I read about the gods we worship and pray to in times of need. There are many religions, many beliefs. Gods with different physical appearances, different genders and different abilities. Some had a special weapon, some could fly and some could swim. But there is one thing i find very similar in all the stories I’ve read, all gods were regular people at the beginning. They were not born with their abilities or with divinity.
I think the religions we have tell the story of bravery, courage and the struggle against oppression despite the odds being against the protagonist. The stories of gods being created. These stories have been told and retold over centuries in forms that don’t guarantee authenticity. From stories of common men fighting a tyrant for the right they have now become religions people fight and get killed over. People divided over simple stories of valor. How can valor be of different magnitudes ?
In my religion, there is a story of a prince who was banished from kingdom, during that time his wife was abducted by a powerful king of another kingdom. He had no one on his side except his brother, against all odds the prince regains his wife and restores peace in the enemy king’s land. This is a simple story of victory of right over the wrong, but the exaggerations are immense in the way these stories are told. People end up forgetting the courage and the sacrifices of these great heroes and start worshipping their partial one sided images.
People once who stood for the right now have been reduced to wish granting figurines, who are only remembered in times of need. The bad thing about this is that these half-baked stories of wish granting statues are passed on to the next generation in the name of religion. Religion, a place where no questions or logic is allowed, the oldest person of the community makes up all the rules and to question him would be a great sin.
A certain group of people choose to follow their religion as their full time job and they are revered and worshipped. What makes them so special?
I believe that the people who are worshipped as gods did have their vices like any of us but have been ignored in the progress of the religion. For example in the story of the prince I wrote before, the prince ends up getting separated from his wife because he constantly doubted her fidelity. This is not often mentioned in the story telling sessions.
When the gods themselves were not perfect, why do religions ask for perfection from their followers?
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