Eric on Nostr: You're partway there. Zoom out. Religions are quite simply and expedient way to ...
You're partway there. Zoom out. Religions are quite simply and expedient way to oblige the masses to power. Without religion, humans never could have become agrarian, as nobody was willingly going to stop hunting to start wotking in the fields, build cities, etc.
Some are more or less violent, but all are coercive. Christianity definitely upped the ante by incorporating the concept of original sin (to enslave the psyche, forever believing it was less than, rather than equal to). Even that wasn't unprecedented.
Go back as far as you can. Vedas are probably the earliest we can research. The Indus valley civilizations are key to understanding religions, and the nature of any kind of god.
Some are more or less violent, but all are coercive. Christianity definitely upped the ante by incorporating the concept of original sin (to enslave the psyche, forever believing it was less than, rather than equal to). Even that wasn't unprecedented.
Go back as far as you can. Vedas are probably the earliest we can research. The Indus valley civilizations are key to understanding religions, and the nature of any kind of god.