2006-08-11 19:26:14 · 8 answers · asked by Ashwath Sundar 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's the same as is still done today.
Religion is ego's way of side-stepping a *direct experience* of God as the All. It's a nice way to compartmentalize Him via concepts and rituals, and separate one's self from Him (or at least try to convince yourself that you're a separate individual.)
God can only be known through direct experience/Self-realization, but religion (ego personified) has turned Him into a mental construct/concept to be separate from and worshipped mentally, instead of being fully recognized as the core of one's Being and the Essence of all things.
Going to church, doing rites and rituals, etc, is a whole lot safer to the ego than a direct experience of God, which would mean the annihilation of the ego's belief in itself as an individual separate from the All/God.
Basically, ego is a wave saying it is not part of the Ocean that creates and sustains it. Religion is ego proselytizing and hypothesizing *about* the Ocean as something "out there" and "separate" instead of recognizing that its very substance IS Ocean. It really likes to think it is a separate wave standing on its own. It thinks if it were to fully acknowledge its oneness with the Ocean and surrender to That that it would cease to exist. In one sense, it would cease to exist. In another sense, it would go from the most limited to completely limitless.
2006-08-12 12:28:44 · answer #1 · answered by My View 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion is a means of controlling the public.
It provides a few benefits to the controllers of the faith, namely it provides more than just a legal justification for certain acts, and it diverts resources to themselves. (Several priest classes in ancient times were hereditary.)
It serves to modify behavior in a way preferable to the rulers.
It also was a more immediate way for the government to control the people. In Egypt, for example, pharaoh was considered a living god, as was the emperor of Rome.
2006-08-11 20:16:27 · answer #2 · answered by kx_wx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the people did not CHOOSE religion to preach about God, preaching about God is what make its a religion.
2006-08-11 19:30:46 · answer #3 · answered by Sheena 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that the ancient people looked up at the skies, beheld the sun, moon and stars, and felt there was something bigger than them (=deity = god/gods), which they then worshipped.
Religion is just an organised form of worship of the god/gods.
2006-08-11 19:48:58 · answer #4 · answered by dar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Christian God chose prophets to tell people about Him. The record of this through the years was gathered together into the Old Testament (in the Bible).
The disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ spoke and wrote letters and books which recorded the life and teachings of Jesus Christ -- which were compiled into the New Testament.
Cordially,
John
2006-08-11 19:30:17 · answer #5 · answered by John 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The need to organize power and explain the world around them.In the absence of knowledge and wisdom comes belief in superstitions to explain what is unknown.
2006-08-11 19:28:17 · answer #6 · answered by EasterBunny 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the ability for saved from bad impacts that are often managed by god that is a strongly minded believe(may be blind).
2006-08-11 20:12:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess b/c they knew that there had to be something better than this life on Earth.
2006-08-11 19:28:26 · answer #8 · answered by just julie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