why religions exist
all religions have originated from man's desire to provide an answer to life's mysteries. primitive man worshipped the sun and the moon due to their influence on nature. there were many other gods and they varied from culture to culture. the scandinavians worshipped thor,the god of thunder. the incas of south america offered human sacrifices to the sun god.
as religion developed,they provided a second function,that of defing law and order in society. the ten commandments from the old testament of the christian bible is a prime example. however,this written word of god was at first only accessible to educated people because very few people could read. in effect,the religions became closely associated with their educated leaders. however , unlike the men who were in power , the religion remained constant and had the positive values of maintianing social order.
in most western societies and other modern countries , various religions co-exist and the governments are no longer dominated by any single form of religion. christianity is the main religion in those countries. in asia and north africa,islam,hinduism. taoism and buddhism are the more common religions,although there are other various sects.
whatever religion a person chooses,the dual functions are the same;to provide social order for the practitioners as a whole and to comfort people in times of need