The Development of Organized Religion

[AnunZi]

I have a theory about why the structured, organized religion we it see today came about. Don’t know if this has been postulated before as I'm very new to these boards. But Its something I’ve had bouncing round in my head for a number of years now but wanted to put it in words so you guys can shoot holes in it and help me flesh it out a bit

Let’s go back 2,000 years or so.

Imagine you are the ruler of a large empire, oh I don’t know, say the Roman Empire, around 306AD?
Now, you need to police that empire. You need to stop your citizens from murdering each other. You need to stop them from stealing and generally acting like complete tools. Because lets be honest, life was A LOT harder back then than it is now. People will generally take the path of least resistance to what the want. That in a lot of ways sums up human nature.

So how do you do this? There is no CCTV, there is no method of identifying DNA. No police as we know them.
But, what if you can make people believe that if they steal, if they kill, if the act like tools…. Well, the great invisible sky wizard is watching. He can see all, he knows when you have been naughty. You won’t be punished now, that happens when you die! “So you must live by rules” says Mr. Constantine, or you’re going to hell for all eternity.


Thoughts / Opinions?

[Minimalist]

You need to stop your citizens from murdering each other.

Not Constantine's motivation at all ( he was quite a murderer himself.) However, if you look at it as political payback to a group which supported him in the civil war then you have your answer as to why xtianity got started.

But 'organized religion' far pre-dates xtianity. The Egyptians and Sumerians were quite organized.

[AnunZi]

You need to stop your citizens from murdering each other.

Not Constantine's motivation at all ( he was quite a murderer himself.) However, if you look at it as political payback to a group which supported him in the civil war then you have your answer as to why xtianity got started.

But 'organized religion' far pre-dates xtianity. The Egyptians and Sumerians were quite organized.

I just used Constantine/Christianity as an example as its one most people today are familiar with. It can be applied to any organised religion.

I just look at what most religions seem to teach and the obivious reason (to me, just opinion ofc) is that it was purley about population control.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Some form of spiritual or religious beliefs exist in almost every society on earth and have apparently done so back to homo erectus.

The highly organised Egyptian religion was already over 3000 years old when Christ was born.

Religions exist because they meet human needs.Those needs include;dealing with the fear of death, imposing order and meaning on life,and a form of control on an individual and societal level.

Religions always reflect the societies which invent them, in their flaws as well as in their ideals.

Thought for today;

tell me your idea of heaven and I will tell you what is missing from your life (anon)

[Welsh cake]

Around 500,000 years ago in our evolution, the hominid brain increased in size, the neocortex expanded, this over time resulted in higher order cognitive functions, this is what helped us ultimately to become one of the most successful organisms around, but with this acquisition, our world-view changed, necessitating the need for human religiosity.

We are a social species, emotional, that depend upon each other to survive and once we started changing our surroundings to suit us rather than adapt we began to thrive, but our need to understand our environment better became all too apparent. Undoubtedly we were terrified of the near-infinite complexity of reality; much was beyond our understanding or knowledge base. Natural occurrences such as lighting storms, volcanic eruptions, lunar eclipses and so, coupled with illness and diseases contributing to our pitifully short life-spans, we were obviously terribly afraid of the unknown, many of us still are today, and this was counterproductive to our process.

Our cognitive capacity, although not fully-realised, still gave us an edge against natural predators and other various threats but unfortunately the religious mind is a consequence of a brain that's large enough to formulate religious and philosophical ideas.

People not only needed an explanation for these occurrences in nature but they themselves needed a purpose, a meaning to our haphazard lives; we're like children, we naturally crave comforting answers that appeal to our emotions rather than the cold truth of reality. Many of us today cannot even accept we're simply born, we live, and we die. This psychological need back then couldn't be met with knowledge - we were too primitive, probably way too savage, our pool of information was inadequate, and we lacked the enquiry or means to understand these phenomena.

Thus gave rise to early law and concepts in beings that were responsible for these observable events and more so that they actively cared about human affairs to ensure they have practical relevance that apply to conditions of worth in early civilization.

After all, any belief in god(s), like beliefs in a giant frog who lives in the sun is utterly meaningless unless the giant frog loves you when you behave lawfully and punishes you when you behave unlawfully.

But, what if you can make people believe that if they steal, if they kill, if the act like tools…. Well, the great invisible sky wizard is watching. He can see all, he knows when you have been naughty. You won’t be punished now, that happens when you die! “So you must live by rules” says Mr. Constantine, or you’re going to hell for all eternity.

Were I ruler, and wanted to remain ruler, and not ousted (which usually results in my imminent death), I'd invoke my own sovereignty (similar to the Divine Right of Kings) and openly declare the giant frog in the sun has spoken, he says I am ruler, you disagree with me, you disagree with the giant frog in the sun, therefore taxes go up!

[Minimalist]

"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. "

Thomas Jefferson