The Morality of the Gods
                         John Opsopaus

I would like to make an observation about the morality of the Gods, 
namely, that Gods and Mortals are bound by different standards of
morality.  I imagine most readers will accept that humans are bound by
different moral standards than are nonhuman animals.  We don't consider the
lion immoral for killing the gazelle.  And even extreme animal rights
advocates usually exempt insects, if not all nonmamalian animals, from the
right to life, and allow that it may be moral for us to kill them (subject to
norms of responsibility, non-cruelty, etc.).

Morality is relative to a form of life.  So there is no reason to imagine that
the Gods, who are not even biological beings, are bound by the same morality
as mortals.  What is the purpose of an incest taboo if there are no genes to
be recessive or dominant?  Is divine coercion immoral when the forces of
nature are in essence manifestations of the Gods?

To imagine that the Gods are bound by our morality is to denigrate Them to
inflated mortals.  Conversely, to take Them as moral ideals to which we
aspire, is hubris, an attempt to make ourselves Their equal.  It is as foolish
as it would be for us to act like dogs, or to expect dogs to act like people.

When some God couples with His sister, swallows His wife or child, or fries an
innocent mortal, it is silly to be outraged.  It's more illuminating to view
these acts as alchemical operations by which the Gods create and transform the
cosmos.

How then can we relate to the Gods?  One way is by increasing our
understanding of Them and Their norms of behavior. Also, like two alien
cultures, we can meet, establish communication, seek common norms, create
other norms, and thereby create a shared cultural context.  Such meetings are
recounted in myths about the first sacrifice, and this shared activity is
exactly what takes place in sacrifice and other rituals of communion.