Thanks for the comment, Kimc. I don't see, however, that what you have written evidences a problem with my response to the original article.

I don't see that human beings "keep reinventing religion". On the contrary, its beginnings can be readily traced back to 'Pagan' times when, though not considered such by those who claimed to know 'divinity' afterwards, effectively the same practices existed.

What you have termed reinvention is, in my view, simply a variety of interpretations by different individuals at varying times and locations, sometimes contemporaneously and sometimes not.

Essentially, what you refer to as "something in human beings that makes them keep reinventing religion" is the urge in humankind to understand and explain their existence and environment.

That early humans bestowed mystical and ultimately omnipotent like or divine powers on entities such as the sun, moon stars and etc... That they explained other natural phenomena such as wind and rain as caused by these entities is also understandable, given the limited extent of scientific understanding or technological knowledge and ability.

Again, not surprisingly, they endowed their 'gods' with anthropomorphic features and behaviours and derived or built codes of social conduct around the supposed pleasing or otherwise of these gods.

As you clearly recognise, there are human traits that appear to be strongly present throughout human existence. I suggest that the urge to survive is one of, if not the strongest of these. Yet human beings are social animals and therefore tend to seek others and form groups. In doing so they paradoxically increase both their ability to survive as a group and their vulnerability to competition for scarce resources.

The result is that some individuals will seek control over others or an unfair share of what is available. If groups are to survive therefore, there is a need for a code of conduct, a set of standards of permissible behaviour and the need for the ability to enforce that when necessary. So, the establishment of hierarchies comes about.

Belief systems are both facilitated by and facilitators of such hierarchies. Religions are an example of such hierarchies and what could be more prime than one that can claim privileged access to an omnipotent being whose commands and wishes are passed on to the mass through that privileged few.

This human phenomena can certainly be traced back to the earliest times and undoubtedly the witch-doctors, sooth-sayers, dreamers, prophets and such would rise to prominence either as those who could control others or the allies of those with the might and resources to do so.

When we review religions of whatever persuasion and whenever and wherever prevalent, we see their alliance with the State or in other words, those who have coercive control because of strength, wealth, or a supposedly divine annointment, such as in the case of hereditary monarchies.

So, it is not surprising that human beings are so conditioned to 'respecting' religion and giving religions and religious offices a significant degree of respect, awe and reverence, despite the claims of these belief systems being based in all cases on some human claim to have experienced, witnessed or been struck by some 'divine' revelation.

However, despite it not being surprising that this is the case, it is extremely sad and unfortunate that such 'worship' of and belief in myth continues to have the undue influence and privilege that it has. This is particularly so because its existence continues to promote and facilitate horrific practices, prejudice, discrimination, and even genocide to the present day.

Fortunately, I'd suggest that there is an increasing move away from such mystical beliefs. However, the downside to this is the lack of a replacement moral code in society and so that space is increasingly taken up by the curse of materialism and greed, to the extent that most of us accept that half the World's population, i.e around 3.7 billion people have to exist on the same amount of total wealth as just a handful of individuals - the most recent figure I saw being only 8.

This then, to me, is the real dilemma. Yes, it will be good to see myth belief gone. However, without any moral code to replace it, the worst side of human nature will increasingly prevail. One can already see it happening, I think, but perhaps I'm just a pessimist.