# Why did we invent religion?



## Bettyone

Being brought up in a staunchly religious home makes me constantly inquisitive about religion. Perhaps the question should have been - Was the idea of ‘God’ invented? But I already have an answer to that, however subjective, but one that I can live with. God exists or existed at some point. And regardless of what thousands of science articles and papers trying to explain God away would have you believe, common sense is all it would take to believe there is/was a God. No amount of big bang theories has successfully explained why there is an array of complex life on earth, why there are universal laws/cycles (gravity, nitrogen cycle, water cycle), or how intelligent beings can be a product of mindless cataclysmic explosions that is the big bang. So yes God(creator) exists or at least existed. Life on earth is simply too organized, complex and yet diverse all at once that it’d be irrational to say otherwise. (Before I go any further, let me state clearly that I’m a non-religious person) 

Religion is a different topic entirely. Was it invented? I think so. God did not invent religion. It was mostly borne out of man’s desire to acknowledge a higher being that must have been responsible for their existence. Man’s fear of death and his quest to find meaning in life led to the creation of religion. This is observed in the theme of most religions which is to encourage its adherents to live a life that will qualify you for a higher life (in heaven , Paradise earth, nirvana). 

Interesting isn’t it? I think that’s one of the allures of religion. It has managed to hold our interest for hundreds of years. Once we begin to get bored, it will be death of religion and all the social and political capital and privileges (heck they don't even pay taxes since someone somewhere believes they are non-profit organizations. For the records its profit making just that the currency is mostly influence not just cash) accorded its leaders and members. God in my opinion has no business with religion. Someone who is has powerful as we believe God is doesn’t need religion to fight for him or validate his existence. So why then do religions take it upon themselves to fight for God?


----------



## Bettyone

*We invented Religion. But Why?*

Being brought up in a staunchly religious home makes me constantly inquisitive about religion. Perhaps the question should have been - Was the idea of 'God' invented? But I already have an answer to that, however subjective, but one that I can live with. God exists or existed at some point. And regardless of what thousands of science articles and papers trying to explain God away would have you believe, common sense is all it would take to believe there is/was a God. No amount of big bang theories has successfully explained why there is an array of complex life on earth, why there are universal laws/cycles (gravity, nitrogen cycle, water cycle), or how intelligent beings can be a product of mindless cataclysmic explosions that is the big bang. So yes God(creator) exists or at least existed. Life on earth is simply too organized, complex and yet diverse all at once that it'd be irrational to say otherwise. (Before I go any further, let me state clearly that I'm a non-religious person)

Religion is a different topic entirely. Was it invented? I think so. God did not invent religion. It was mostly borne out of man's desire to acknowledge a higher being that must have been responsible for their existence. Man's fear of death and his quest to find meaning in life led to the creation of religion. This is observed in the theme of most religions which is to encourage its adherents to live a life that will qualify you for a higher life (in heaven , Paradise earth, nirvana).

Interesting isn't it? I think that's one of the allures of religion. It has managed to hold our interest for hundreds of years. Once we begin to get bored, it will be death of religion and all the social and political capital and privileges (heck they don't even pay taxes since someone somewhere believes they are non-profit organizations. For the records its profit making just that the currency is mostly influence not just cash) accorded its leaders and members. God in my opinion has no business with religion. Someone who is has powerful as we believe God is doesn't need religion to fight for him or validate his existence. So why then do religions take it upon themselves to fight for God?


----------



## Persephone The Dread

People have historically used religion to explain things they can't explain and to self-soothe and cope with existential angst, and then some parts of religion (some religions have more of these than others,) were also designed to control people.


----------



## KILOBRAVO

^ probably the same purpose as horoscopes. yeah I'm sure every single Leo has the same exact day and week as every other, based on a horoscope. but if you choose to beleive in it and it coinacidentally works out to fall in line with what happens, then I suppose it might help that person be comforted etc. 
I think religions much the same idea


----------



## SorryForMyEnglish

I do believe God exists too. Men (males) written religious books when we talk about abrahamic faiths. That's obvious and only muslims are denying it. But how do you know what God is and why do you need to know that without religion? I mean religions have their dogmas about God and actually give answers to those questions. Because all ideas that you have about God are shaped by what you've heard of God or spirituality from various sources or saw or etc. if you refuse a specific religion. If you refuse that all then God is basically nothing and why should we even think about Her/Him if we can't know? If you don't have an orientation then you can turn into God (idolize) virtually anything, i.e. inanimate objects, animals, people, yourself, whatever human imagination can do. You're going back to some prehistoric state of people. It's just how human mind seems to work.


