How did religion come about? (Not a thread for those believe)

[Soubriquet]

I’m an atheist. I do not believe in God, Allah, Moses, Yahweh or any other deity.

It does make me wonder at times though, is how someone managed to convince the entire world that this happened and this is how it happened.

So, how did the so called word of god come about and why do so many people believe it?

@Escapingtherealityoflife "
If faith isn’t needed for survival of man why hasn’t it been “evolved” out of us?"

Well, evolution does take a very, very long time.....

Photo didn't post but this is what I meant.

I can imagine ancient people seeing that sight and thinking it was sent intentionally.

No. Some people have been convinced of their inferiority and worship out of fear, it is not inbuilt. I don't see fandom as the same as worship at all. Just look how quickly fans turn on players when they take the knee or similar! They wouldn't do that to a god.

And that's not how evolution works. It is not the lack of a need for something, it is the other way round. If something become necessary for survival, we evolve it. It also takes WAY longer than a few of decades or even millennia. Check back in 10 thousand years or so.

Religion was an unparalleled source of inspiration for the creation of cathedrals throughout Europe. It was the guiding force that motivated skilled artisans and craftspeople to pour their lives into every intricate detail of such magnificent structures. There would be no Cathedral without religion. So much of the worlds most revered art would be lost if it wasn't for religion. In a world where so much can seem uncertain and fleeting, the cathedrals of Europe STILL stand as a testament to the enduring power of faith, hundreds of years after their creation. What else has created such enduring beauty? 😊

Essentially religion acts as a bossy GPS for our ethical compass.

There’s a whole branch of sociology about this. One theory is that because people had dreams that featured dead relatives, they interpreted that to mean that there’s life after death, and built a belief system around that.

For some reason humans are hardwired towards religious belief...there's a certain part of the brain that lights up when religious people are shown imagery of their faith. Don't know why though

What else has created such enduring beauty? Why the love of theatre and human's insatiable blood lust! All the Roman amphitheatres were not inspired by religion and they're WAY older. Although there is cross over with things like the Mayan temples which combined the bloodlust with religion!

Bart Ehrman does a great podcast and has written books about how Christianity and the bible came into being and the early history of it. It’s from an academic point of view and I find it fascinating. He is no longer a believer and I can well believe him when he says that many people lose their faith when they properly look into the history of it! His podcast is called Misquoting Jesus

Well the main religions i think were, made up to control people and serve the interests of the most powerful people mainly men. But at the same time, i think they also teach people ehat to follow ethically, even if it's sometimes done in a kind of pushy or even forceful way. Then again I mean b religions do pretty crazy sh+t like someone mentioned the Mayans didn't they cut the hearts out of their fellow people and leave them to die on mountains or something? people can be just as if not more kind and ethical without religion, if you NEED religion to be kind and moral then you might be a problematic person. Basically, I think it was all about making people be better disciplined so as to be better for themselves and society as a whole rather than indiviually. I don't want to wear a nun outfit and never be able to divorce a man if he's abusing me or clap as they drag my daughter to have her heart yanked out for the sun god. I also find it very hard to imagine everyone becoming religoors again especially when we now have much more religions luke Islam and hinduism and we are all much more diverse which makes it harder to get everyone to go along with one way of thinking

You Have been drinking the cool aid and i would like to take a sip 😆😂

I think early humans were in awe of the sun, moon, stars which showed them there was “world” beyond what they knew.
Later, storytelling became entertainment, knowledge sharing and history There were people in each tribe, village or group of people who related the history of the group , nothing was written down.
Even today in African countries when there’s a health initiative for example, a group of people will be sent out to perform a play in villages to get the message across.
Religion imo was an extension of the story telling, it invented rules that controlled people and gave structure to society. The stories extended to a god that’ll look after you if you’re good, a baddie who’ll get you if you’re evil etc… all control.
It later spread to a big money making machine.

Yes, because you had to obey the rules in order to get to paradise, despite the fact that hunger, disease, inequality, violence, hardship, the loss of children etc might in other circumstances propelled those on the bottom rung of society to revolt.

Worth saying also that in, say, medieval Europe, religious feast days were pretty much the only fun/change from the grinding sameness of life available — remember the origin of “holiday’ is ‘holy day’.

I grew up in a devout family in a devout society. I grew out of it in my teens. These days, on the rare occasions I’m in a church, it looks to me like touchingly desperate attempts to placate an imaginary deity and soften the prospect of death.

Cathederals are lovely.(like the House of Commons is lovely in a nice building way ). But no compensation for the evils that have been perpetrated in the name of religion. Lots of good has been done by very well meaning people, but so much evil. And the cover ups that followed. God is grand if you're into that yourself, but organised religion is a rocky path. It's populated by humans, and humans are flawed. So it's a bit non sensical to be in thrall to a religion imo.

My guess is that long ago there were things that nobody understood, and perhaps religion is as old as storytelling.

Have you read Russell Hoban’s post-apocalyptic novel Ridley Walker? Pretty much exactly what you describe — thousands of years after a nuclear event, an Iron Age society’s ‘religion’ (based on a misunderstanding of a fragment of the legend of St Eustace) is transmitted from settlement to settlement via Punch and Judy shows in a brutal world where a thirteen year old is middle-aged.

Everybody believes there is something more . The fact you say you don't believe in God means you decided you don't believe, therefore you believe something or Someone does not exist. No point even scratching that surface because it won't do you any good. You may need God at some point in your life and definitely post mortem

As well as the health and safety, there was no police force so people would have to rely on spiritual punishment for sinning as being enough of a deterrent.
Worship, congregation and prayer would help to enforce morals and societally acceptable behaviour.
Congregation was also a way to keep in contact with your community, share news, help each other and have social contact.

There is a part of human nature that is spiritual. People can experience it in many ways - religion, music, nature, art. Religion fulfils this for many.

Thought provoking, thanks!

This is a really interesting thread OP, I've often wondered the same over the years... I mean, you don't see the modern Greeks still worshipping Athena, Zeus etc, or Scandinavians worshipping Norse gods...

Religion I think was created from storytelling passed down from generation to generation protect and guide children and prepare them for the hardships of life. During tough periods like battle or loss of a loved one, religion would provide a powerful motivation to keep fighting for a greater good, to persevere and carry on. It would ease the pain of those effected by death knowing your loved one was with god. Religion often places importance on vaues such as charity, empathy, faithfulness, community, chastity and respect. Marriage and family are also very highly valued in religions, which leads to high birth rates. The societies in which no one is having kids will be overtaken by the socities that are having kids and atm those that are having more children tend to be religious. Religion isn't needed for these things of course, and it's worth pointing out that I'm not religious.

As a means to understand their world, surely. They had no science so story explained that which they could not comprehend.

I want to preface this by saying: I believe the devil lives in my husbands arse.

Now. Essentially religion seems to have been created (by God or man I'll leave that up to you) to serve as a moral guidebook to regulate human behaviour and society. The majority of successful civilizations and empires throughout all of human history have had a religion binding it. It could be argued that "Wokeness" is a modern religion. Interestingly, as per historical observations, the decline of a religion or empire is frequently followed by the rise of a new one, with a transition period in between that is often characterized by upheaval, poverty, civil war and instability. All good fun, only a century so of strife. Where to next?

Why do religious people insist on telling the non-religious what we believe? Some people may believe in something more, whatever that means, but not all of us. I have not decided not to believe, it's not a choice, I just don't believe as it makes no sense to me and I've seen no proof. As for the rest of your comment, I'm not even sure you know what you mean. I have no use for your imaginary friend.