It's just another way of exploiting the natural fear of the unknown. For the leaders own lust for power.

I think there are too many varied reasons that people use religion or are used by it to explain simply.

No, the reason is that humans are afraid of dying

Religion is an industry that thrives on control of both thought and behavior. Once you've got them hooked with outrageous promises of eternal life and an all-powerful deity they'll come willingly to be lied to and pay substantial sums of of money to be reassured by those lies.

Religion is an evil, cancerous business kinda like tobacco but with magic.

Religious beliefs are born out of the Human fear of death. We all die. But no one is in a particular hurry to get there. And when we do, we hope that we will be 're-born' into whatever 'afterlife' our religion has taught us, exists.

To have a controlled life

For people who desperately cling to life, religion asserts a potentially wonderful existence after death. Assuming you jump through the right hoops.

I think that it's purpose is to give us purpose. I wrote a paper on that my senior year of high school and got an A with lots of + marks after. That's the best grade I ever got.

To provide a sense of cultural conformancy and cohesion, and to counteract fear of death and the loss of the superego.

It herds sheeple.

Control.

Send me 10% of your income and I will tell you.. you just have to "Believe" and have "faith".. trust me.. ??

Skado, have you read Frithjif Schuon? If so, what were your thoughts on his thoughts?

I would say it is pretty much the same as what is the purpose of life. It is whatever you make of it and is different for each unique individual.

Religion was supposed to be an organized way to know god. The whole conformity thing was a way to keep people from being wild. Look at prisons, how they find Jesus and then become more moral. But religion CAN serve a good purpose, for people who lack organization in their lives. People aren't going to want to go to work and be a cog in the machine, if they know they are just putting a roof over their heads and it's not going to end. Being told if you suck it up while you're down here, you will be rewarded later, because God likes to see you suffer, was a way to keep the masses working for the elites.

Simply put, religion is a business whose only purpose is provide employment for the clergy and support staff..

Were it not for the government sanctioned tax breaks I believe religion would go out of business very quickly.

In my opinion religious institutions should be taxed just like any other business.

Religion does not offer any meaningful education; religion is the perpetuation of a gross lie upon one's fellow human.

Religion was initially begun to teach people how to behave to each other. That very quickly accelerated into a way to control a large group of people.

and power...

To control the masses.

Simple we don't need it

The idea most likely started out good and religious groups today do do a lot of good things. Sadly they also exclude many who need the kindness of a group the most. They promote a like mindedness that is limiting and in the past this may have been needed to feed, house and clothe the family, life in the past WAS fucking hard!! With fear and lack of education religion controlled the masses, it exploited the masses. But they got everlasting life.
So how it is with modern farming, technology and medical advances religion is still so popular? I have no answers only more questions.

For some that may be partially the case. For most it's a fear of death and also dealing with the passing of people around them. I may have accepted death and eternal oblivion as a fact but that didn't mean I'm not afraid of it. Or rather the thought of it. Most are.

There also the aspect of justice when people are wronged, when a life is taken. Most want that person to have an absolute punishment. Something that goes beyond a jail cell or execution.

It also works to control others. Bend them to the desires of the elite. Keep the masses under control. Made their morals, ethics, and actions justified. Without religion and a god or gods backing them they have no other way to do so. Though the case for objective ethics can be made without the supernatural. Not one for fundamental ethics though, which is what religions attempt to do. Many people desire purpose or a place in the grand picture. Religion provides that to them. Though some also need a reason to not be cruel to another human or animal an religion provides that as well. The idiotic argument we've all heard "if there's no good then I could just go around killing people. There's no punishment and reason reason not to".

To add to the nuance it's also because of laziness. There's no need to attempt to explain nature, the how's and why's, life, death, morality. I think that's where the basis of most religions is located. Someone asked why, they didn't know. So they created a story that made sense to humans with the IQ of a goldfish.

I think the first purpose of Religion was the first form of governmental control to be used on a population. When you instill the belief in a "god" you can then set down rules. Once the belief system is ingrained you can start to have more control over people.

It appears to me religion has served many purposes at different points in history, in diifferent cultures. It seems to have evolved as a mechanism for power, control, and in some cases, money.

To assign credit or blame to/for events that could not yet be explained by science that was commonly understood. Or that people choose to be willfully ignorant of.

Why is the sky blue? God made it that way.
Why? God works in mysterious ways

And then, of course, power and control.