----------



## ljubo

we did not invent . god (and aliens) is real, they show themself many times to humans and send prophets, then people write about this (and this gave us religions).


----------



## forever in flux

ljubo said:


> we did not invent . god (and aliens) is real, they show themself many times to humans and send prophets, then people write about this (and this gave us religions).


You're my hero.

_Staff edit

_But part of this reason he's my hero is because of that thread!

Just putting 'you're my hero' without anything backing it up makes a mockery of what I wrote!


----------



## SorryForMyEnglish

Yes, I agree with your point except for the lack of the need of religion, because what would God be if we didn't have religious dogmas and all? God would be nothing and everything at once. People need notions to define what God is as I posted in your another duplicate thread. (I'm quite persistent, ain't I?)


----------



## sad1231234

Religion has a few purposes. 

Firstly, it comforts people. They can rest assured that if they dont do anything evil, they will go to heaven forever. They can rest assured that their enemies will go to hell. They can rest assured that their lives are being protected by an omniscient being. 

Secondly, it gives them hope. Hope that their life will continue on in the next life. They wont die, they wont be forgotten about. 

Thirdly, it provides an explanation for why things are the way they are. Religion fills in the gaps of everything perfectly, but science has made religion seem obselete.


----------



## Nonsensical

Religion was invented to explain things humans don't yet fully understand. Before abrahamic faiths humans worshiped the sun and had a complicated ritual process of their deities explaining why the sun fell each day such as the tale of Ra. Now we know why the sun falls only to reappear every day rather than believing there is a battle of the God's and Ra dies only to be re birthed the next day. It will be the same story for creationists.


----------



## Tetragammon

You obviously don't know much about evolutionary science or the history of our planet and universe. There is "an array of complex life on earth" because it evolved that way over the course of billions of years. Obviously there were no intelligent beings in the beginning; it took a very long time for the original single-cell organisms to evolve and adapt to the changing climate and geographical conditions on this planet before multi-celled organisms came into being, and much longer still for those organisms to evolve into the complex life we see today. It's all about vast amounts of time and random chance; organisms that were weak or ill-equipped to deal with their environment died off, while the rest thrived. And asking why there are universal laws or cycles is utterly ridiculous; you may as well ask why grass is green or why water is wet. But the existence of said laws and cycles in no way requires a creator. You may want to do more research and study before making claims like the existence of God is "common sense," because I assure you it's not.

I don't think that it was originally a desire to acknowledge a higher being that led to the invention of the first religions, either. Because monotheism and all of its trappings is a relatively new phenomenon; all of the most ancient civilizations we know of were pantheistic. I think that it was probably the desire for knowledge that led to the first primitive religions. People thousands of years ago couldn't understand natural phenomena like weather patterns or natural disasters. They couldn't even understand the cycle of day and night. But we seem to be incapable of taking "I don't know" for an answer, so our inquisitive ancestors came up with elaborate ways to explain the unexplained -- like lightning being the wrath of a god who lived in the clouds, or the sun being pulled by a chariot high up in the sky. And those beliefs and customs _evolved_, just as life has, over time. The problem is people who refuse to change their beliefs even in the face of contradictory facts.

Many people don't realize that, before the violent rise of the Abrahamic religions, each indigenous people around the world had their own creation myths, ceremonies and rituals. Because originally human populations were very small and insular; people could only travel so far on foot, so a person in one place would never come into contact with a person on the other side of the continent, much less the other side of the world. But as our methods of travel evolved and the world gradually opened up, people encountered others with wildly differing belief systems and deities. And I would argue that arrogance and confirmation bias are the main causes for violence done in the name of God.


----------



## VanDamMan

The real question is why people continue to believe in religion.


