Mankind is and always has been at war with himself.
Evolution equipped Homo sapiens with self-awareness. Simultaneously, a human being can experience the world around him/herself and understand this awareness as part of a “presence-of-being”. The cognitive process of “being” an independent agent capable of influencing and directing behaviours and activities toward an idealized “better” or “purpose”.
With an enlarged brain case and meat to fill it, mankind was by necessity developing the ‘means’, the cerebral ‘wherewithal” to identify and recognize/appreciate humankinds specific particular and critical (in terms of “survival”) limitations.
“Beliefs”, ‘belief systems’ emerged not from the soil that gave rise to life itself, but the mental construct of “awareness”.
Humankind; a sentient organism capable of experiencing existence in the reflection and influence of life and substance found around him. Through his senses and his awareness of this experience humankind “collected” information. He learned those lessons from nature that every living creature with a central nervous system learns and adapts too, or is “selected for extinction” on the basis that the failure to adapt to the environment that contains and in fact makes “life” (as we know it) possible, results in death/failure.
Key to human survival was creation of various social organizing principles. Self-organizing communities like bees and ants form colonies and social structures, which are both defined and signified by pheromones, and particular and specific behaviours. Humankind employs artificiality and promised “intention”, forceful coercion and threats to his/her fellow human beings.
I’m not going to step you through the past few billion years with the details, but rush to some general observations…of this particular time on the continuum.
The Industrial Revolution changed the developmental direction of human industry and morals.
Agrarian societies (civilizations) remain involved with everything around them as participant while technology permits civilizations to “evolve” into observers.
Mechanization yields enhanced “production”, and is so powerful in its own “right” that those profiting most through control of who produces what…influence the mental process of billions of people. The truly terrifying reality of this condition is of course, is that this control is found frequently throughout human history, in the hands of those least compelled to consider anything or anyone else’s existence. A self-interest that can spawn megalomaniacs Imams, mass murderers’, potentates and pontiffs.
Societies dependent on a reliable local supply of the necessary food and water to sustain reproduction were compelled/influenced, “conscious” that their bond with the soil and all life around them was an interrelationship that would not sustain over-indulgence. Either this became a part of their culture and folklore, “understanding” of the nature of existence, or they perished. Nomadic peoples (those moving to the next supply of food and water) spread far and wide and this movement is both inevitable and emergent in our world today.
Tribalism is the oldest social organizing principle.
Tribalism relies on mutuality cooperation and behavior of all members toward common principles and values. It would appear that nothing enhances influence more than attributing causality to a force an entity a being a creator etc. than acquiescent willing “believers”.
Whether the intention is to ‘seek’ rainfall for a bountiful harvest, or appeasing an irate but entirely imaginary supernatural consciousness by carving the heart out of a willing (and sometimes not-so-willing) supplicant, these means to controlling behavior are impositions on the “natural” state of being of human beings. Artificial rationales for bankrupt performance.
‘Influence’, or the facility opportunity and means to effect change directly on so large a number of people has never existed before and with this effort to sculpt favorable opinion, elicit passion and enthusiasm for “causes” and further “business opportunities”, came religion.
Either it, “religion” the availability to allow definition of what it is to be a human being {the ‘system’, the motivation, the usefulness of this behavior to survival} will remain or it won’t. There is no doubt regarding the survival of its practioners.
