Looking down from two miles above the surface of the Earth it's impossible not to be impressed by the sheer grandeur and splendor and power of the natural world.
Every higher animal on this planet, starting with reptiles and birds, possesses a thing called learning instinct. When you find yourself in a situation when an animal needs something and doesn't know how to get it, the learning instinct tells it: "Repeat what you did the last time you received what you wanted. It may work again." This is a very important and primal survival instinct, deep and powerful. Without it, you wouldn't be able to operate in situations of uncertainty, with no given data for your brain to form a decision on.
A bird in a round cage, in a spacious room, the bird says, ‘‘ I’m hungry but how do I get food?’’
The bird’s learning instinct tells him, ‘‘ Last time the food fell from above, you were standing on one leg. Try it again. Maybe some more food will rain down on you’’
The bird does exactly just that, but nothing happens. The one-leg/food connection quickly fades. the bird will die from hunger.
Its midnight and Abraham who is 18 years old is sitting on his sofa with a cigarette in his hand, thinking about the big day tomorrow.
This is Abraham, he's not a stupid bird. He's a human being with an intellect riding on top of his animalistic nature. Abraham gets up from his sofa onto the balcony. Abraham says to himself, ‘‘ Last time I took an important exam, I happened to stand on one leg before going in and taking it. And I passed it with flying colors. And now the new exam is underway. How do I make sure I pass it?’’
His instinct whispers to him, ‘‘ Stand on one leg’’ and his intellect questions, ‘‘ But how the hell will it work?’’ The instinct replies, ‘‘ Dunno, It's just in case. For good luck.’’
A few ( 2) weeks later, Abraham sat on his desk, its time for the exam's results to show and he's waiting with patience. Finally the results are in and he passed it with flying colors once again!
It means standing on one leg indeed brings good luck. Next time he'll need it, of course he'll do it some more.
And this is how SUPERSTITION is born.
Abraham lights a cigarette, then his intellect says, ‘‘ Oh well, It must be working for some reason. But why? Why?’’ We humans always want to know why. And the logic is powerless, so the imagination kicks in.
Abraham's imagination kicks in and says, ‘‘ well, obviously there's some creature somewhere around, an invisible creature favoring people who stand on one leg. How else? It's the only thing that makes sense, don't you see?’’ Abraham's intellect says, ‘‘ I do, Seems logical enough. There must be something out there, some kind of a One-Legged God. Other people must know, this is a very important discovery.’’
And this is how MYTH is born.
Now, Abraham thinks he should quickly share this with other people.
Abraham is standing near the door of his house with a crowd of people in front of him. He shared it with other people, explaining how this works: you stand on one leg, and you shall receive. It DID work for him, two times in a row, here are the exam grades, so he can prove it with material evidence. Many people try it. Most of the time it doesn't work of course, but for some of them, by pure statistics -- oh, what a miracle! -- it does work. These people come to him and help him build a statue of One-Legged God, to honor his help and let him know we know he does exist.
And this is how an IDOL is born, with a cult surrounding it.
A few (8) weeks passed. A large crowd with torches and pitchforks coming down to Abraham's house. But now they came back with torches and pitchforks! They want to tear down his idol! They say they had a really bad year, no harvest, wars, a plague, and all of them were standing on one leg most of the time, and it earned them nothing!
Abraham wearing a white robe tells the crowd to stop. He goes addressing the crowd, ‘‘ This happened because you grew too lazy. You take the gifts of OneLegged God for granted, and he's furious with you. In fact, he spoke to me last night, and he says from now on, he will only favor those who worship him with a pure heart, expecting nothing in return. And he demands sacrifice if you want to prove you're worth of his favors. Come back tomorrow. Bring chicken legs. A lot of 'em.’’
And this is how RELIGION is born.
A large crowd standing on one leg and Abraham is sitting on a golden throne near the statue of the one-legged god. And this is hos he'll quickly get fat on all those chicken legs they supply him with, and hire some muscle to guard his stash of chicken legs, and rise to power as the only living person who speaks directly to the great one-legged God. So bow down to him, his prophet and son, as you would bow down before him. For he is the only true God, all other gods being repulsive and utterly false. Amen.
Brilliant depiction of how religions are born! ❤️👏👏👏 Great post!
Then imagine that in another village a drunken blue-face God appears… and that is how religious wars appear…
I was born a Christian. In my family for generations people were buried in the ground when dying. That is how I was taught to do, and found anything else outrageous. But guess what, cemeteries belong to churches and you have to pay a tax to be allowed to be buried. Moreover you have to be bound to the church during your life not to be considered a heretical. Lately though a new wave appeared in the cities promoting an alternative, being incinerated when you die. All of a sudden I begun to realise that there is nothing to bound me of a priest or a church anymore… freedom
May I ask you on thing though? Your article reveals the fact that religion fervour is fed by one’s insecurities. Middle East is torn by religious wars of all sorts. What that tells about people’s self confidence there?