It is critically important that you get this idea right. The only purposes for talking about using a symbol like an animal for God is to get your attention. It also emphasizes a point of discussion. That point is, I want you to step up to a new understanding of God. This understanding has little to do with animals. It is an understanding that has a lot to do with our being failure prone humans. An understanding that has a lot more to do with our being a part of God's Plan as God shows it to us by what exists. I don't usually spend much time worrying about religion, and God, and my relationship to Him. I thought I'd resolved my concerns a long time ago. I thought I had an understanding with God, and we didn't bother each other very often, or very much. I don't know about God, but I was comfortable with the arrangement. Early in 2005, that changed. I don't even remember the context of the question, or why it came to my attention. However, I did some idle exploring on the internet, and there are a lot of possibilities for a non-human God form in the history of human religions. Humans around the world have used a large variety of animals, from insects to elephants, as symbols of God. Don't think this is just an old primitive idea. It is still with us today. We humans enshrine and create images of the things we care about and place them in our homes. I took a quick look around our house and was able to find images and small art objects depicting: cats, mice, dogs, frogs, ducks, geese, seals, lions, horses, songbirds, seagulls, chickens, alligators, and two dragons. Several I expected to find are unaccountably missing, so they've probably been packed away for a rest. Today repetition is the soul of advertising. And advertising bows down before the icons of various animal gods of tremendous profits. Without a strain I was able to recall ad campaigns with bears for selling soft drinks, beer, and fire safety. Tigers were featured to sell gasoline and breakfast cereal. Frogs were used to sell shoes and beer. A dinosaur and a flying horse sold gasoline at one time. A duck has done tremendous things for insurance advertising. A bull has been used to sell beer and even securities brokerage. Where would we be without our animal icons for sports teams: rattlesnakes, dogs, birds, horses, dolphins, lions, and bears? Why are so many children's stories, movies, cartoons, and video games about animals? This is where we need to understand about our being failure prone humans. We humans are experts at assimilating partial and incomplete sensory data, and instantly creating an array of decisions, opinions, and actions based on that data. This was a life saving ability (thus it was saved in our genetic structure by evolution) when we were either playing “chase you” in the tree tops, or when it was for real and the loser was dinner. This also means we very commonly “jump” to conclusions, just as we used to jump for a tree branch. Yes, we humans are familiar with a broad spectrum of life forms on planet Earth. That does not mean that God is a life form. That does not mean that God is an animal. That does not mean that God is living. It does not mean that God is even remotely close to being human, or have human concerns. It only means that we humans have, do, and are using the familiar to try to understand the unfamiliar. If we can understand and appreciate that, then we have reached A Great Understanding of ourselves as humans. This is an understanding that has a lot to do with our being a part of God's Plan as God shows it to us by what exists. We humans use these animal symbols because they help us identify with the teams, or products, or Gods. When we associate a sports team with a bear we think of the attributes of bears: fierce, tough, long teeth, sharp claws, aggressive, and fighting spirit. As far as I know no sports team features as its icon a chihuahua, although chihuahua's have been used recently to sell products due to their "cute" factor. Animals as gods are clearly still with us today. We have an opportunity to make alternative choices. This is also a time for clear thinking. God is what God is. God is highly unlikely to do or change anything because we want Him to do so. For what reason then do we humans need or expect God to be fierce, tough, have long teeth, sharp claws, be aggressive, and have fighting spirit? Do we really need an angry God to keep us in line? Do we need to continue to believe the multitude of lies, and human inventions which have been imbedded in our religions?
(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, and the priesthood. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will interest everyone. This article may be freely reprinted so long as all copyright attributions, and the full content of this resource box are included. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com
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