Death and decay Religion could be considered a controversal topic by many, alas this is not the case. Firstly, it's worth mentioning that deities or gods have always existed. Ever since the age of those barbarians who invaded England and France, those so called vikings, and even before them. Their pantheon was composed of various gods who lived in Asgard, such as Odin, Thor, Freiya, and many others, as opposed to the mortals, who dwelled in Midgard. On the other hand, the christian god, Jesus Christ, was considered the one true god amongst the western civilizations. Secondly, if we were to move east, we would find a whole different pantheon of gods, such as Buddhas, or the japanese kami. People turned to Buddha Amida and chanted his name whenever they found themselves in need of guidance, whereas the kamis were protectors of temples, houses, and even villages. Furthermore, approaching the egyptian civilization we find ourselves looking at gods like Ra, Amon, or Osiris, all of which are supernatural beings that play a certain role in this life, or the next one. Needless to say that each religion has its protagonist and antagonist god. Thus we have Loki and Odin, Satan and Jesus Christ, or Seth and Osiris. Having been raised in a christian civilization, I have been, let's not say “forced”, rather “taught” to see Satan as the Devil, that red-horned fiend which creeps at the bottom of Hell. What most people fail to see (or maybe they don't want to?) is that every religion has duality contained within. Satan means “the adversary” in Hebrew, yet he is seen as a despicable, monstruos creature. Moreover, upon taking a look at Hinduism, we see that Brahma creates the universe while Shiva destroys it. The yin and the yang are another great example of the duality, and if we were to take a step further, we could think about the ouroboros snake who eats his own tail, forming a circle, thus representing the circle of creation-preservation-destruction. Curious enough, as in the christian religion, there is also a flood, or a gran deluge in hinduism. Thus one wonders which god is the real one if there are so many similarities between these different but alike religions. In my opinion, humans weren't created in the image of god, rather the gods were created by humans in order to find an escape from the daily responsability and from the moral issues that may arise. As I lack the knowledge needed of other religions, I shall focus more on christianity. “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” - Epicurus
So what kind of God is He then? The answer is simple: “Thy Lord has His own way to answer thy prayers.”, or karma for the buddhists (what goes around comes around). The concept is the same in every religion, yet people won't admit it. In conclusion, religion shouldn't be seen as “a battle between different gods”, rather as a way to cope with reality and take away some pressure, making it easier for the fragile humans to go on with their lives. If you only do good deeds because you're afraid that a God will punish you in case you don't, then what kind of person are you exactly? Food for thought. “Di immortales virtutem approbare, non adhibere debent.” “We may expect the gods to approve virtue, but not to endow us with it.”