I want to know if God has intent. Though the many religious beliefs are indeed like different branches of the same tree, this question creates a fundamental dividing line. Does God have conscious intention, an individual involved with the minutia and grandness of our lives and universe? Or is God an amazing undirected force off which we feed and find comfort? I am quite certain the reality is something beyond my imagination, beyond any A or B.

Still, our perceptions matter. An involved, active God with a will has very different ramifications than one that is a presence, a well, an available benevolence. “What God wants” would be a very real pressure for the people in group A, whatever they perceive God wanting. “What God wants” would have no meaning or relevance whatsoever for Group B.

People—and tribes of people--might behave very differently depending on which way they lean.