I woke up this morning and my house was surrounded with a dense fog.
A dense fog could be frightening if I didn't know the physics behind its creation. We get dense fog every once in a while in San Francisco because the humidity is right, the temperature of the air is right and the radiant temperature from the ground are also perfect to create fog.
I now think about what it is in my physical environment that keeps me from trying to behave in such a way as to protect myself from the fog and to protect my society from the fog in the future. Sailors of yore always dreaded the fog.
I am sheltered in a stable man-made construction with a waterproof roof; my home is nearly immune to earthquakes. It has electricity coming to it with water and natural gas. It is also a repository for the abundant food that I can pick up any time. I am immune to temperature, weather, many illnesses and diseases and my bodily functions are all attended to including washing.
If I were in an environment of cold or hot where I had to travel to get the water, where I had to search for the wood or coal for fire and the food supply was tenuous, the weather would become very important to me and its sources would be obviously the work of gods.
Possibly, someone might convince me that the number of gods I had to appease to get necessary protection for my risky life and survival might only be a unitary God. I could be convinced. Just as Amenhotep was, just as Abraham and Moses were and just as Mohammed was.
It is our secular understanding, plus the world of commerce that has brought us to safety, security and abundance that has made God or gods significantly less important to appease.