D2

And it's possible, even probable, that in many communities, there wasn't a concept of God or Gods the way that we understand it. I took a couple of anthropology classes in college that discussed this sort of thing because it's fascinating to me, having been raised in a strongly athiestic household (we always seem to gravitate towards what's different and exotic!) and from my readings, I got the impression that a lot of cultures have a sense of a natural order, where all things have a spirit in them that's not really greater or lesser than the spirit inside of men, but which need to be respected as they want to be respected themselves, a sort of 'Do Unto Others' that applies not only to men but to animals, plants, and even rocks and the earth. For a lot of these cultures, the central concept seems to be an idea of getting in tune and harmony with the natural order, and while there are, of course, creation myths, the gods in those myths don't play the central role that God does in the continuing Christian mythology, as it were.

I admit that I'm much more drawn to the idea of a spirit, seperate but one, living in all things than I am to a single patriarchal God who exists somewhere far away in the sky.

(It's also fascinating, BTW, how many cultures have a 'Mother Earth' goddess and a 'Father Sky' god, where strong matriarchal concepts are tied to the earth and the patriarchal concepts which are so similar to the Christian God are tied to the sky. I have theories about our culture's devaluing of women and despoiling of the earth being tied to the fact that we have a strong 'Sky Father' figure, but no 'Earth Mother' figure to balance him out.)