----------



## YogiJ

Bettyone said:


> Being brought up in a staunchly religious home makes me constantly inquisitive about religion. Perhaps the question should have been - Was the idea of 'God' invented? But I already have an answer to that, however subjective, but one that I can live with. God exists or existed at some point. And regardless of what thousands of science articles and papers trying to explain God away would have you believe, common sense is all it would take to believe there is/was a God. No amount of big bang theories has successfully explained why there is an array of complex life on earth, why there are universal laws/cycles (gravity, nitrogen cycle, water cycle), or how intelligent beings can be a product of mindless cataclysmic explosions that is the big bang. So yes God(creator) exists or at least existed. Life on earth is simply too organized, complex and yet diverse all at once that it'd be irrational to say otherwise. (Before I go any further, let me state clearly that I'm a non-religious person)
> 
> Religion is a different topic entirely. Was it invented? I think so. God did not invent religion. It was mostly borne out of man's desire to acknowledge a higher being that must have been responsible for their existence. Man's fear of death and his quest to find meaning in life led to the creation of religion. This is observed in the theme of most religions which is to encourage its adherents to live a life that will qualify you for a higher life (in heaven , Paradise earth, nirvana).
> 
> Interesting isn't it? I think that's one of the allures of religion. It has managed to hold our interest for hundreds of years. Once we begin to get bored, it will be death of religion and all the social and political capital and privileges (heck they don't even pay taxes since someone somewhere believes they are non-profit organizations. For the records its profit making just that the currency is mostly influence not just cash) accorded its leaders and members. God in my opinion has no business with religion. Someone who is has powerful as we believe God is doesn't need religion to fight for him or validate his existence. So why then do religions take it upon themselves to fight for God?


The actual essence of religion is rooted in spirituality, so religion is like the fossils of spirituality as Peter Russell puts it.

Religion also addresses several human needs; the need to have meaning in life, community, protection (to some extent), or even food and shelter.

The actual mystics who are really seeking answers to life's mysteries may be a part of a religion but their inquiry is independent of religion because scripture can only point the way, but it is only through rigorous prayer, meditation, yoga that mystics are able to attain states attained by such personalities as the Buddha, Christ, Mohammad etc.

Religion can provide a frame work by which to attain these experiences, such as the precepts observed in Buddhism which are aimed to protect the student from damaging his or her spiritual awakening by not taking drugs, not killing etc, so there is a function that rules and regulations serve.


----------



## boymeetsworld

To profit from it.


----------



## Erroll

@Bettyone

I sometimes think that religion tries to point out an 'ideal' way to live, by saying these things are good, and those things are bad.

But we never know if our actions will ultimately turn out to be good or bad. Indeed, any human action can have both good and bad effects, no matter whether the person was trying to achieve a good or bad aim. This is because good and bad are relative. If I win a million at the local poker game, that's good for me, but bad for the losers. So the same act is perceived as 'good' or 'bad' in accordance with what a person's past experience has taught him.

If there is any 'good' or 'bad', it is a subjective thing. We don't know if any action will produce more good or more bad, but we do know what our intentions were; either good or bad. But our intentions ultimately find their source in our earlier experience and learning, over which we have minimal control. You really can not control what experiences life will throw at you. And these experiences build your subjective morals and world view.

So Abrahamic religions are mistaken, when they prescribe 'good' and 'bad' actions, and rewards for 'good' and punishments for 'bad'.

I think that these religions need a new interpretation. If we would just consider our 'self' to be the society of mankind to which we belong, and act accordingly, life would be just as good as any heaven that we can imagine. If everyone lived for the benefit of all, viewing each 'other' as an intricate part of their 'self' identity, humanity would operate as one individual; perhaps as the god that we have always imagined.

I don't know if I believe in a god. But if you follow the science to its very basic level, there does seem to be some magic involved. Or at least some stuff which we are incapable of understanding. So I call myself agnostic.


----------



## googleamiable

Tetragammon said:


> You obviously don't know much about evolutionary science or the history of our planet and universe. There is "an array of complex life on earth" because it evolved that way over the course of billions of years. Obviously there were no intelligent beings in the beginning; it took a very long time for the original single-cell organisms to evolve and adapt to the changing climate and geographical conditions on this planet before multi-celled organisms came into being, and much longer still for those organisms to evolve into the complex life we see today. It's all about vast amounts of time and random chance; organisms that were weak or ill-equipped to deal with their environment died off, while the rest thrived. And asking why there are universal laws or cycles is utterly ridiculous; you may as well ask why grass is green or why water is wet. But the existence of said laws and cycles in no way requires a creator. You may want to do more research and study before making claims like the existence of God is "common sense," because I assure you it's not.
> 
> I don't think that it was originally a desire to acknowledge a higher being that led to the invention of the first religions, either. Because monotheism and all of its trappings is a relatively new phenomenon; all of the most ancient civilizations we know of were pantheistic. I think that it was probably the desire for knowledge that led to the first primitive religions. People thousands of years ago couldn't understand natural phenomena like weather patterns or natural disasters. They couldn't even understand the cycle of day and night. But we seem to be incapable of taking "I don't know" for an answer, so our inquisitive ancestors came up with elaborate ways to explain the unexplained -- like lightning being the wrath of a god who lived in the clouds, or the sun being pulled by a chariot high up in the sky. And those beliefs and customs _evolved_, just as life has, over time. The problem is people who refuse to change their beliefs even in the face of contradictory facts.
> 
> Many people don't realize that, before the violent rise of the Abrahamic religions, each indigenous people around the world had their own creation myths, ceremonies and rituals. Because originally human populations were very small and insular; people could only travel so far on foot, so a person in one place would never come into contact with a person on the other side of the continent, much less the other side of the world. But as our methods of travel evolved and the world gradually opened up, people encountered others with wildly differing belief systems and deities. And I would argue that arrogance and confirmation bias are the main causes for violence done in the name of God.


