Reply #2: 'far outstripping ........ might function the way religion is supposed to function'

[dimbear]

Judgment call. My take is that religion is supposed to support the powers that be and fill its own coffers. That's the historical model and a highly successful one at that.

Since the 1990's there has been a renewed interest in the sociology of religion. Increasingly popular is the analysis of religious groups flat out as businesses.

Historians of the Roman Empire have drawn up long lists of reasons why Christianity triumphed. The lists differ, but they all (AFAIK) contain one bullet point: Christianity offered salvation after you were dead, a good which costs the church nothing, in exchange for mundane things like work, loyalty, and money. Most of the competitors didn't offer salvation. The main exception, Mithraism, (which did) was also the main opponent in the showdown and the most hated by the Christians.

Later arrivals had to up the ante. Islam offered the 72 virgins in heaven, and Mormonism offered to make you a god yourself. That, my friends, is an example of the pressure of competition. The same market forces that brought you the flatscreen TV can now offer you divinity. What is next, fellow truthseekers?