I think many people have a different view of the origin of religion (and I do not mean to offend anyone and their personal religious views) and I am sure many of you have heard of or read about the "Mandate of Heaven" or "Divine Right"; many rulers have used these in order to gain and maintain power—they claimed that they are meant to rule because a greater being or God has granted them this right. Anyway, I thought a possible origin of religion could be derived from this.
This may sound completely absurd, but it is possible that these rulers invented religion to keep their power. If they could convince their followers that there was a higher being out there that granted this ruler his power, and if they did not follow him they would be penalized—it is obviously going to instill some kind of fear within them. So it is possible that religion was created by the upper class to keep the lower class in their place. I think that if the lower class is convinced that God will reward them for following their rulers or being humble and staying in their place then they will not rebel. Maybe they are given a false sense of consciousness by believing and keeping hope that religion is a savior.
I think Marxist Theory somewhat covers this because it is all about how the proletariats are alienated from what is theirs; Marx basically outlines three forms of alienation that the lower-class is subject to: 1. alienation from oneself, because you do not have time to yourself to enjoy things, 2. alienation from others, because you lack time to create relationships or maybe you are put in a competitive environment in which you cannot create a positive relationship with the other person, and 3. alienation from what you produce, such as not having use for what you work to produce or not even being able to afford it. Marx also says that even though the lower class is alienated there are things that give them a false sense of consciousness to keep them in their place—and one of those things happens to be religion.
Anyway, it’s a different kind of idea and perspective on what could possibly be the origin of religion. And this is just a theory, and I really do not mean to offend anyone’s beliefs. Feel free to argue for or against it!
Religion has existed as long as humans have. Look at the cave paintings created by early man, or any ancient text and you will see that cultures have almost constantly had some sort of religion at all times. Long before organized government. I also think that the religions which you are refering to are much more complex then the simplistic "origional" religions.
I really didn't think through the ancient ancient x___x!! Haha, but it's something good to consider. I was talking more so on more complex established religions o.o or beliefs. But there is always the possibility that class structures and struggles existed even then, and religion could have been pulled out through there? But I am extremely unsure on that though...and I don't want to say something COMPLETELY off!
The furthest "ancient" I can remember to is ancient Egypt...well I guess I can remember vague details of others... but yeah. I do think the ancient Egyptian religion could possibly be derived from a class struggle. The rulers emphasized religion, and consequences followed by disobedience to keep the lower-class from revolting. Giving them some kind of hope.
But back to what you were saying....I probably have seen some ancient cave paintings... (from varying times; maybe not from the time your talking about though) but I don't remember looking at religious implications being portrayed though. I guess I can understand the paintings using people and animals to portray their religious beliefs...but I think many of the people have spheres or many of the animals are depicted as majestic...which could suggest some kind of tie to power and class structure in an early form. Maybe the stronger the better, and therefore the stronger person can be more godlike. But that is a far.....far reach.