The Purpose Of Religion

[Whateverist]

I agree with those who think the reasons for religion are not to be found among conscious, utilitarian considerations. No one invents religion in order to control the masses, even though once it exists it -like any other human institution- can be co-opted. No one invents religion in order to have a handy explanatory tool for unexplained phenomena, though once it exists it can be put to that purpose. I assume that the reason religion arises has something to do with human nature, but it isn't a deliberate concoction.