What human purpose does religion fill?

[brian1570]

I've often wonder why people gravitate towards religion and have found that the answer is difficult to find amongst those that do no believe. So let's spitball; what does religion provide that logic day to day existence does not? What did those that existed two thousand years ago get from an unprovable fantasy? The mind or the ego wanted something; what?

there are so so so many factors leading up to the creation of, and the continuation of, religion. The earlier purpose of religion was a feeble attempt to explain things that were otherwise inexplicable. the human brain has an innate, knee jerk reaction to fill itself full of possible explanations to fear of the unknown. when a child hears a noise in a dark room, it's the boogie man, or the monster under his bed. when a young human species encountered things like earth quakes or natural disasters, it's an angry god. However in this day and age when we are finding more and more scientific explanations for the happenings in the world around us, religion serves as a place to belong. It serves as a direction to follow. It serves as a "greater good". which i think that last part is certainly up for debate. one thing that has remained true about the purpose of religion since the beginning is that is serves as a way for the few to control the many. 

but what do i know. i'm just an idiot punching away at tiny squares on a box that magically talks to other peoples magic boxes.