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the burden of religion

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People have a strong ability to attribute human qualities on to objects or phenomena. Some people blame the weather for ruining the day. Others blame their car for braking down at an inconvenient time. They would even display emotions (anger or gratitude towards the car or the weather, etc.). They act as if the car made a deliberate decision to wreck the day.

This is referred to as anthropomorphism.

In nearly all religions anthropomorphism is applied to perceive deities; Zeus, Brahma, JHWH, Allah, Thor, etc. (often referred to as anthropotheism. In case of a human with divine characteristics like Jesus or Orpheus we speak of theomorphism). All these deities are assumed to be responsible for people's destiny.

For millennia, faithful people have blamed gods for ruined harvests, earthquakes, house fires and spoiled holidays and took those events as a burden of punishment by gods that possessed human emotions like anger, hatred, revenge, care, love, etc. Many people worry why God give them a hard time.

Are atheists right to reject the notion of an external human-like will that influence the events that occur in our lives?