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The image of how God would appear is mostly irrelevant, I think. We're supposedly modeled after God and so God must look like us. And so if cows had gods, they would be cowlike. I can see that. But I still see it as irrelevant. It is a tool, perhaps, used to reinforce a belief in a greater being.
I think what is more important is the image of the good life. The function of religion is as a system of beliefs and values, ways of acting, whether it be restraining from wrongdoing or working hard at good works and goodwill.
As for cows, if they had a deity, I think they'd be mostly concerned about what they can do to please them: what is involved in being a good cow?
Even atheists have values and principles.
I myself am an agnostic atheist.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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