this is a high quality response. I question one assertion, which is that ancient cultures were usually/always pantheistic before the Abrahamic faiths. do you mean polytheistic? I can't think of how pantheism was ubiquitous pre or at the same time as (the writing of) Judaism.


----------



## Cyberus

To create boundaries in a world where people were barbaric as hell and wouldn't follow the damn rules, religion helped give a nice sense of balance especially after the collapse of Rome.
But now? We don't need it anymore, It's actually harmful to current civilization and one of them especially more than others (you know who I'm talking about).


----------



## Aribeth

Look at Americans who turn into zombies on Black Friday. Yeah, those kind of people are the majority of people on Earth. It's always been like that. Now you understand why they need to be guided and shepherded in life. That's where organized religion comes in.


----------



## AussiePea

To help them understand the complexities of life. It's a lot easier to assume the earth was created by a God when the technology and knowledge didn't exist to properly explain how things came to be. 

Of course you then end up with people who still believed fairy tales when the technology and knowledge does exist and sadly they also breed.


----------



## UltraShy

Atheist reality: you were born simply at random cause your parents were horny that particular day and had sex. You exist made in the image of nobody (other than your mortal parents, who may be defective lunatics). Your life path was not laid out for you. You ended up where you are due to a long sequence of choices, good or bad, and eventually you will die. You might drop dead on the kitchen floor of a heart attack, as my brother did at 45. Or you may live to be 105.

In any case, as soon as you're born you are dying, and this is a most troubling thought to the human mind. Few can deal with the harsh reality of being random beings, alone in the universe, with nothing but death as the only certainty. Or they require pot, alcohol, opioids, and every other drug under the sun to help numb their mind from this grim reality, that the Grim Reaper awaits them, and the Reaper never fails to show up when it is time for him to make a kill.

Religion, on the other hand, makes for this wonderful fantasy land where you were created in the image of God -- imagine that! Being made in the imagine of God is mighty damn special. And the Lord laid out this plan for your life. He wisely handpicked what would happen to you, his child. And while you will still die in this fantasy land, you don't really die, as your immortal soul simply leaves your body for an eternal vacation in paradise.

I think you can see why religion is so wildly popular. The Atheist reality is simply the ultimate downer, now isn't it? The truth sucks!


----------



## Tetragammon

michael1 said:


> this is a high quality response. I question one assertion, which is that ancient cultures were usually/always pantheistic before the Abrahamic faiths. do you mean polytheistic? I can't think of how pantheism was ubiquitous pre or at the same time as (the writing of) Judaism.


Yep; my bad. I was thinking "pan" as in pantheon but upon looking at the definition that was DEFINITELY the wrong word! I did mean polytheistic.



michael1 said:


> you were born simply at random cause your parents were horny that particular day and had sex.


Just have to point out that this isn't always true. My parents tried for 10 years before I was finally born. And I have no idea how that even happened because my mother loathes anything even remotely sexual. I'm guessing that religion ironically had a big part in my existence, because my parents' religion told them that they had to have at least one child to be "righteous." Most people of that particular faith have massive clans of 6-10 kids so I'm so very happy that my parents stopped at one.


----------



## Creep13

It was made by a retards for retards


----------



## Creep13

theres no "a"


----------



## nubly

Creep13 said:


> theres no "a"


But I see an "a"
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## CNikki

Aside from the answer being spelled out already, I think many people turn to religion because they want to find some sort of hope and escapism from the harsh realities this world and human nature itself brings upon ourselves. A part of us doesn't want to think that the worst cases of human tragedy are all that is present and that there's a higher sense of justice for things we cannot control in order for the good to prevail. Of course, religion is often used to manipulate, but for some iconic figures throughout history's worst events there's some light as to why people turn to their religion (Anne Frank is one of the most popular ones.)


