Before I start this article, I would like to state a few things. The purpose of this article is not to offend religious people in any way. The ethics and morals most religions have are a blessing to this world, offering serenity and order in today’s society. Many rules are based on a religious way of thinking, and they’re necessary in the world we live in. Although I admit, and this article will make that more than clear, that I am an atheist, I am not opposed to religion as a whole. People are free to believe whatever they want to believe, and for them, those thoughts are the right ones. It gives them a purpose in life, and they try to stay true to their morals, which is something to have respect for. Now that this has been made clear, I will now focus on the major purpose of this article, namely the origins, the survival and mostly the purpose of religion, from a societal point of view.

Religion has been around since the start of humanity. Ever since the cavemen observed something they could not explain, they would allocate the happening to a higher being, something out of their league. They did not gave it a name, they hardly gave it any thought, they just let it happen, because they believed they had no influence on it, and no knowledge could be rationally gathered from it. They lived on, knowing that the incident they observed happened, and could happen again, and it satisfied them.

When humans started living in groups, there was a natural lack for a leader. Often, the most physically dominant individual would claim leadership, most often by force. Since no one could stand up against this man, he would be guaranteed the best position in the group. But whenever unexplainable incidents occurred, there was a need for an answer from the rest of the group. Because the ‘alpha male’ couldn’t explain the observation either, the group would turn unsatisfactory. With more and more questions unanswered, disappointment would grow and grow, causing stirs through the whole group.  Because the alpha male was the physically strongest member of the group, anyone opposing would be hurt, or possibly killed, leaving the rest of the opposition with fear. The alpha males back in the days were proud people, and about every leader would inherit the power over to their first born son. Because physical power is not something a child inherits by genes, a lot of unborn sons were far from the physical levels their father had, which would mean the group would not fear, and so not acknowledge the son as their leader. Many groups suffered and fell apart after this, which would result in a vicious circle of groups originating and dying. In all of this, honor comes into play, a trait that had more worth in history than anything else.

A few sons, however, found out during their youth that physical power is not the only to bring fear to the people. They had the idea that the attacking the mind would be an even more efficient way of securing their position as the leader of the group.  This method would not only make sure that the more physical men of the group would attempt to take over the position, but it’s foundations could also be used by their heirs, so that their position would be protected, and the family would be remember for ages. This foundation is, what I think, the start of the most powerful weapon in history: religion.

The real application of religion wouldn’t come until the Egyptian era. Where the leaders of the cavemen and descending societies merely used them to keep their subordinates  satisfied, they started working out complete laws. These mostly came to the following: “do not rebel against your leader, he is true and just”. Do note that these weren’t all enforced laws, but purely enforced by belief. In truth of course, breaking the rules would still be punished openly, covered by a divine judgment. The Egyptians were also the first big community to create an image of their gods and a background story, so that their people could connect to the multiple gods. The fact that there was more than one god, was another way to keep the whole story believable, instead of creating an all-knowing creature that could not be understood. The other side of all this extra effort, was the incredible amount of profit the Egyptians managed to get out of it. Because according to the holy stories, the gods needed sacrifices. There were killed animals for food (another detail for credibility of the gods), but also gifts like gold to keep the gods satisfied. This gold would afterwards be added back into the royal treasury. The sacred laws would also make sure the farmers would keep on working for the pharaoh, and that no person would deceive the empire, because the rules state so. The ‘peasants’ took the punishments for the truth, because either they didn’t know any better, or didn’t want to gamble on them to be true.

During the Greek and Roman era, the direction taken was continued, although not as much as in earlier eras. Although the Greek theology was the first one that became successful in a larger area than a single country, it reached even to present-day Marseille; it was still very concentrated around the region of Athens, a region that also returned in much of the mythology created around the gods. The Greek are known for the many ceremonies they had. But next to that, the leaders did sip through a point of personal interest, although not a bad one in this. They noticed how many diseases were spread by rats attracted by the bodies of the deceased, which often weren’t buried or cremated. If there would never have been a funeral, it was claimed that the person who passed away would roam the earth forever as a spirit, and would not be able to enter the peaceful afterlife. This way, dead bodies wouldn’t litter the streets anymore, keeping the community healthier and stronger, thus keeping it more useful. The ancient Romans followed this route, although a bigger focus on ceremonies was implemented, creating a bigger feeling of unity among the Roman society.

The true peak of religion came with the birth of the monotheistic religions, like Christianity, the Islam and Judaism. Not only did they appeal to a far greater group of people than polytheistic religions like the ones they used in Egypt, Greece and Rome, they also exploited their followers in a much more structured way. Because these were the first true, major religions (Judaism obviously, the latter religions originated in a later stage), that weren’t focused on a single region, concentrating on a single core city/area would be useless. Instead, they would build churches, mosques and synagogues in strategic spaces, mostly city centers and heavily crowded areas. To make them work, believers were forced, under religious circumstances of course, to visit their building on a regular basis, so they could both be checked and collect payments, and reinforce the spirit of the ‘faith’ among the people.