# Quote — H. Beam Piper, The Complete Paratime

> What does he think a religion is, on this sector, anyhow? Do you think these savages dreamed up that six-armed monstrosity, up there, to express their yearning for higher things, or to symbolize their moral ethos, or as a philosophical escape-hatch from the dilemma of causation? They never even heard of such matters. On this sector, gods are strictly utilitarian. As long as they take care of their worshipers, they get their sacrifice; when they can’t put out, they have to get out. How do you suppose these Chulduns, living in the Caucasus Mountains, got the idea of a god like a crocodile, anyhow? Why, they got it from Homran traders, people from down in the Nile Valley. They had a god, once, something basically like a billy goat, but he let them get licked in a couple of battles, so out he went.

- Author: [H. Beam Piper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper.md)
- Book: [The Complete Paratime](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime.md)
- Page: 227
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._Beam_Piper#The_Complete_Paratime_(1947-1965)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/what-does-he-think

## More from this book

> Alexandrian-Roman: off to a fine start with the pooling of Greek theory and Roman engineering talent, and then, a thousand years ago, two half-forgotten religions had been rummaged out of the dustbin and fanatics had begun massacring one another.

p. 250 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/alexandrian-roman-off-to-a-fine.md)

> Politics is nothing but common action to secure more favorable living conditions.

p. 81 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/politics-is-nothing.md)

> We define people as criminals when they suffer from psychological aberrations of an antisocial character, usually paranoid—excessive egoism, disregard for the rights of others, inability to recognize the social necessity for mutual cooperation and confidence.

p. 173 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/we-define-people.md)