----------



## Not so Stone Cold

I am an atheist and believe that humans are just animals who happen to be at the top of the food chain. I believe that religion has evolved into society as we became more intelligent in order to serve a number of functions. The main function being to promote society allowing for humans to work together cooperatively e.g. the ten commandments. To promote the man made laws of good and bad. Does this make society/(the popular views of the masses) and its various morals God? let me know if you agree.

Science has and to the point evolution has disproved all religious theory. The religion of the modern day is dictated by social sciences e.g. law and politics, this governs what is right or wrong in modern western society and has brought about great wealth and advances in technology. Whether this has brought about a happier society is debatable.


----------



## GivenRain

Religion is a concept created by a people whom at the time understood nothing of the world around them. It was used to explain everything from why the sun disappears at night, to why humans exist at all. It started out with polytheism, where every god or goddess had their own gifts, talents, and domains. Gradually, as our understanding of the world and it's inner connectivity began to grow, monotheism made more sense. Everything must be connected, so it must have been made by one person. As time went by, people began to rely on religion less for knowledge of the material world, and more for the afterlife and concepts such as reincarnation. Those in power, such as kings and queens realized the power of religion could be used to control people. They passed laws abiding with their views and gave religious institutions legal power over their citizens. They persecuted those who challenged their ideals, through a number of methods ranging from excommunication to hanging. Now, many people challenge the ideas of religion with varying degrees of success.


----------



## SFC01

Creep13 said:


> It was made by a retards for retards


and they were rewarded by god - by making them retarded - thats gratitude for you !


----------



## VIncymon

Not so Stone Cold said:


> I am an atheist and believe that humans are just animals who happen to be at the top of the food chain. I believe that religion has evolved into society as we became more intelligent in order to serve a number of functions. The main function being to promote society allowing for humans to work together cooperatively e.g. the ten commandments. To promote the man made laws of good and bad. Does this make society/(the popular views of the masses) and its various morals God? let me know if you agree.
> 
> Science has and to the point evolution has disproved all religious theory. The religion of the modern day is dictated by social sciences e.g. law and politics, this governs what is right or wrong in modern western society and has brought about great wealth and advances in technology. Whether this has brought about a happier society is debatable.


Eloquently done.


----------



## harrison

GivenRain said:


> Religion is a concept created by a people whom at the time understood nothing of the world around them. It was used to explain everything from why the sun disappears at night, to why humans exist at all. It started out with polytheism, where every god or goddess had their own gifts, talents, and domains. Gradually, as our understanding of the world and it's inner connectivity began to grow, monotheism made more sense. Everything must be connected, so it must have been made by one person. As time went by, people began to rely on religion less for knowledge of the material world, and more for the afterlife and concepts such as reincarnation. Those in power, such as kings and queens realized the power of religion could be used to control people. They passed laws abiding with their views and gave religious institutions legal power over their citizens. They persecuted those who challenged their ideals, through a number of methods ranging from excommunication to hanging. Now, many people challenge the ideas of religion with varying degrees of success.


What a great post.


----------



## slyfox

Originally to try to explain things we didn't understand

It later became a way to control people

I would say it is still around for comfort(the afterlife, the belief that if this life is bad it will be better in the next, etc) and to try to explain things we don't understand.


----------



## Kandice

To explain things that we don't understand and I also believe religion give emotional support as well. Believing in a higher power makes people feel better about bad situations or their life in general. Some people use religion to help them move forward in their life or they confide in religion. Some people find courage and strength through their religion.


----------



## maralb

i think religion gives people some kind of hope of getting something that peoples think cant get by their efforts.


----------



## ClarkJones

Most likely because humanity's understanding of the world at that time was more limited than it is today however humanity's curiosity and desire to understand the world around them was also just as strong as it is today.


----------



## Kandice

Another thing is that people rely on religion for comfort or for miracles. There are some people with mental disabilities who rely on a higher power and prayed to that higher power to fight through it.


----------



## discoveryother

its what we do. other ideas we refined because they were testable. the 5 elements, alchemy... we make up stories to simplify things. i don't think it comes from some separate stupid process that we should be giving up. its a natural thing for people to do.


