Forget this history stuff ....history is written by the victor ....so it may or may not be true.... This is my version of what religion is.....I am not religious...I do believe in god...Agnostic here..... My thought is that religion was invented in order to control the masses....Kings and Priest of thousands of years ago needed to control their subjects ...therefore they said they were divine ...so people would not question them or object to their autocratic rule of the kingdoms.... Every human needs to also put their existence into perspective....and believing in religion gives them an outlet to belong, hope etc... I am not saying religion is bad...just that it was a social project that has enormous power to evoke the barbarism, heroism, unconditional devotion and down right extremism that no other cause or person can bring about..... Religion is the opiate of the masses... it is the standard operation procedure of here and after….follow this and you will rewarded…. So yeah religion is bullshit in a bottle.... if you can sell it will make you rich and powerful