The Human God Movement

The gods were busy.  Each of the gods were animating all life, pre-form and after.  Each of the gods was also connected with the next, an infinite web of communication was in effect between them.  As they made the decisions which kept all existence in balance, their constant interlogue kept everything equally represented.

The gods were so busy, in fact, that while they toiled, they didn't notice the humans were forming a coup behind their backs.  They were surprised when a representation of the humans came forward and declared their independence of the gods' rule.  The humans said they needed but one God, the god of the humans.

The gods tried not to laugh, and said, "There is no such god: the god of the humans.  We are all one, we are why everything is.  Humans need all the gods just as everything does, because everything is one."

But the humans shook their heads and stomped their feet.  Their roars filled the air.  The gods were silent, but the humans said, "We will sustain ourselves!  We reject any god who is not exclusively on our side.  We will wipe you out if we have to.  The God of the humans has given the earth over to us.  There is no other authority over life, we are it."

And the gods discussed this among themselves, "This is civil war," one said.  "How will they sustain themselves?"  Another said, "They have created a god in themselves.  But unlike us, they have no knowledge of how to balance all this."  And another said, "They will end diverse creation if they insist on taking over.  They will overrun us all."  And another god said, "It will take so much work to accomplish what they propose.  I don't think the humans understand how much work they're going to have to do."

But the humans were prepared to work endlessly, as it turned out.  The human take over was rapid.  Where humans were once a part of the landscape, they became the centerpiece.  The God of the humans had seen to it that their food was most in abundance and that human children most likely to survive.  The human movement exploded and in a few thousand years, it looked like humans were winning the "civil war."

But in reality, humankind had never strayed far from the gods' control.  While humans were living outside the laws of the gods, they still used the gods themselves as provision.  Because they served human purpose, the humans called this provision the God of the humans.

The God of the humans became quite opinionated about human behavior after a while.  The humans noticed this while suffering His punishments.  The first great famine was sent by God, and this made everyone scramble to figure out how they had upset Him.  There was no shortage of answers, everyone knew about different things that made God angry.  It mostly had to do with looking to other gods, so humans renewed their vows to the human God, assured Him of their loyalty.

The famine had happened when, after so many years of toiling the land, the gods who had been sustaining that land were killed in the process.  This was happening all over, systems were failing where the humans had overrun things.  But the humans persisted because they progressed and they progressed because they persisted.

Here is the real question: what is success for the human? When there is nothing left but human life and that which sustains it?

And another real question: What about the humans who did not ultimately adopt the "human God?"  These peoples are viewed as animals because they live within the provision of the gods.  They live according to the whims of the gods, as we see it.  They do not attempt to wrestle power of life and death from the hands of the gods.  We think they must not know any better.  Now consider slavery, a long maintained tradition among those who believe they know the one right way to live.

The one right way to live.  That is what the revolutionary humans who originally rebelled against the gods were seeking, one God.  One way.  A universal truth.  None of their ancestors had conceived of this.  Now the Human God culture was conquering the earth with divine destiny on their side.  Anything and anyone still humble to the old gods either got out of the way or was assimilated (destroyed.)  Many of the gods peoples who fled found themselves, generations later, looking back down the barrel of that same gun, the Human God movement.

Thank you, Ishmael.  Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn