philosophies. He will no longer seek to destroy that which is different from him, but will embrace the diversity those differences bring to the whole and the growth that diversity can create. He will no longer feel as a steward to the world, but its custodian.