Religion serves the following purposes:
- to explain the existence of our species and others as well as the meaning of life
- to describe the nature and ease the apprehension of ultimate death
- to provide a moral code as leverage against the baser aspects of human instinct
-to make otherwise unbearable experiences bearable
-to rationalize and justify violence and injustice
-to govern (oppress) more effectively reducing the risks of backlash and uprising