Religion and writing

Have always been puzzled at why religion exists and persists.

Took a perhaps-embarrassing long time before I could place the when and why. Once placed in time, the emergence of religion makes sense.

Before the invention of writing, only oral knowledge passed from one generation to the next. This limited the amount of passed-on knowledge, and much was lost.

Writing first emerged around 3000 BC. At first, writing was used only to record simple facts.

Recording stories followed a bit later, with the first religious texts appearing between 2000 and 1000 BC (roughly). Keep in mind the huge impact of these early books. Before, guidance on how to think and behave was limited to oral knowledge. The guidance offered by these early texts was a massive improvement. Put differently, written dogma was much better than (near) nothing.

The major religions that survive to this day seem to date before 500 BC (roughly).

Greek philosophy - the base pattern that underpins Western Civilization - dates from 600 BC and onward. The ancient Greek philosophers offered a more organized pattern of thought, superior to the rambling unstructured record in religious texts. But much of philosophy and reason is a bit beyond the average mind.

In the centuries since, dogma and religion spread, as accessible to all. Philosophy and reason grew as well, steadily taking the high ground away from religion.

With the Age of Enlightment reason surpassed dogma (around 1700 AD).

Which brings us to the present.