I'm no historian, but it would seem to me that some/many/most societies throughout history have 'fallen' upon gods and deities to explain the world, and, at least sometimes, done so independently? Sometimes I think it's hard for us with our contemporary understanding and science lens to empathise with just how baffling the world most have appeared to most of humans throughout history, and how appealing supernatural explanations must have been. Perhap's it's in our nature (used loosely not literally) to seek answers to not just explain the world, but to understand the 'why'?
Hundreds to thousands of years ago people put all of their emphasis on the sun.. how when it is showing - life is going on, the majority of life on earth would thrive from sunlight - it would be worshipped for allowing our existance.
In Ancient Egypt it was Horus who was worshipped who's name meant light, his arch nemesis was Set (dark) presumably where we get the term sunset from. Horus was said to have been born on Decemb 25th, born of a virgin and has 12 disciples, he was known to perform miracles and ultimately was killed via crucifixion only to be resurrected 3 days later, sound familiar? Attis of Greece 1800 years later also had an almost identical story. Krishna whilst not following all of the above was too born of a virgin, performed miracles, star in the East signalling his coming, resurrected..
Jao of Nepal, Dionysus of Greece, Mithra of Persia (Sunday day of worship) all follow a very similar narrative and one that has been recycled for thousands of years. The reason the 24/25th of December has so much emphasis placed upon it is because that's when astronomically Sirius 'the star of the east' is inline with the three brightest stars Orions belt, those four stars all align in accordance to the sun rise on that day the 25th Decem (the birth of sun/son). I don't really know anything about the religion of Islam but i'd presume it's something of the the same ilk, religious teachings that ultimately revolve around the significance of the solar system.
So my perception of religion is just that, a story book which is given a nice gloss over with some name changes and slight alterations to try and remain current and inkeeping with modern society every thousand years or so, obviously that's not really the case in the Western world anymore.
I feel as though religion was more understandable and had more use back then, farmers would pray for sunlight and rainfall to maintain harvest and livelihood, i'd like to think now we know whatever we think in our consciousness or say aloud has no bearing on the weather we get this afternoon. I also feel as our standard of life increases that the need for a saviour or help from above is diminished and as a result we can get by and enjoy our life without seeking more/explanations/a higher being.
Personally I don't feel as though I need to follow a list of rules which have been doing the rounds for thousands of years to maintain a complete, healthy and productive life in which I do not harm others. But I do too believe that religion has helped billions upon billions of people over the ages live a somewhat pure and moral existence. On the flip side it's also been the cause of many wars and death, I feel as though the problem today is the huge chasm in the way some religious and atheist people believe we should conduct our livelihood - this creates a friction and animosity, which I think has previously not been the case - or at least not to this extent.
Ultimately to summarize my ramblings, I think most religions preach very similar ideas but in a different construct - I also believe religion was very important and helpful a long time ago but it's usefulness is ever evaporating. I also think some day religion will become defunct but that is a long way off, that's if we see it before global warming puts an end to us all (a process which is being hurried by man not an angry god).
