320 million gods I bet they are fighting like mad for at least some recognition!

Forgetting about any possible divine entities that may have contributed to our success, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we never accomplish anything entirely on our own. We all owe a debt of gratitude to family, friends, teachers, society, past generations, and probably most importantly, our incredible good fortune in happening to be just where we are.

It’s fine with me if you want to translate “good fortune” as god, but I’d say it’s more accurate to give credit to random chance.

I guess my response would be that if their god gets credit it's only for making me strong enough to succeed through my own strength. If I fail, it just makes me want to try that much harder so I'll use it as a learning experience, not a failure. Either way, I win, not any one else.

It's about obedience. Notice how it is almost exactly like an abusive relationship where the abuser takes credit for good things and blames the abused for everything else. It creates a lack of confidence in the abused and they remain loyal to the abuser.

After my successful cancer surgery, I got a whole lot of: God is great! God is with you! Blah blah blah.... Literally no one asked me about the credentials of my oncologist, the head of the urology department at his hospital, who spent eight hours inside my body making sure every cell left behind was clear. Of course by their logic God also GAVE me cancer, but nobody likes it when you say that in response to their thoughts and prayers.

I think it's really a matter of control.

I think it depends on who you talk to. I know some devout people that follow the logic that “god” created them but that the individual themselves is responsible for their actions. Others, think more along the lines of what you are saying. They thank “god” when their fortunes are better, but blame themselves when their fortunes are worse. I think it’s because people from a religious background have moral and behavioral guidelines in those texts, so when something poor happens they feel like they themselves disobeyed “god” or failed “god” in some way, and that is why the are being punished with misfortune. There are stories throughout religious texts such as the ten plagues, where there are consequences for not obeying “god’s” wishes or commands. These stories may be where people get this guilt.

This has always been something I've taken issue with as well... Anything good that happens is attributed to a divine power, anything bad is because you screwed something up... but it's ok... because there's a plan???
Totally agree on the toxic relationship analogy.