That's why we have sports.
Baseball is your salvation.

I have long thought that one of the most unfortunate developments of mankind was that of agriculture/animal husbandry, which then led to population increases, living in settlements instead of hunter/gatherer bands, etc. it’s been all downhill since then. I’ve been wanting to read a book entitled, ‘Sapiens,’ in which the author advances this same theory.

Religion is religion regardless of who you choose to worship

And the Goat-herders Guide to Galaxy (aka the bible) states that Sky Daddy gives dominion over the land and all things upon or within it to man."
Religion took those words to heart and we are where we are today, primarily because of it.
My personal motto, to wnich I do my utmost to adhere to, is " Take ONLY what you need, share your excess with others who have little or none and REPLACE more than you take."

We would be pretty much where we are now with pagan religions. Religion had little to do with the industrial revolution and the reproductive nature of humans.

An interesting thought thread to follow there. Thanks.

If we follow the religion ‘family tree’ back where do we end up? What is the basic precept for religious practice? If we go back to the discovery of Neolithic grave goods and associated document such as relief carvings and so forth we get some sense of systematic philosophy which creates a framework for integration with deity, an ‘other world’ integration, pacification of nature and so on. My suggestion is that ‘religion’ to use a term, must not be taken in isolation from the culture that developed it as it has an evolutionary as well as organic nature.

Christianity/Judaism solved a problem by explaining cultural subjugation and the ultimate eschatology of salvation. Cthonic and nature god systems allow for natural forces to be domesticated (until they don’t comply when it is the fault of the operator not the system!)

Religious activity is an essential aspect of social cohesion but must evolve to engage, in tandem, with changing human needs and aspirations.

Ceremonial activity and shared beliefs helped our ancestors to navigate their way through a dangerous and confusing environment, therefore we need to regain control of our ceremonial and philosophical needs and allow ‘religion’ to evolve with us, not prevent our advancement.

You make some very good points. It makes wonder how world be if there was no religion in it.

I guess it would depend on how technology developed without a religiously inspired profit motive which ignores externalities and runs roughshod over anything in its way. Would that happen any differently in a largely pagan world? Good question. At the very least, though, that whole dark ages vibe with the inquisition and the elimination of scientific minds in favor of superstitious bullshit would definitely have panned out differently. Great thought experiment. Good post.

idk, as much as I love nature, there is only so much of it I can take. If you have ever attempted to go on a hard core camping trip where you take basically nothing with you you'll know what I mean.

Excellent question.

We did not go forth and multiply, gain dominion over the animals and nature and have ended up where we are today because of what is written Genesis but because we are humans and doing what humans do naturally and normally and it would have ended up the same regardless of the past history.