----------



## frenzycat

i myself find my social life to be so twisted that other things are on the back burner till i die............lol


----------



## Classified

Once humans were forming communities big enough to have rules and standards, they needed to come up with a way to ensure everyone would follow them. You had to be part of the community as well if you wanted to survive. Or it was a long walk to find someplace else where you could try to fit in.

They didn't have detectives and video surveillance to catch people. So they had to come up with an all seeing being, a set of rules that people would have to follow to be part of the community, and an organizational structure to help members who were hurt. It made sense back then, especially if the neighboring territory was united behind one organization and was more powerful than a few defenders here and there.


----------



## naes

Why? Well it was definitely propagated by greedy priests who wanted to take advantage of the gullible. Before then? It is mostly just a natural phenomenon iyam. All cultures have religion, it is just a human thing.


----------



## Tetragammon

naes said:


> Why? Well it was definitely propagated by greedy priests who wanted to take advantage of the gullible. Before then? It is mostly just a natural phenomenon iyam. All cultures have religion, it is just a human thing.


Actually, not _all_ cultures have had religion. The Pirahã tribes of Brazil are one example -- Christian missionaries couldn't convert them because their language didn't include a definite concept of "future" and they never worried about what came after death. They don't even have a word for "worry." Their entire culture evolved to focus exclusively on aspects of life that could be immediately experienced or reported, and anything outside of that simply didn't concern them. They do have a kind of spirituality, but no actual religion.

It's a fascinating culture; too bad it's being subsumed by modern Brazil.


----------



## Ominous Indeed

Tetragammon said:


> Actually, not _all_ cultures have had religion. The Pirahã tribes of Brazil are one example -- Christian missionaries couldn't convert them because their language didn't include a definite concept of "future" and they never worried about what came after death. They don't even have a word for "worry." Their entire culture evolved to focus exclusively on aspects of life that could be immediately experienced or reported, and anything outside of that simply didn't concern them. They do have a kind of spirituality, but no actual religion.
> 
> It's a fascinating culture; too bad it's being subsumed by modern Brazil.


I think I understand what he means by just human though. Not everyone has a religion in the sense that they believe and look to it for their "order of existence" but it's human nature to give purpose to things, and then build their society on these things. Today it can mean things such as a contract given by one side and signed by the other. We all regard this piece of paper with a little bit of ink on it almost as highly as any god, and the obligations are to be fulfilled. Without humans giving it purpose and meaning it wouldn't be worth anything. Another animal would never make a contract, or obey a god. That is the big difference between humans and another animals.

That culture does seem interesting by the way.


----------



## WillYouStopDave

Hmmm. Religion magnifies a lot of the flaws of the human species but I don't know if I'd really blame religion for stuff that would still be there if it didn't exist.

And for that matter, anything that large numbers of people believe in without solid proof can be thought of as a sort of religion. So technically, religion would still exist without Catholics Muslims Jews and assorted Protestants and Christians. 

Most likely it was an early attempt to "tame" the "beast" in human nature.


----------



## naes

Tetragammon said:


> Actually, not _all_ cultures have had religion. The Pirahã tribes of Brazil are one example -- Christian missionaries couldn't convert them because their language didn't include a definite concept of "future" and they never worried about what came after death. They don't even have a word for "worry." Their entire culture evolved to focus exclusively on aspects of life that could be immediately experienced or reported, and anything outside of that simply didn't concern them. They do have a kind of spirituality, but no actual religion.
> 
> It's a fascinating culture; too bad it's being subsumed by modern Brazil.


Hmm, interesting. I guess their semantics doesn't allow for religion hah


----------



## SFC01

Tetragammon said:


> Actually, not _all_ cultures have had religion. The Pirahã tribes of Brazil are one example


Yeah naes, how could you have missed the Piraha tribe, dumbass :grin2:

The Vanautu tribe believe that the old fool Prince Philip is their God, funny as ****. It was on TV a lot over here when the royal idiot retired recently - not sure what he ****ing retired from though.


----------



## twitchy666

*like humans?*

something seriously wrong with you

my plan at age 4 was: do, achieve anything nobody else has done. earn money.

everybody else has produced humans

I don't have children, job or a wife. so I'm unique.

I didn't choose it. society eliminated me. judgement without sense, reason or logic.

animals, environment, physics. in entireness, even just partly whole, needs... money, food, home, friends... any set of tickbox grid... ALL or NOTHING. tick one box
building a life. what kinda tariff??? loneliness, fame, wealth?


