clothes as what is appropriate for you based on your society. Religion is the same exact thing, it is a learned behavior from your parents and those around you, what they believe to be true and appropriate. Generally, people with like attitudes and beliefs tend to only associate with those of like persuasion, so this is the extent of your learning experiences growing up, as you are continuously told what is 'right' or 'wrong' according to the religious beliefs of your 'tribe'.
This repetition of thought is imprinted in your psyche (brainwashed) until you believe that what you have been told is the only truth, and most of these 'truths' stay with you throughout your lifetime. The beliefs and myths of gods are not easily changed in your learned psyche, and in most cases these 'truths' are passed on to the next generation, thus perpetuating the myths and learned prejudices.
As time passed, these isolated groups (tribes) had rituals to appease the gods in their own learned ways. As stated earlier, for some bazaar reason barbaric human sacrifice was adopted by many of these early religions, although most scholars of today believe the 'sacrifices' were in many cases used as a way to rid the ruler's of the tribes of their adversaries, and probably more importantly as a form of social intimidation, rule by terror that persist today in many parts of the world.
Public executions based on outlandish laws (as in Shar'ah law) were used as intimidation for control of the group, a form of terror that this same fate might befall you if you do not follow 'God's' (our) rules. This type of religious terror still persist in today's world, especially in the third world countries where the population is perceived to be primitive by western standards because of their barbarism and outlandish superstitious beliefs.
As modern religions evolved, some taught of peace and harmony among all of mankind as it was meant to be, while others taught intolerance, prejudice, hate for any one not like them (race), of a different faith or belief in a different god. Wars in the name of religion have consumed man's existence since true religion's mass introduction in the sixth century BCE, referred to as the Axial Age (49), as religion was contorted to include a god and past superstitions of early mankind.
These new religious manifestations were used as an excuse or justification for unthinkable acts, usually for wealth and control of other tribes. If you scrutinize the Bible or the Koran you will find a preponderance of, hate, prejudice, intimidation, murder and genocide is encouraged by the author's of these religious writings, in addition to eternal punishment for none conformist.
Many of the early Prophets of religion told of encounters and/or conversations with 'Angles', or a 'god'. I believe these encounters were either with an Eternal or a visitor from another world (ET) and were mistaken as a religious encounter. What mankind does not understand can easily be explained in his mind as an encounter with God, the Creator, one of the Creator's Divine followers, or whatever or whoever that particular religion's god is, perpetuated because of the brainwashing they have undergone throughout their life.
The spontaneous beginnings of modern religion during the Axial Age cannot be easily explained by scholars. Not only did religion's spring forth from isolated societies, from western Europe to northeastern China, but they all had stark similarities. Instead of there being bad or vengeful gods and good gods, there was a new idea of no gods, and a belief of life after this physical life with human morality at the center of the transcendence.
Now some religious scholars of today would say that all of these religions were similar in original teachings because all were simultaneously introduced by God. Truth is, there was a simultaneous introduction of 'religion', but without any 'god' at the center of the religion, the personification of a 'god' was the manifestation of mankind himself, a continuation of past myths. The introduction of 'religion' came as a 'little push' from the Eternals, who are not gods, in the hope of creating harmony amongst the peoples.
A common belief of these 'new religions' was that man's 'soul' or 'afterlife' is directly tied to his actions and morality while in the physical body. Sin amongst the people was a new concept, IE that your life's actions have a direct relationship with the transference of your soul after this physical life.
Some religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, believe that your soul is reincarnated again and again, almost all religions have retained a 'part' of the original 'little push'. They believe the more times you are reincarnated, the more refined and wholesome your soul becomes. This may be a fact, I really cannot say for sure, but it does make sense. I do know that as a society (such as the Human's on this planet) progresses with time, they do 'outgrow' some of the evil trait's I have described. It is also true that the basic past emotions and lives are carried forward in a subconscious form from a previous life, but as stated, the Entity normally should have no conscious knowledge of this past life.
It may be just a minute point, but what really happens is not reincarnation, but rather rebirth. The difference is that reincarnation suggest the same identical Entity is brought back again and again (such as the Dali Lama). Rebirth is a new life by the same soul (psyche) with new essence, a new Entity with the same basic soul. If that sounds confusing, well maybe it is, I do not know how to explain it more precisely except to say, even though your psyche has a subconscious memory of your past lives, when your soul was united with the essence of life once again (metempsychosia) in a new physical body, you are a new unique Entity, a part of your previous life is now a part of the new Entity that is you.
Practiced by most western countries, modern Christianity is primarily based on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, professed to be the 'son of God'. Throughout Jesus' later life (after he 'got' religion) he taught of brotherhood and intolerance of unjust persecution. To convince his followers of a 'God', he showed of 'miracles' and miraculous feats (as professed in the books of the Bible). But alas, he was the victim of the ruling factions for the very intolerance he was preaching against and he has become a 'martyr' to those of the Christian faith. The embellishment of his life is what drives the believers of the Christian faith today, even to the point of elevating his status to 'God'. Jesus' preaching was initially carried on primarily by Saul of Tarsus, or as he is better known, Paul (his Roman name).
As with any story told of past, with each rendition the story becomes more embellished, to the point that very little of the original facts of the story are left. Most books of the Bible (telling of miracles and prophecies) were written many centuries after the life and crucifixion of Jesus as 'proof' of his godliness. It is a curious fact that all the books of the Prophets and religious teachings were written well after the lives of these religion's founding Prophets. If the authors of these books of religion (Bible, Koran etc) were so 'knowing', why were there no books of the religion or their current 'gods' before the arrival of their Prophets?
Although the original teachings of Judaism and Christianity (and almost all religions) were of peace, compassion and harmony amongst mankind, as time progressed the religions were shaped by self appointed ecclesiastics who manipulated 'their religion' for control over the people. Power, control and greed was the real theme of Christianity (as are most religions of today) after it was first introduced, throwing in a 'god' gives the religion some semblance of 'truth' to the religion's followers who cannot perceive of a world without a 'god' as the Creator. After all, how else can you explain the existence of the Universe we live in? No one wanted to believe in a God more than I did in my early years. With a God, all unexplainable things in the Universe are easily dismissed as an act of that God.
The books of the Bible and New Testament are a compilation of superstition and myths based on writings over a period of several hundred years. In many instances one book of the Bible will directly contradict another, religious scholars claim it is all in how you interpret the writings. Of the original writings, several books were omitted from the Bible because they did not depict the philosophy of the church at that time or the book's author showed the religion in a 'bad light'.
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The intolerance for anyone not of their faith or under their control, was at the mercy of the church leaders. The Crusades were a bloodbath of intolerance, prejudice and want for wealth and power. The Catholic church saw it as a way to increase their purse strings by heavily taxing all they conquered and in the process imposing their 'god' on the conquered peoples (no different than modern man). The more land the church controlled, the more people to tax and the richer the church became. The Catholic church was promoted by Ultramontanism, that is to say; the Pope's authority was supreme and infallible, a god of sorts.
To ensure the compliance of the flock, drastic measures were taken to control the masses, the concept of Heaven was used as a 'bribe' to keep the flock in check. Promises of life without hardship and want for nothing (food, mates, wealth) was alluring to most of the followers for fear of an uncertain future after death. This blind following still persist in today's world, how many notorious prison inmates have 'found' religion in their waning hours of life, just to be on the 'safe side'? For the ones who were still reluctant to follow the