Our Father

We humans have a serious father figure problem. It permeates all aspects of our lives. It is especially evident in our religious practices. Since the decline in the worship of goddesses such as Astheroth (the origin of the word Easter) and others, all of our Gods have been male. And not just male, but father. The Lord’s Prayer begins, “Our Father who art in heaven. . .”. Worshippers are rather unabashed about their substitution of their earthly father with a “heavenly Father”.
I don’t know about you but my father was not such a hot item. In fact, he was a world class bastard. Fortunately for all of us he was gone almost from the beginning. Good riddance.
Despite that, I can still imagine the advantage and even the joy of a relationship with a loving father. However, when I see fully grown men and women on their knees pleading with their father to give them what they want or begging him not to punish them for being bad, I get just a little bit creeped out. I mean, if a person is over about 25 or 30 years old, don’t you think it’s time to begin to take control of your own life? By then, shouldn’t a person become an actual adult who succeeds or fails on his or her own terms. Furthermore, doesn’t this signify that as a species, we still haven’t grown up to the point where we quit relying on the shifting moods and capricious whims of some Daddy in the Sky who, as it turns out, answers our prayers with exactly the same reliability as if we didn’t pray at all? Who needs him? Good riddance.