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Originally Posted by MageB420666
First off, let me just say that I do believe that humans are just another animal, we are not anything special, nor are we more "evolved".
Second, I have to disagree with your statement that religion is JUST socially driven, it is driven by both society and biology. Without a meaning or a reason to live, or the idea that we are part of something "larger", depression and other issues begin to set in. People stop doing what needs to be done for survival and growth because all they can think is "What is the point? I'm just gonna die anyways, and none of this is going to matter me." So the "divine impulse" becomes a helping factor of survival.
With humans being the only species on the planet(as far as I know) that is actually aware that at some point it is going to die, the matter of finding a purpose to life became a biological and social need. Religion came about as a direct result of this need, suddenly instead of us just existing with no purpose or reason to survive in a harsh and painful world, there came the idea that there is a reason for us to be here, we do have a purpose and it is worth the effort to survive.
Of course that is all assuming that we did evolve the "divine impulse" and weren't created by god(s) and/or goddess(es).
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i don't believe that humans are the only animals on the planet that knows they're going to die. i think we're the only ones that have a habit of dwelling on it though.
and i think you're assertion that without finding meaning in a higher power we become depressed. many atheists and agnostics don't believe that and are not depressed. and as it is, depression is not biological in the sense that i think you mean. we get depressed either due to a 'sadness' of some sort like loss of a loved one, relationship break up, and we also get depressed by chemical imbalances in the brain. only the former would apply to becoming depressed by a lack of meaning in life.
i think we're social creatures that devoloped religion for 2 reasons. first, we did it to explain that which we could not otherwise find reasons for. why does it rain? god's crying. where are we going when we dream? the astral plane. etc. secondly, i think religion became organized in order to assert control over the masses. if you look at many tribes and ancient religions, a lot of the times the shaman doesn't lead the group, he's respected, but not the tribal cheif. it's not until you get into more 'sophisticated' societies that you see religion taking real roles of power like in the monothiestic religions.