It herds sheeple.

I think it is a pre-scientific method of making sense of the world around us. I don't believe the early founders of the world's religions had evil, or manipulative goals in mind. They were just trying to figure things out. Of course, religion has been subverted by those who do have evil intentions of control.

Control.

The purpose of religion is pretty much the same as the purpose for Santa Claus. Parents tell their children about Santa Claus in order to induce them to be good, so as to get on Santa's "Nice" list, and avoid the "Naughty" list.

Religion is meant to scare people -- telling them they'll go to Hell unless they do what the church leader tells them. A good church leader (okay, that may be a contradiction in terms) will focus on ethics. However, many church leaders tell their followers to give them money -- making a scam out of the Jesus myth.

Well my opinion religion does two thing attempts to answer question we don't have answer for and secondly to control the population.

To provide a simple explanation for how, why and when.

I would guess; to maximize the effects of imagination. When life is harsh, which it often is, or just isn't giving us what we think we deserve; imagination is a refuge.
Like any players of D&D will tell you, it's more fun the more people who plays along with the fantasy. It feels more real the more people keep insisting it is. Some people can speak confidently and are payed - sometimes exorbitant sums - to strengthen the shared, oh so comforting, delusion where you are the hero(ine), beloved by mystical forces and all wishes will come true.

Seems obvious to me. No one who ever argued in favor of religion has failed to fall back on "wouldn't it be nice if it was true"; as if that was the whole point. As if belief is the act of picking whatever fantasy you want to be true and not what the evidence proves.

To provide a sense of cultural conformancy and cohesion, and to counteract fear of death and the loss of the superego.

Religion has many functions, and the inability of anti-theistic approaches to offer a full complement of alternatives is one of the reasons religions still persist despite the Enlightenment. One of these functions is the deferment of the hope of Justice.

We live in a very unfair and unjust world. Society requires that the majority of its citizens conform to preset standards. Religion offers the hope (a false hope in my opinion) that the balance of injustice will be offset at a future time. That the rich do not in fact have an unfair advantage over the poor and oppressed. A judgment awaits all.

We know these ideas are crap, but what do we offer in their place? The non-theistic community should be at the forefront of establishing justice in the here and now. We all have a responsibility to be true humanists.

I think that it's purpose is to give us purpose. I wrote a paper on that my senior year of high school and got an A with lots of + marks after. That's the best grade I ever got.

When you cut through all the high brow justifications, about fear of death, making us feel part of something, control of people, populations, disease, and all the rest, I've come to think that religion at heart is a business. The customers are the gullible believers. The product is an intangible load of nonsense that can never be proved or disproved. Look at any sizeable religion and what do you find? Money and wealth. It's a fraudulent business that takes the money but never has to worry about unhappy customers because no one ever comes back from the dead to say they were sold a crock of crap. If prostitution is the world's oldest business, then religion runs a close second. In my older years I've stopped thinking of religion existing for all kinds of fancy psychological and philosophical reasons, and come to realize that's nothing more than legal fraud, with profit as its purpose.

I think the first purpose of Religion was the first form of governmental control to be used on a population. When you instill the belief in a "god" you can then set down rules. Once the belief system is ingrained you can start to have more control over people.

To allow people to be stupid. If you cannot think or read well or if you are just incredibly insecure, not believing yourself, then religion fills the hole. God makes you great and the devil is why you fail. No where do you come into play with rational thought.
Yes that is it. Religion removes rational thought and yes allows a government to control us via their religion and the stupid sheep.

For people who desperately cling to life, religion asserts a potentially wonderful existence after death. Assuming you jump through the right hoops.

For some that may be partially the case. For most it's a fear of death and also dealing with the passing of people around them. I may have accepted death and eternal oblivion as a fact but that didn't mean I'm not afraid of it. Or rather the thought of it. Most are.

There also the aspect of justice when people are wronged, when a life is taken. Most want that person to have an absolute punishment. Something that goes beyond a jail cell or execution.

It also works to control others. Bend them to the desires of the elite. Keep the masses under control. Made their morals, ethics, and actions justified. Without religion and a god or gods backing them they have no other way to do so. Though the case for objective ethics can be made without the supernatural. Not one for fundamental ethics though, which is what religions attempt to do. Many people desire purpose or a place in the grand picture. Religion provides that to them. Though some also need a reason to not be cruel to another human or animal an religion provides that as well. The idiotic argument we've all heard "if there's no good then I could just go around killing people. There's no punishment and reason reason not to".

To add to the nuance it's also because of laziness. There's no need to attempt to explain nature, the how's and why's, life, death, morality. I think that's where the basis of most religions is located. Someone asked why, they didn't know. So they created a story that made sense to humans with the IQ of a goldfish.

The idea most likely started out good and religious groups today do do a lot of good things. Sadly they also exclude many who need the kindness of a group the most. They promote a like mindedness that is limiting and in the past this may have been needed to feed, house and clothe the family, life in the past WAS fucking hard!! With fear and lack of education religion controlled the masses, it exploited the masses. But they got everlasting life.
So how it is with modern farming, technology and medical advances religion is still so popular? I have no answers only more questions.

I think religions are primarily the expression of the fight or flight instinct. At some point our ancestors' brains got big enough to grasp the concept of the future and that we will all eventually die. The instinct would have none of that so people came up with various ways to convince themselves that they will not die after they die. Obviously, that is not the only reason for religions but I think it is the main one. I read somewhere that out of the several thousand of religious beliefs only a few don't promise surviving death in one way or another. Other readons are the daddy in the sky that watches over you, the need for being to know what is right and what is wrong, the explanation of the unknown, ect.

To have a controlled life

Religious beliefs are born out of the Human fear of death. We all die. But no one is in a particular hurry to get there. And when we do, we hope that we will be 're-born' into whatever 'afterlife' our religion has taught us, exists.

Religion is an industry that thrives on control of both thought and behavior. Once you've got them hooked with outrageous promises of eternal life and an all-powerful deity they'll come willingly to be lied to and pay substantial sums of of money to be reassured by those lies.

Religion is an evil, cancerous business kinda like tobacco but with magic.

Simple we don't need it

To control the masses.

No, the reason is that humans are afraid of dying

Religion was invented when the first conman met the first fool.
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