What is the importance of religion? (part-1)

In answer to this question, many people say that to maintain the stability and morality of the society, many people say that if there is no religion, people will start doing immoral things. If anyone does bad deeds, he will be punished in this world or in the hereafter, and if he does good deeds, he will be rewarded. This is the essence of almost all religions. This is the most popular explanation of the necessity of religion in society, which encourages people to behave morally, discourages immorality, and thus stabilizes society. Many, especially theologians, say that such a moral religion is essential to the formation of a larger society, without which a larger society could not have been formed.

However, a recent study has disproved this notion. This study suggests that the concept of a moral God emerged hundreds of years after the evolution of complex societies and civilizations. Moral God refers to the God or God who punishes the bad and rewards the good. This question is relevant in the field of debate about what will change morality in today's increasingly secular or non-religious societies, at what point in human history did people begin to believe in a moral God? Based on what we have learned about the religious beliefs of a total of 414 societies around the world in the last 10,000 years, Dr. Patrick Savage of Oxford University began research into the emergence of our faith in moral God. In most cases, the presence of a moral God in social documents is seen after the emergence of mega-societies. Savage and his colleagues refer to societies as mega-societies that have an interconnected population of over one million. Historically, all human societies have believed in a supernatural being who can be called "God," and perhaps it is universal, having existed in all societies. Savage, however, distinguishes the “moral god” from the one who claims to be sacrificing or is commanded to abstain from any sacred place. The moral god has some additional moral-related qualities in addition to such qualities as asking for such a sacrifice or ordering to avoid the holy place. They also punish people for violating moral laws.

Savage's category of moral gods includes not only gods of religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but also the concept of "karma" in Hinduism and Buddhism (in the author's karmic tradition). The author categorizes both Moralizing High Gods (MHG) as the Abrahamic Gods and Broad Supernatural Punishment (BSP) as the Karmic Traditions. The common view among these ideas is that if you have harmed another human being, you will have to pay the price in this life or the next. The definition of "harm" may also include unreasonable restrictions such as restricting sexual behavior (such as not masturbating). However, it has long been thought that the fear of punishment for theft or violence can help build a large society where it is not possible to maintain personal contact with everyone, or one of whom does not know everyone.

The study is published in the journal Nature. Savage used data from the Seshat Global History Databank in this study to independently assess how the level of social complexity in different societies has increased over time. Increasing levels of complexity in a society are characterized by features such as a growing population, hierarchy, formal legal provisions, and transport infrastructure. That is, the more the issues like population, social stratification, formal provisions, infrastructure increase in the society, the more the level of complexity of the society will increase.