Originally posted by MrFatbooty
More like ~5700 years if you want to call the Jewish calendar as starting from the beginning of monotheism.
But pretty much every civilization on record as far back as we have records of or archaeological evidence for has some kind of theology.
To speak on a quasi-metaphysical level maybe none of us have it right but the fact that almost everybody that we ever knew of believes in some kind of supernatural stuff means that we're all trying to rationalize it in human terms.
Alternatively it could mean that humans are freakin retarded and to explain something they can't understand always fabricate some kind of external supernatural force as the reason.
most have some form of religion, true, but one big major difference:
monotheism vs. multiple deities.
(not counting the ~15 years that akhenaten came up w/monotheism for self-centered reasons) judaism was the first monotheistic religion.
the reasons why most cultures have a religion could vary. personally, i believe i started in the beginning as a reason to explain natural events, but my old history professor viewed it as a way to connect a group.
i'm sorry i didn't clarify about the what religion i was talking about (i meant judaism, and i obviously had the date wrong--i was thinking about christianity, and yes, i know judaism is much older than christianity.)
remember, i'm a historian. i say history leads me not to believe in a god, and i won't explain myself further. in my head, it makes sense, but in someone else's mind, it may mean something completely different (ie-babel fish, for the hitchhiker fans.)
personally, i don't think anyone should attack anyone for their religious beliefs (although sometimes i get irritated, i would never force someone to be an athiest). i just get aggravated with the general christian population for trying to convert me and all of the pain and suffering they put others through unnecessarily.
but 18secferio, you have a different view on your religion than most people who believe in god. and its much more open-minded. you might want to look into gnostic christianity, i think it might make more sense to you.