"Barbarians create religion out of their own imagination."

To folks who have several dozen warlords in their vicinity threatening death; everything has a God and they aren't on speaking terms.

To city-states run by senates; the pantheon gathers together to arrange things.

When everyone is an underling of the Emperor; monotheism is invented.

When all power is vested in political leaders; icons of Jesus are replaced by pictures of Mao or Stalin.

When only science seems to provide certainty; all morality and direction must sound scientific.

Our Gods are always less than us, because when we imagine another world we draw only on what we believe we are, rather than what we are capable of becoming.

Dante