At some point in our lives, most of us have encountered various religions. It seems quite natural and we rarely questioned it. Perhaps we questioned whether one religion was better than another, or why certain beliefs are taken as fact. However, have we ever questioned why we, as a society, are religious?
You may be telling yourself that it is because of how you are raised, or because you see a God in the beauty of your surroundings. But, where did these beliefs start? Religions vary greatly by geographic region, time and age groups. Christianity is not the same as it was before Christ. Islamic beliefs have changed over time. We rarely see religions worshipping Gods and Goddesses from the Greek and Roman times anymore. Society has evolved, and their religions have evolved and modernized, as well.
Why are the world religions so different? Why did they start and will they ever end? To answer the first question, I would say human nature. Humans naturally look for causes to justify the effects, whether there is one or not. For example, I may look at the sky and say the sky is blue, due to Rayleigh scattering (look it up, it's pretty interesting). Another person will answer that the sky is blue because that is the color their God decided it should be. Both of these answers satisfy their owners, so we live peacefully in our different camps.
Essentially, this same principle applies to why we have religions. Homosapiens from the beginning of time were confused and needed answers. They wanted to know why we were on this Earth. What was our purpose? Why do bad things happen to good people? So, they made up satisfactory answers. There were all of these strange effects...but no evidence to provide a clear truth. Everyone did this. Literally everyone. The Native American beliefs were seen as savage for centuries because they differed from organized religion. We failed to understand that in creating Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., we had done the same thing. Each individual or group was merely trying to make sense of a very different and less evolved world.
Will religion ever cease to exist? This final question is difficult to answer. I believe they will continue on. Though our world is more modern and we accept different views and people, we are still humans. We are still confused and searching for a cause. This is why people still flock to the major religions, yet others create their own. All religions are viable and acceptable, as long as the believers are content with their beliefs.
