Return of the Gods
Abstract Beings
A religion is the proto-typical abstract being. It does not exist in any particular place, object or person. It is immaterial, but it is not irreal. It affects things. It affects history.
What is noteworthy about a religion is the orthogonal nature of its interests and the interests of the humans who form the substrate of the religion. A religion cannot exist without humans, but human survival is not a core interest of religions. Wars are fought in the name of religion, with untold loss of human life. If the choice is between an immaterial religion and a material heretic, the heretic will be the loser, often at high temperature.
Sometimes, abstract beings form alliances against humans. For example, when capitalism becomes so aggressive that it becomes impossible for humans to survive, religion will open soup kitchens and orphanages, in order to keep the humans from revolting.
People who worship an abstract being surrender even their right to independent thought. They evaluate everything in the context of their religion. They are mindful to represent the religion in all their actions. They pray for hours. They have literally lost their minds. They have sacrificed them for a greater good.
That was the good news. Worship of abstract beings also has a dark side.
The Interests of non-Humans
A verbally abusive father is not serving the interests of his family. Family members are never healed by verbal abuse and they never learn to respect a social order that relies on it. He is not even serving his own interests because he is annoying himself, with the only possible outcome being that he should be annoyed. He is creating ill-will toward his most important project, namely, the home he has provided, and most likely, toward himself. So, why does he do it? Because there is no other option. Because everything will unwind to rubbish if he doesn’t. Because it feels right.
An anorexic girl is not cultivating a body and a personality that anyone wants, and the cognitive performance that accompanies starvation is not going to better enable her to care for herself.
A racist, who does not live in a society of apartheid, can only annoy like-minded citizens, as well as ethnically diverse citizens.
There can be no doubt that humans engage in behaviors that do not serve the interest of humans. There is only one other possibility: They serve the interests of non-humans.
The Return of Gods
The classical world was a much richer environment for gods than modern society. There were gods of war, gods of the hunt, of love, gluttony, revenge, and so forth. To be religious in the classical world was to worship one of these primarily, and others secondarily. Here is a small sample:
| War | Ares |
| Love | Aphrodite |
| Harvest | Demeter |
| Party | Dionysus |
| Crafts | Hephaestus |
| Marriage | Hera |
| Hunt | Artemis |
| Travel | Hermes |
| Chastity | Hestia |
In modern times, the names of these thematic gods have all but been forgotten, but not their reality. They are very much with us. A country whose population is, on average, over-weight, must necessarily worship gluttony. A beautiful woman earns a million dollars a year on instagram and patreon. A war is launched against a country that most citizens are hard-pressed to identify on a map. Hundreds of millions of dollars are made from films of recounting the battles of gods, one of whom literally being Thor.
It is beyond controversy that we are worshipful beings, and that most of our gods do not serve us.
Vocabulary of the gods
There is a reason to reintroduce the vocabulary of abstract beings, of themes, of gods: we don’t have a better way to talk about what we do.
We need to start talking about the gods we serve. We need a vocabulary that illuminates what we are doing, so that we are confronted with our choices. Servants obey, but they must choose to obey.