Religion - simply an inherent urge to evolve

Alright, it is time to restart my sporadic blogging effort again. Thoughts in my head seem to only crystallize when I'm in the shower and if I get the same thought multiple times there might be something interesting in it. The latest thoughts I had were on religion and its meaning. Sorry if this is too lofty a pretense, it is merely my 2c.

Religion seems at face value to be a most divisive element in our society. There are many of them and many different ones within each of them. No one seems to agree nor do they seem to agree to disagree. There is much skepticism about it.

However, the more I think about it the more that I think religion, just like other things linked to genetics and Darwin's theories is more about evolution than some concept of our mind. Every lineage of human being seems to have figured out religion just as they had figured out language, agriculture and so on. As human beings evolved, at some stage of their evolution they must have hit upon this concept of the Supernatural and laws that conform to it. So, just like how early human beings in different parts of the world figured out a way to live in society, do agriculture and move away from being a nomad, getting married and bringing up families, they figured out religion too.

I think an atheist maybe missing the point. It's not about whether God exists or not. The concept of God is an inherent part of man's evolution. Denying God is like saying don't evolve! Just like in human evolution where there were multiple paths of evolution (the pygmies didn't need the height given their tree dwelling nor did the Nordics need their skin pigmentation in the arctics) there were multiple religions. At the end of the day, they all, in the guise of theology only talk about the understanding gained in evolving the human being. Just the early leaders who made the breakthrough of stopping society from wandering and begin growing food, just like the early leaders who stopped humans from freely killing each other with basic laws on community, we had leaders who inspired people to evolve and saw their teachings as paths for humans to evolve.

Not that religion as evolution needed an endpoint but given humans need a goal, these religious leaders designed salvation, moksha or nirvana as a goal. The point here is the evolutionary path, not really the end goal.

I feel, if we understand that religion is simply an evolutionary path for humans from apes towards a very uplifted and evolved being that is able to see the inner meaning and the ultimate noble goal, we will understand to appreciate the diverse paths communities and religious leaders have taken to tread this path. And how, as long as we evolve in our path, we fully understand how others want to evolve in other paths. And how, it all leads to the highly evolved being that can understand the meaning behind it all.

Seeing religion as simply a doctrine that is the be all and end all that divides people is, in my view, missing the entire point. Being an atheist is fine as long as every one has an evolutionary path worked out for them to help them evolve. Being lost and out of one of these paths is sad. This is why i believe religion of one form or other and God will live in man as long as man exists. Conscience is simply the reflection of our need to evolve. Just the same way, man won't give up woman, wealth or wine -- things inbred in our genes, religion won't go away as well.

We just need to understand for what it exists and the diversity of evolutionary paths and I think we will have a better world for us all.