Posted: May 1, 2012 11:04 AM  (Msg. 1 of 93)

Throughout man's existence there has always been social stratas. As the world population expanded mankind gravitated to forms of collectivism. Some attained absolute power, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely.

The power holders warred with each other and as a by-product built huge castles...the original "safe houses".

In the castles were perhaps a few hundred privileged. Out in the hinterlands lived the poor, the peasants, the hapless who were raped and pilaged and taxed. Predictably, the peasants, who outnumbered the privileged by a huge ratio, hated their oppressors.

The privileged were very aware of the hatred, and watching the numbers growing, realized they had a ticking bomb...so to speak. If those peasants ever stormed the castle, or stopped paying their taxes (often in the form of produce), they would perish in ways most painful.

Now, these castle-dwellers did not become the castle-dwelling privileged because they were dumb. They were a very intelligent group. It was inevitable that one or a few among them would come to devise a system that insured complacency on the part of the peasants.

Using fear of present punishments combined with fear of the afterlife, a list of guilt-trips and feel-good dictates was provided by edict. Over time, virtually all became convinced that this was the way man should be. The icing on the cake was the promise of a reward after death... which became the reason for living. Be good while alive no matter the hardships, love thine enemies, and reap the rewards of heaven. Heaven being made to sound like, well....heaven...
the privileged could enjoy peace of mind again.

Wrench wench, word weaver, merchant of thoughts

Posted: May 1, 2012 11:24 AM  (Msg. 3 of 93)

You realize of course that it is difficult to apply this outside of a so-called "Western" civilization perspective where power, control and rule are essential elements.  Tribal peoples who never viewed leadership and ownership in this manner still found a need for a higher power.  The challenge perhaps is to look a little further over the horizon.

Personally, even if I had no idea if it would work, I'd still take the parachute when falling off the cliff.  I'm just sayin.

There was a rush along the Fulham Road......

Posted: May 1, 2012 11:27 AM  (Msg. 5 of 93)

Quote:

Fear still is/was a large factor in the equation......

Posted: May 1, 2012 12:21 PM  (Msg. 7 of 93)

I claim it to be my original thought. I never heard or read similar anywhere else, but then I am not exposed to atheistic viewpoints, so I suppose it would be a generality among those that also pondered the origins.

My holier-than-thou Baptist inlaws started preaching at us after a Thanksgiving meal one day, years ago. I told them exactly what I posted here. The wife was crying. They never tried that chit again....

Posted: May 1, 2012 06:49 PM  (Msg. 9 of 93)

TooFast, great theory. Maybe not far fetched from the truth either, it got the rulers away from total brutality and let a "higher power" be the threat of a dismal afterlife if you don't comply with the rulers views (which would be the higher power of course).

Hope you brought your flame suit though, I see the holy rollers are beginning to chime in.

harley who?

Posted: May 1, 2012 09:20 PM  (Msg. 11 of 93)

oh larryyyyyyyyyyyy



God bless you

Scoot

Posted: May 2, 2012 12:46 AM  (Msg. 13 of 93)

Well, one of the flies in your particular ointment is that religion existed before the middle ages (the system of lords and vassels and castles).  It seems to be one of the factors that sets man apart from what the evolutionists call our closest relatives on earth.

Scoot

Posted: May 2, 2012 03:40 AM  (Msg. 15 of 93)

Evolution is a theory, not a fact.

Posted: May 2, 2012 04:55 AM  (Msg. 17 of 93)

Another view.

There have, since nearly the beginning, been smart, powerful people who built strong homes and had "minions" to guard them.  They took advantage of all and sundry, and passed the right to succeed through blood lines.  WE call them kings.  People like "kings".  They like to be in the good graces and under the protection of a "good daddy".  But there are two types of people who will NOT like this arrangement, those weary of being told what to do and having to feed the King and his minions through taxes, and those poor, yet intelligent folks who see the "Kingly" arrangement as pretty cool IF YER KING, and not so hot if yer not.

This second group, the smart but unlucky who had the brain power to lead, but not the blood lines (and may well have been a lot smarter than some inbred scion of a wise old king) could either ingratiate themselves with the monarch (the classic bishop or "Merlin") or they could "freelance", proclaiming their wisdom and greatness from the streets, so that they too might be fed without performing hard labor, and be adored and protected like a king, even though they lacked the pedigree.

Now that is a pretty good gig if you can get it, and throughout history these smart slackers have hustled with their "line of s**t" instead of their backs.  Some even invent their own titles, and at least one guy even went around telling folks he was the "king" of that most magical kingdom, the afterlife.  For the masses, and even for blood born kings, it was pretty powerful stuff to be in the good graces of this magical king and his surrogates.  These hustlers, some of whom were protected and enriched by kings and paupers alike (popes), all share one trait.  They are smart enough to get by without working, and to have the public begging to give them anything, including their virgin children who might be "blessed" as priests, nuns, or other servants.

"Super slackers" created and sustain religion.

Scoot

Posted: May 2, 2012 09:08 AM  (Msg. 19 of 93)

Quote:


....well, I may be ignorant of "the facts", but I know that the scientists refer to it as The Theory of Evolution.  You can call it what you want to.