Reply #32: I find it to be a useful sociological tool.

[CarbonDate]

Social engineering, and such. To varying degrees, religion is used to guide society toward a certain behavior. The need is two-fold:

1) Allegory is useful in explaining things to people that they might not otherwise comprehend.

2) Many people do not have an advanced enough ethical system to understand why they shouldn't do certain things beyond a simple reward/punishment basis.