On the need for an Active, Aware God

I believe the God in most cultures inevitably needs to be an active, aware entity. The concept of God in a particular culture generally begins as an attempt to create a gold standard of authority to back up the authority of the culture’s leaders. To establish God’s authority, God has to be personalized, so nobody is likely going to use something like the Yawning Gap or the Great Beyond to describe the big boss. God has to be organic, awake, and watching; without the awareness, God fails its primary purpose.

Translation: If you are going to take the Lord’s name in vain, it helps if your Lord scares the bejezzus out of everybody.