Mark Twain got it right when he said, "Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool:.

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful"  Seneca

They tried to create answers for things they knew nothing about so they could sound authoritative.

And yet here we are in 2025....and the CON goes on.

The Religious Myth is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other Myths can flourish.

Even as a child I never understood why society has outlawed pyramid schemes but not outlawed religion. They are the exact same thing.

Wow! Someone who sees religion from a distance. I share your insight into man made religion completely.

Someone got very rich and started insisting they were God

Religion is slowly being replaced by science. There is hope, after all.

Religion was never about saving souls.
Just money, power, and total control.

It's just mythology, unless it's your theology.
Creating a metaphysical reality. To justify your political ideology.

One of my earliest memories is of hearing the story of Noah’s Ark in Sunday school. I was about 5. I remember thinking that it was weird for adults to pretend to believe such a ridiculous story.

To control the masses

To control people. Also to profit from the "us versus them" mentality.

I was brought up without a religion. It was the best thing my parents ever did for me. Freedom.

Religion was invented as a means of control, and the masses were fooled into believing it was invented to "give meaning to life."

Yep, this video is pretty spot on.  I've studied the history and evolution of religion.  Though I would add that the very earliest religious activity was animism, just simply the belief that everything had supernatural agency to explain natural phenomena.   Shamanism is believed to have evolved from animism.   Then there was a major shift when hunter gatherers transitioned to more permanent agricultural communities, merging with other non-familial groups.  Its here that religion became more structured with gods with more complex personages, and continued to evolve from there.  The good news is we're now evolving away from the need for organized religion with atheism, agnosticism and spirituality on an individual level on the increase.

Such logical points. Sadly the people of faith that need to hear this most, will immediately deny the points and do the mental gymnastics needed to continue believing.

PERFECT EXPLANATION of what my thought process was to decide to become atheist years ago.  Sadly, I still need to play along with all the rituals of my family if I want to participate in celebrations, achievements and holidays.  Drilling religion into children's heads from birth is very hard to overcome as you grow and develop critical thinking.  It should be considered child abuse.  Many of the smartest people in the world still cling to it and the hatred and conflict it creates in places such as the Middle East will never end.  The Authoritarianism and Fascism currently underway is a religious cult-like behavior as well.

It has only 1 purpose and that is to keep the people under

The illusion of the Religion well explained. It's not meant for the Welfare of the SOCIETY but the STATE  & RULERS ❤❤❤