If there is a god, I don’t think this god expects, wants or demands worship, sacrifices or adherence to any rules. I think religion is for human beings, not a god.
I think when early humans developed a larger brain, they began to contemplate the mystery of life, and they sensed their environment was infused with spirit. Maybe they were right and there was some unseen force in the world, or maybe that sensation and belief was something their imagination imposed on reality as a kind of quirk of the human mind.
When the Neolithic Revolution occurred about 10,000 years ago, human beings began to raise crops and livestock. This meant that human beings were now fixed to one spot. They couldn’t easily pick up and move on if conditions were unfavorable where they were at. They became dependent on the right weather conditions. This caused them to look at the skies and notice seasons and patterns in weather. And I think this is when human beings began to think that God (or gods or a spiritual force) was not part of nature but over and above it, and when things weren’t going right, that meant that God was angry. I think that led to the idea that worship, sacrifice and following certain rules and rituals would satisfy the heavenly overseer and they would be blessed with the right amount of rain and sunshine and safety from invading neighbors.
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