Jul 27 2009
Symbolic Behavior and a Supernatural Pecking Order
(Recycled material.)
I’m in vacation mode the next few days, so will be sharing some oldies but personal-goodies.
From: Status: The Power of the Civilized:
Lurking behind status we find a primate instinctively inclined to create social hierarchies. Rather than sub- (below) natural, the realm of gods is referred to as supernatural. It is above us. And there is a reason for this positioning.
From The Benevolent Alpha:
By examining hierarchical behavior in a more obvious form — as observed in closely related species — we might gain a clearer clue as to how it functions in human life, particularly and especially in human religious thought and ritual.
From Gods “R” Us:
If not obviously human-like, gods are human in their social qualities: in what power they have, what they know, and what they care about. As much as people may try to deny it, behind the veil of the invisible and unobservable, the gods are us.
