Shame on you for being so cynical. I'll pray for you.

There have always been some really smart humans who love the idea of controlling others. I just can't believe how many people like to be controlled.

Or..... government.


All religion is is ancient government. Just claim your right to rule from the supernatural.

as long as the subjects are good and tolerate all the bullshit thrown on them in this life. You can make peoples' lives very miserable and still have them stay in line....because Paradise.

...as something nearly like that. From memory but I think it's pretty close:

Once, when our ancestors lived in caves, rains came day after day. Many people drowned, and the rest kept moving up to higher ground.

When the survivors reached the very highest ground, the rains still came.

Finally one man screamed for the rains to stop. The rains did...purely by conincidence.

And that man became the first priest.

(I forgot, which book.)
She had lost her child, was stricken with grief and went a little bit crazy. But she was also a little bit smarter than the others. She did something the others could not comprehend and earned a special and feared status in society. Being crazy, she started believing in things that didn't exist, but she also realized that she can use trickery and belief to manipulate others. She realized that she can make stupid people do smart things by using belief to manipulate them.

And that's why belief is a socially and evolutionary dominant trait.

The tribe (an extended family) of hunter gatherers, profoundly ignorant of the causes in nature, ate the wrong mushroom and had a faboo, beautiful and terrifying trip! The leader made up a bunch of shit to explain it all and secured his "right" to rule.... because, y'know...supernatural!