In addition to telling us that gods created us and how the gods created us, creation myths also tell us WHAT the gods created us FOR. Creation myths they tell us what we are allowed to do and what we are not allowed to do. I believe that the gods come from a place that lies somewhere between two human impulses -- the impulse to cooperate and the impulse to destroy. What happens when an empathetic creature commits murder? The answer is guilt. Guilt happens. And what do we need when we feel guilt? We need forgiveness. So when humans were struck by the guilt I just mentioned, they found no one who could forgive them. And because they needed forgiveness desperately -- because without forgiveness they would go mad -- humans had to invent gods. Gods who would justify their existence by telling them that there was nothing wrong with them. The gods of today -- democracy, capitalism etc. -- are gods we have not forgotten yet.