The need to control is central to the human condition. It’s at the very core of our being. We strive to exert control over every aspect of our lives and derive great satisfaction from the belief that we are in control even when that belief is founded on illusion.

I think in some way the belief that we may be destroying our environment satisfies our desire to exert control. We still have not proved that the changes to our environment are the result of human actions and not a naturally occurring cycle. Yet to believe that it is our doing means that we have some level of control over something very large, our planet. This is a very satisfying reward to the inner desire to exert control; the ability to ravage an entire planet.

Man has created gods to exert control over a world he had no control over. It’s much more comforting to believe that some one or something had control over events that man did not. The next step then was to take control of the gods. Organized religion has done this. Not overtly to be sure, but the essence of organized religion is that man can control god who controls our world and our fate. This can be seen in such notions as prayer, Jesus as the hotline to God, Priests as the mouth piece of god, and even the very phrase “God helps those who help themselves”. These are all about man controlling God and in return controlling his own destiny.