There is no proof that (s)he ever existed... the idea exists only in the faith of those who imagine it.

End of discussion!

So he didn't believe it literally. But he did believe in the power of big ideas. And so he thought, the Christian God as an idea around which to organize society was dead, with nothing to replace it. He did not believe democracy or consumer capitalism were suitable replacements, so we still have nothing to organize ourselves with.

ideas. I work with what I have available. Neitszche, however, is dead, I believe.

In which case, Nietzsche would be resurrected under his own terms.

People.

Their theories claim that religion enabled organizations larger than the small tribal groups that existed prior to the urbanization of humans.

I’m not convinced.

of perpetuating the species. Which is all evolution is about. It didn't work in terms of making lives better.

civilization. The increasing population in particular areas fostered religion's growth.

The other idea is a post hoc ergo propter hoc argument, I think, and can't be tested in any case.

Not necessarily deities but supernatural beliefs, rituals etc. I don't think there is one that doesn't have something. It must either have survival value or be a byproduct of one or more normal cognitive processes.

has been studied, debated and theorized about by many. The reasons for its universal development are a point of argument, of course. A sense of wonder, fear, a need for enforceable ethical or moral standards, an innate need for belief in supernatural causes, answers to unanswerable questions, and other elements are often considered as the reasons. I tend toward the unanswerable questions theory. The bottom line, though, is that nobody really knows why religions are developed by cultures. The explanation least often considered is divine revelation. While a few mention it, it's not something that is typically taken seriously by students of human behavior.

It's an interesting thing to study, even though a definitive answer is probably not possible. We seem to enjoy thinking about and talking about questions we can't possibly answer. That's why I lean toward that explanation.

Humans like to figure out how stuff works. They can't just accept that lightning just is...they want to know why.

When they can't figure out why, humans will make up something that sounds good to them.

So lightning being caused by angry God(s) made sense back when our scientific knowledge was extremely minimal.

The Earth/Solar System/Universe being created by an all-powerful God made sense back then too.

Obviously now we have scientific understanding and knowledge, and a process by which to figure things out...back then we had fewer tools in our tool kit so our hypotheses and theories turned to the supernatural.

I think it's just a natural byproduct of our need to investigate and understand affected by an immature or nonexistent scientific process.

And how they enabled non kinship trust relationships and consequently organizations greater than hunter gatherer tribal units.

get organized. Organization helps keep the stories straight.

But I suppose you could say gods die when they have no believers left.

But even then, Loki is not very cooperative. Sometimes.

Is but the warped expression/interpretation of humility.

You're welcome. No charge.

I'm not sure logic, truth, science and facts are relevant in religion these days. Or in the cult of Trump.

before logic, truth, science and facts were concerns. Sadly, it continues to pretend that those are still not concerns. That's one of the reasons we do not see new religions develop. The old ones, however, continue to exist, primarily due to the deliberate ignorance that is so attractive to many humans. The profitability of religion, of course, also plays a role. I mean, being a religious leader is a job, after all. Everyone needs a job.