<<< we all know there is something worth worshipping, >>>
Yes, we do all do 'know' it, indeed! and, for helpless babies who must elicit certain responses from their all-powerful caretakers, it's a good thing. Those who didn't 'beg' effectively, didn't live to reproduce, of course. All those 'wires' are in us. And they haven't been disconnected; they still have their vital uses in the adult struggle for survival: Obeisance in varying degrees (giving it or demanding it), and obedience (giving or demanding it,) and reciprocity assumptions (I'll worship you, you'll take care of me; I'll be on your side this time, you'll be on mine next time; I'll do you a favor, you'll owe me one; I'll smile at you, you'll smile at me.)
Reciprocity negotiating and the drive to affiliate with the powerful aren't magical thinking, they are the way of the world.
There is a point at which magical thinking enters this picture, though.
I would say that thinking "I wish there were an all-powerful being to take care of me if I was a good girl and it were pleased with me," isn't magical thinking. It's just thinking. But I would say that thinking, "There is an all-powerful being to take care of me because I am a good girl and am going to worship it so much it will be pleased with me," is magical thinking.
Magical thinking comes from someplace. I think the acts of worshipping, of wanting, of willing, of contrition, of pleading, of behaving piteously, (rending garments, bowing heads, being clearly hungry (fasting,) crawling for miles, looking up from kneeling postures, giving up sex) are remnants of infant thought and learning. Be abject enough, enough like an unquestioning little child, and....
<<< and it's just whether we find the true person/thing worthy of worship or settle for a substitute.>>>
That's the biggest 'just' I've ever come across.
Does the 'settling for' feel real different from the 'finding'? I guess you have to go about asking proponents of worshipping the various persons or things, "Have you 'settled for a substitute' or found 'the true person/thing worth of worship?'"
There are many persons, things, and ideas worthy of respect and devotion, but I personally think one's search for them is likely to be hampered if one seeks and questions in the manner of a child. |
