Liberal Forum

Very well written and insightful. Aside from what is or is not true as repeated by theologians, my belief is that before modern and widespread law was established, religion was also used as a tool to assist people to live in self-controlled civility when there was no law close at hand to guide or punish them. Inherent in texts is the ever-present threat of non-human punishment, where "God fearing" comes into play. The law and the punishment, all from a book. And it worked. It still does.

I believe you may have alluded to that, but my IQ isn't 146, so I'm not positive.