How Plants/Weather Indirectly Determined Our Favorite Religion

If you were born into a family and community where the only religion was Hindu or Christianity, you would likely grow up as a Hindu or Christian. A logical question, however, is why was your family is or was Hindu or Christian.

First, let's look at what did not happen. A Hindu god or Christian god did not walk around converting people from other "fake" religions.

Instead, ancient people worried about food and shelter to survive as well as plants that healed illnesses. The food and shelter came from plants, animals and weather. Our ancient ancestors wondered why they had these plants, animals and weather that kept them alive. The notion these assets came from some place they could not see appealed to them. What other explanation was there for thunder, rain and seasons? Our ancestors began to envision beings that looked something like themselves but were invisible. We now call these gods.

Plants were especially important. That humans figured out what they would eat is obvious. They also figured out what plants grew material that healed sicknesses. These plants became almost like money, desired by people where the healing plants did not grow some they were transported and traded.

Plants that healed would by been easy to label as products of an unseen god. I've read there were 14 herbs mentioned in the Bible. They were so important some were acceptable as tithe.

There is a new research project aimed at tracing the role of plants in the physical and spiritual history of humans.