by Ron Tocknell

Created on: August 31, 2007

I wasn't actually around when religion was invented (I seem to remember the re-invention of religion in the 60s but I'm sure it had been going on for longer than that) so this is pure speculation.

I see the birth of religion as a natural extension to Man's inclination to control his environment.

Not having claws or spines or bulk or wings to get us out of serious trouble, the only thing we had going for us was our powers of reason. Turns out to be a pretty powerful tool for survival. We not only adapt ourselves to our environment but we eventually learn to adapt our environment to suit our needs. Control = survival and the instinct to survive is the most vital element to ensure that evolution ticks along its mysterious course. Without the instinct to survive, we would have chaos. Can you imagine a lion asking an antelope "Mind if I take a quick bite out of your arse, chief?" and the antelope saying: "Nah. You go ahead, pal. Watch the ol' wassnames". It wouldn't work, would it? Evolution would have resulted in one very, very fat animal. Presumably, evolution had other plans (and read into that what you may).

So we reach a point at which we've got our environment pretty much sorted: Predators? Bring 'em on! We got fences. Hunting? Screw that! We'll breed the buggers ourselves. Gathering? In your dreams, mate! We grow the stuff, don't we? Winter? Pass us the ol' bearskin, will ya. We had become Control Freaks. There were, however, aspects of this otherwise perfect order over which we had no control. The weather follows a pretty consistent pattern so everything evolved to rely on this consistency. Unpredictable weather; freak weather conditions could be devastating. Because control is the very essence of our survival, we see everything in terms of forces of control so, if we aren't controlling the weather, something else is.

Communication is another vital element in our social order so, if we can't control the weather, maybe we can find a way of communicating with whatever it is that does. Well, how exactly do you go about doing something like that!? You can try shouting and, quite possibly, they did. You can try drawing large symbols that could be seen by something big enough to control the weather and there are vast drawings on the ground in Mexico that could fit comfortably into this theory and it soon becomes apparent that anyone who displays the slightest talent in communicating with the Great Beyond is ensured a very secure position within a protective society.

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