From the book "What the Buddha Taught," by Walpola Rahula (Grove Weidenfeld, publisher):

Among the founders of religions the Buddha ... was the only teacher who did not claim to be other than a human being, pure and simple. Other teachers were either God, or his incarnations in different forms, or inspired by him. The Buddha was not only a human being; he claimed no inspiration from any God or external power either. He attributed all his realization, attainments and achievements to human endeavor and human intelligence. A man and only a man can become a Buddha. ...

Man's position, according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master, and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgment over his destiny."

Hmm. Again, the responsibility rests entirely on our shoulders, no pleas to an outside force to save or help us. Man is the center of things, at least as far as raising himself up to enlightenment and escape from this physical world. For a "do it yourself" generation, that rejects authority, what could be better?