Editing SG33SHS-T (section)

=== 5. Ignorance Gives Birth to the Gods ===

The first point is this: Lenin said, “Fear created the gods,”<ref>V. I. Lenin, “On the Attitude of the Worker’s Party Toward Religion,” 1909. Lenin is citing Paul Henri Thiery, Baron d’Holbach, who wrote: “When we seek the origin of things, we shall find that it is ignorance and fear that created the gods; that imagination, enthusiasm, and deception have adorned or disfigured them; that weakness adores them; that credulity nourishes them; that custom respects them; and that tyranny supports them in order to take advantage of men’s blindness.” (Translation by the author.) A PDF of the original French, ''Système de la nature ou des lois du monde physique et du monde moral'' (1770), may be found at https://tinyurl.com/7a9feahj; the quotation is found on p. 423. Of course, this line of thought in the West dates back much further to classical atomists such as Epicurus.</ref> while according to [Johannes de] Gorter, inexplicable forces gave birth to them.<ref>Johannes de Gorter (1689–1762) was a Dutch physician and early modern atheist.</ref> In either case, the fear that ignorant and superstitious ancient humans felt toward “inexplicable” natural phenomena led them to believe that these phenomena were the work of “gods.” From the desire to somehow escape from unavoidable disasters, they would prostrate themselves, pray, or even offer sacrifices. Take lightning, for example. It was an incomprehensible phenomenon involving flashes and booms, and if it struck, humans and livestock would be instantly killed, and houses and buildings would be torn apart and burned. For primitive people who did not know how to avoid it, they considered this to be evidence of the absolute power of “gods.” This is similar to the way an infant perceives everything anthropomorphically. In the past, people used to perceive various mysterious natural phenomena in their daily lives, such as raging waves, and would worship the dragon god for safe navigation. [Likewise, they would] pray to the wind god for protection from wind disasters and perform rain rituals for droughts. They would view these phenomena as supernatural acts of gods and be filled with fear, earnestly seeking the appeasement of these “gods.” However, with today’s advanced human intellect, phenomena like lightning can be understood as the electrical interaction of opposing currents, and they are no longer seen as inexplicable. The fear associated with such phenomena has been completely resolved with just one or two lightning rods. Modern science has provided clear explanations for marine navigation and earthquakes whereas [in the past these phenomena] led to humans attempting to utilize various gods [to accomplish this aim].