It was supposed that God demanded worship; that he loved to be
flattered; that he delighted in sacrifice; that nothing made him happier
than to see ignorant faith upon its knees; that above all things he
hated and despised doubters and heretics, and regarded investigation as
rebellion. Each community felt it a duty to see that the enemies of God
were converted or killed. To allow a heretic to live in peace was
to invite the wrath of God. Every public evil--every misfortune--was
accounted for by something the community had permitted or done. When
epidemics appeared, brought by ignorance and welcomed by filth, the
heretic was brought out and sacrificed to appease the anger of God.
By putting intention behind what man called good, God was produced. By
putting intention behind what man called bad, the Devil was created.
Leave this "intention" out, and gods and devils fade away. If not a
human being existed, the sun would continue to shine, and tempest now
and then would devastate the earth; the rain would fall in pleasant
showers; violets would spread their velvet bosoms to the sun, the
earthquake would devour, birds would sing, and daisies bloom, and
roses blush, and volcanoes fill the heavens with their lurid glare; the
procession of the seasons would not be broken, and the stars would shine
as serenely as though the world were filled with loving hearts and happy
homes.