God is the manifestation of man's inner self. We make our gods according to our own impression of our own self. Thus a honest and fair person will conceive god as honest and fair. This effectively means that if this person has a servant, he would expect himself to be treated the same way by god as he would treat his servant. In addition, he would expect his servant to behave with him the same way he would behave with his gods. Similarly, a cruel person will think god in cruel terms, who would punish him him severely if he erred. Thus, if ever he erred, he would frantically ask for god's forgiveness.
This naturally gives rise to the question, how exactly is an atheist's god? An atheist is one because he cannot think that someone else is in control of his life. He cannot believe in something he cannot perceive either by his senses or by his logic. Also, it is safe to assume that atheists, since refuse to be subjugated themselves, they would not, in turn, subjugate others.An atheists god is thus, an indifferent god; who, if at all, is a supreme power, would refrain from using it over the lives of common people.
Then there is another class of people, found in abundance in mythology, who think they are the gods. They are proud of their existense and the power they enjoy over others. what would their conception of God be? If I am allowed my creative freedom and imagination, I reckon they would think of a god as a cheat who has usurped all the power. Since they think they are as powerful as god himself, they think that this position of power could be theirs too. So they too conceive god in their own image i.e. a cheat, powerful (but not as much as them), and someone who has usurped power. Such mythological figures have generally usurped / maintained power themselves by wrongful means e.g. Kansa, Ravana in Hindu mythology.
This naturally gives rise to the question, how exactly is an atheist's god? An atheist is one because he cannot think that someone else is in control of his life. He cannot believe in something he cannot perceive either by his senses or by his logic. Also, it is safe to assume that atheists, since refuse to be subjugated themselves, they would not, in turn, subjugate others.An atheists god is thus, an indifferent god; who, if at all, is a supreme power, would refrain from using it over the lives of common people.
Then there is another class of people, found in abundance in mythology, who think they are the gods. They are proud of their existense and the power they enjoy over others. what would their conception of God be? If I am allowed my creative freedom and imagination, I reckon they would think of a god as a cheat who has usurped all the power. Since they think they are as powerful as god himself, they think that this position of power could be theirs too. So they too conceive god in their own image i.e. a cheat, powerful (but not as much as them), and someone who has usurped power. Such mythological figures have generally usurped / maintained power themselves by wrongful means e.g. Kansa, Ravana in Hindu mythology.
In short, our gods are only as good or bad as we are. Extending the analogy, our gods are only as powerful (or powerless), only as brave as we are, only as rich as we are. Doesn't it naturally extend that we are worshiping our exaggerated selves? Does that mean we are worshiping ourselves? Also, does that mean we cannot exceed our limitations as long as we do not decide to do so.... I certainly agree and believe in these dogmas.
This reduces god to a mere convenience to whom we turn to when our courage, determination, resolve, intelligence fail us. We hope for a miracle since god has been credited with many. But we are only as confident of a miracle as we are ourselves confident of accomplishing the job at hand. Thus a coward when asks for heavenly assistance when in danger, is only hoping for a miracle. He is praying as a last resort. Deep down he would know that he is doomed. Similarly, when a student prays to god before exam, he is as sure of god's help as sure he is of his own chances.
To cut the long story short, I think that God is perceived as our own extended, exaggerated self. Our nature, our mannerisms and our own qualities is what make our god. But there is another face of the god - that is the god of miracles. This is the face we turn to when lose heart. But we are only as confident of receiving help as confident we are about getting out of the situation. Thus, it pays rich dividend to strengthen one's own spirit. For this has double advantage of strengthening of our god and our belief in him. For we are one with him and in us he lives.
To cut the long story short, I think that God is perceived as our own extended, exaggerated self. Our nature, our mannerisms and our own qualities is what make our god. But there is another face of the god - that is the god of miracles. This is the face we turn to when lose heart. But we are only as confident of receiving help as confident we are about getting out of the situation. Thus, it pays rich dividend to strengthen one's own spirit. For this has double advantage of strengthening of our god and our belief in him. For we are one with him and in us he lives.
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