The God Delusion Author:Richard Morgan Religion did not develop as a consequence of man's need or desire to understand the world and his own existence. Religion does not spring naturally from the normal workings of the human mind. Religion originated because of fear. Our human ancestors lived in constant fear of the unknown, but their greatest fear was death. They couldn't accept thi... more »s fact and sought for an alternative, creating the myth that dying was a passage into another life, and this is how religion originated. They sought to find in religion a relief from their fear, and religion was thus created as a result of panic.« less