Dear JGN, I completely agree with u that man created god. However, come to look at it, the gods created by different societies look drastically different.Take Hinduism as an example.Look at deities created by tribals living in the forest:"they will have violent characteristics, will ask for sacrifices, has no characteristics related to knowledge, art etc". Contrast this with deities which are created by (so called) upper caste people like Saraswati, Gayathri, Sharada etc. : "None of these deities are violent blood hungry gods". So what does all this tell you, what this means is that "The god/deity is a reflection of the mindset of the people who created it". Now take a look at islam, you will clearly see that what value system and the social order advocated by it clearly is a reflection of 6th century Arabia. By the way, the goal of all religions may not always be the same as some would like to oversimplify. Religions like xianity and Islam (attempt to)provide a workable social, moral and ethical framework to the society while on the other hand, religions like Hinduism and Budhism go beyond this and act as A path towards 'self realization' (which they consider the ultimate goal). Infact the concept of god is not a necessity in Hinduism to achieve this ultimate goal.
