by jimwalton » Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:57 pm
The problem with your thesis is that we have no scientific evidence of how or when religion came about. Some of the oldest human records we have give evidence of the practice of some kind of religion. A temple complex is Turkey (Gobekli: [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe[/url]) is from 11,500 yrs ago, 6000 yrs before Stonehenge). Some scientists seem to think that religion appears so early in civilized life is actually predates civilized life. Some researchers even speculate that religion is more the cause of culture than a produce of it. Archaeologist Jacques Cauvin once posited that "the beginning of the gods was the beginning of agriculture," and Gobekli may prove his case. Patrick Symmes, writing in Newsweek (3/1/2000) says, "The temples offer unexpected proof that humankind emerged from the 140,000-year reign of hunter-gatherers with a ready vocabulary of spiritual imagers and capable of huge logistical, economic, and political efforts."
In other words, we don't know how, when, or why religion was created (if it was even created; the Bible would indicate it was there from the beginning), let alone that it was created by the rich, powerful, and educated to keep the masses in their place. We just don't have access to that kind of information from so long ago for you to make that assumption or draw that conclusion.
The problem with your thesis is that we have no scientific evidence of how or when religion came about. Some of the oldest human records we have give evidence of the practice of some kind of religion. A temple complex is Turkey (Gobekli: [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe[/url]) is from 11,500 yrs ago, 6000 yrs before Stonehenge). Some scientists seem to think that religion appears so early in civilized life is actually predates civilized life. Some researchers even speculate that religion is more the cause of culture than a produce of it. Archaeologist Jacques Cauvin once posited that "the beginning of the gods was the beginning of agriculture," and Gobekli may prove his case. Patrick Symmes, writing in Newsweek (3/1/2000) says, "The temples offer unexpected proof that humankind emerged from the 140,000-year reign of hunter-gatherers with a ready vocabulary of spiritual imagers and capable of huge logistical, economic, and political efforts."
In other words, we don't know how, when, or why religion was created (if it was even created; the Bible would indicate it was there from the beginning), let alone that it was created by the rich, powerful, and educated to keep the masses in their place. We just don't have access to that kind of information from so long ago for you to make that assumption or draw that conclusion.