Religion and God are constructs defined to enable people to deal with situations and phenomena beyond their control. “By controlling this proxy that controls al

Religion and God are constructs defined to enable people to deal with situations and phenomena beyond their control. “By controlling this proxy that controls all situations and phenomena, I can indirectly control the outcomes of my current predicament” is a frame of mind that gives people hope and enables them to stick it out until the storm passes. From the cliff gods that give the bee-hunting Gurung of Nepal the courage to wade into a literal mountain of bees to collect honey, to Vishnu and Shiva who help the Hindu mother and child sleep at night while the father’s fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit, to Jesus helping a Christian couple deal with their childless marriage, there is a plethora of gods available for people to adopt and use to derive hope no matter who they are and what their situation is. Because without hope, even those who are otherwise fit to survive, often don’t. Religion is a placebo that has worked extremely well for thousands of years and rest assured it's not going away anytime soon. The alternative is to live a life of total control but boredom is as potent a killer of men as any other.