The commentary posted below was sent to me by a friend named Carl on a blind listserv. I find much of his argument to be very thought-provoking. The Mostafa mentioned in this commentary is a blind Muslim who was posting to this listserv for about two months. Here is what Carl has to say:

"At some point we will need to come to a decision. Either we shall give ourselves over to an Almighty Deity who will totally direct our lives, or we will place our trust in Mankind and engage in the give and take of making decisions for ourselves.

After following some of Mostafa's reasoning, I found that his Controller is no different than God Almighty. At least the ancient Romans and Greeks had Gods who were flawed. Now our Gods have all become absolute. There is no room for negotiation when you know that your God is right. All other people are Infidels or Heathens.

If we continue refusing to take control of our minds, our Gods will bring us down."

Some are more benign, but they're still dictators. And that's the way people with an authoritarian mindset -- followers as well as leaders -- like it. They like one absolute authority. They think democracy is messy and inefficient. They're okay with the idea of the dictator god being the sole determiner of what is good, even if your natural moral inclination is in conflict. "Kill all the males and rape all the females? Um, well, who am I to question the infinite wisdom of my chosen deity?"

Of course, the truth is the dictator gods were fabricated by humans who wanted justification and authority for being little dictators themselves. "Do what I command, because the Great and Powerful Oz speaks through me."

Since all gods are figments of humanity's imagination whether we believe in them or not, we're doing what OUR OWN MINDS tell us in the end. The tragic difference is that men use gods to justify crimes against humanity. "We can go kill all those people over there because they are different than us and because God said it was OK." The Old Testament is full of examples such as that. We fashion our gods after our own prejudices.