----------



## naes

SFC01 said:


> Yeah naes, how could you have missed the Piraha tribe, dumbass :grin2:
> 
> The Vanautu tribe believe that the old fool Prince Philip is their God, funny as ****. It was on TV a lot over here when the royal idiot retired recently - not sure what he ****ing retired from though.


hahahaha xD


----------



## TuxedoChief

Same reason we invented Santa Claus.


----------



## Furiosa

The main reason it was originally invented was for human beings to make sense of their world during their era. Before science and technology had progressed and provided us with a better understanding of the world and solar system, early humans created explanations that supernatural entities were responsible for occurences and the world as they knew it, as they did the best with what little knowledge they knew back then. Take for example ancient Chinese who believed that when an eclipse occured, this was a dragon devouring the sun whereby they would bang pots and make a commotion to scare away the "dragon". Or in Greek mythology where they believed that the God of the sea Poseidon, would bang his trident to the ground which caused earthquakes. Or Egyptians who believed that the sun deity Ra would travel along the sky each day in a sun boat causing the sun to rise and fall each day.

When living in a pre scientific society our ancient ancestors had no way to properly rationalise and explain occurences such as those mentioned above, aswell as the question of what happens to us when we die, and so in the response to the need for answers some people of the tribes began to devise explanations and answers based on guesses and speculation. And it is from these ancient speculations that the first religious beliefs, deity rituals, shamans, behavioural expectations and so on came about. 

Another reasoning is the aspect of death, and I think this is one of the biggest reasons really. A lot of people have a hard time when it comes to accepting their own mortality, that death one day comes to us all, causing us to cease to exist for all eternity. Believing that we will spend eternity in nirvana, be reincarnated, met with 72 virgins, carried over the gates of Valhalla, whatever, makes death a little sweeter pill to swallow for many.


----------



## mcpon14

I don't know if this has been brought up but I think that religion was invented to comfort people when a loved one passes. They tell them that they are going to paradise or whatever. I also think that religion was invented as a claim to or a legitimizer of power such as the Mandate of Heaven, etc. I also think that religion was invented so people can act morally in order for the whole of the society to flourish for evolutionary purposes.  Just my opinions.


----------



## VanDamMan

To explain everyday elements of Science we weren't equipped to understand. 

We needed to give it a label. Even if that label is wrong.


----------



## Ali999

I certainly believe religion is not man made.

We never met many prophets(Jesus,Moses,Muhammad etc) who have come before us, and it makes no sense to say that they all invented religion to control their societies or to gain authority. In fact many were even killed/threatened while spreading their message.


----------



## sabbath9

To control people and their money


----------



## RelinquishedHell

Because, before science no one knew if that bright warm thing in the sky was gonna come back after it went down. I'm guessing it all snowballed from there.


----------



## Club Tropicana

We are so neurochemically driven to not want to die, I suspect this is probably the biggest factor.


----------



## Tezcatlipoca

I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. -Stephen Hawking


----------



## vedavon8

intelligence is survival and spiritually we want a release from the suffering that we live through because what religion teaches us is a lesson about a cultures survival community and practice
some religions worship the living the awakening and the blossoming of creation and exploring understanding
and some religions want followers to give them self up to a leader or to be the slave
they try to make believe that praying is salvation
what it means to pray is that they are lurking and obsessing over mostly verbal mental desires or memorizing a ritual that succeeded something
who or what the person prays about or actions they make should work out with the resource and connection
sometimes a ritual doesn't work out because another religion or prayer or peoples ritual selfishly interrupts


----------



## RMS

To help us understand what we are deep down.


----------



## sad1231234

Ali999 said:


> I certainly believe religion is not man made.
> 
> We never met many prophets(Jesus,Moses,Muhammad etc) who have come before us, and it makes no sense to say that they all invented religion to control their societies or to gain authority. In fact many were even killed/threatened while spreading their message.


Amen. That means god exists. 


sabbath9 said:


> To control people and their money


That was especially true during the middle ages i believe, at a time where they found all sorts of ways to make money with the concept of eternal damnation. 


RelinquishedHell said:


> Because, before science no one knew if that bright warm thing in the sky was gonna come back after it went down. I'm guessing it all snowballed from there.


