Irving Finkel

And another god was concerned with illness and the dead and what happens to the dead.

And they had other specialities.

And they all had their own temples.

And when a baby came into the world...

probably this was universally true, the baby was put under the tutelage of one or other of the gods.

Sometimes, you know, the royal family, they were the big shots, but sometimes not.

Or the ones that were in the family or something like that.

So people had...

grew up with the idea that among all of them, there were special ones for the family, and they had a special one who was supposed to look after them.

That's the sort of basic idea.

But the trouble is, since gods are, as you say, human beings on a larger scale, they can be forgetful or uninterested or on holiday.

And there are lots of ways that you have to prompt your

make little sacrifices and little bribes so they do their job and keep an eye on you.

So they had that kind of slightly practical view of gods, that they were a bit unpredictable, great when they were there but not always there sort of idea.

And I also believe this, that a lot of people in the world today

who did not have the disadvantage of growing up in a stifling religion, but are just normal people, get a lot more interested when they're really ill or when they have a big disaster.

All of a sudden, God or gods seem a lot more important than they do normally.

So few people walk about in a state of religious awe, and a good proportion of clergymen I've ever met don't do that either.

It's a kind of conception that's not actually based on reality.

The individual's response to religious stimuli...