HORUS, AN ANCIENT Egyptian sky god, was often depicted as a sharp-eyed falcon. Lord Buddha's eyes are supposed to be able to look in four directions at once. The god of Abraham sees everything, always. A "Big God" of this sort-a supernatural "eye in the sky" who cares whether people do right by others-is a feature of most of the world's top religions. But it was not always so. Anthropological research suggests that the gods who watch over small societies tend to demand only that people show deference to them. Big Gods come later.
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