Bingo! 


vedavon8 said:


> intelligence is survival and spiritually we want a release from the suffering that we live through because what religion teaches us is a lesson about a cultures survival community and practice
> some religions worship the living the awakening and the blossoming of creation and exploring understanding
> and some religions want followers to give them self up to a leader or to be the slave
> they try to make believe that praying is salvation
> what it means to pray is that they are lurking and obsessing over mostly verbal mental desires or memorizing a ritual that succeeded something
> who or what the person prays about or actions they make should work out with the resource and connection
> sometimes a ritual doesn't work out because another religion or prayer or peoples ritual selfishly interrupts


Yeah some religions promote war and conquest, others promote hard work and good morals, some promote slavery as we can see in the Bible for instance, and some allow the priests or whatever to sit on their *** and take hallucinogens all day while making marriage to anyone they want and while the rest of the tribe/country etc is working to keep them alive. Some religions just comfort people that there will be an easy, happy afterlife. And since throughout history life has been pretty crappy, i guess people were content with really simple versions of an afterlife. Such as some great harem, or some golden streets, or some great sacred forest of eternal bliss or something.


----------



## notBlair

I like what Christopher Hitchens said regarding this, it was "our first attempt at knowing". Or being able to describe the reason why things took place in our world.


----------



## Chevy396

As a way to explain the unexplained without saying "I don't know". Then it became a whole addiction/virus thing.


----------



## Rachel NG

notBlair said:


> I like what Christopher Hitchens said regarding this, it was "our first attempt at knowing". Or being able to describe the reason why things took place in our world.


Yes. Humans have always been curious about the world around us, and have always told stories about the world. However, we were still very dumb, and the scientific method wasn't discovered until much later in our history, so we didn't have the tools to actually learn and test things. We are also highly prone to superstitions because we're looking for patterns. It's not just humans, I listened to Dawkins talking about Skinner boxes and how pigeons are able to develop superstitions as well. It's entirely possible that many religions started out as fiction but after generations of telling the same stories it became accepted as true.


----------



## Overdrive

It's all about the Boot up


----------



## SwtSurrender

It's amazing how every separate culture has their own God, different yet the same, like our languages and our food. At least with religion and God there is a concrete meaning to life, since we always strive for a meaning and a purpose to our lives. That is the utmost question of mankind. What always bothered me was telling someone my religion or lack thereof and then being instantly judged and either hated or liked based on my answer. It sucks man, your religion or lack thereof surely messes up with any social interaction you have. 

Yes humans like to find answers to everything but do you stop and wonder that maybe what we can sense isn't the whole of everything and just a small portion? Yee, took me all my life to figure that out, mostly from movies and my daddyo. I feel like there is something that created us but then I feel better if I think that I know it all and there is nothing. Burn me! When I fly in airplanes or when I am super sick I believe in God, when someone dies I feel angry and start to disbelieve then I read up about the process and believe in God again. Then I think that they went to heaven.


----------



## AvoidantGuy

People don't like to think about the unknown. It is a scary thought to most that when you are dead that is it, so they need to rationalize death and something being after it. Also thousands of years ago people died from the common cold. Once penicillin and modern antibiotics were created people needed a god less and less.


----------



## notBlair

Rachel NG said:


> Yes. Humans have always been curious about the world around us, and have always told stories about the world. However, we were still very dumb, and the scientific method wasn't discovered until much later in our history, so we didn't have the tools to actually learn and test things. We are also highly prone to superstitions because we're looking for patterns. It's not just humans, I listened to Dawkins talking about Skinner boxes and how pigeons are able to develop superstitions as well. It's entirely possible that many religions started out as fiction but after generations of telling the same stories it became accepted as true.


Yeah. I would agree. If you look at folk tales and epics of different places there are a lot of commonalities with the stories you hear in religion. A lot of epics have to do with heroes being half god and half man and deal with overcoming death (like Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Achilles [the latter two didn't overcome death but were half-god and had a special relationship with the gods, just like Jesus]). There might have been historical figures that actually existed and were important to a particular place but over time who they were and what they did were transformed into something other than an accurate historical account, and became somewhat a fictional recount of a particular culture and prominent people. I think that happened with religious figures and religion as well.

Achilles might have actually been a war hero. Jesus might have actually existed. Is the he son of God, but also God himself, sent to save us from our sins (which were originally placed by God)?

Was Achilles really half-god half-man, and dipped into the river Styx by his mother rendering him invulnerable to being killed except if hurt at the heel?

Probably not.

Also, superstitions pigeons--adorable.


----------

