Astronomy played a huge role in the foundation of some religions, as the first humans were very fascinating by the observation of the sky. However, they didn't have the tools to understand what they saw, so they constructed a religion based on what they imaged the sky could contain., creating myths and legends.
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Religion could be a united force in a developing society because it gives people a sense of unity that is very important in the making of a society. Moreover, a religion could be an important push for the local economy, as for example churches contributed to the growth of western civilization. Thus, religion could be a fundamental part in the process of developing of a country.
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The basic natural world in early societies was often explain as part of a unity, where there was this female creating force. Nature was perceived as divinity itself, or rather as aspects of the single divinity that was the Mother of everything. The ancients have noticed how women given birth, and they thought that was a miracle, so they deducted that the force behind the creation would have been a female too.
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Ancient peoples explain natural disasters as manifestation of an angry divinity or as an example of the force of a god or goddess. They did not have tools to understand them, so they created elaborate myths in order to explain natural phenomenons that going beyond their understanding. Some of those myths still resonate with us today.
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Some of these religions spread through migrations, as population moves from one place to other. Other religions spread as an effect of dominations, as for example the myth of creation develop by the Assyr that was later on copied almost identical into the Bible. Other religions spread because of domination of countries over others.
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Catholic. The catholic religion has proven to be incorporated inside many law principles, so often it is possible to find example of catholic principles in laws of western countries, even when such countries claims to not follow religious principle in its law. Catholic principles countinues to inspire laws in almost every western country.
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1 example | the catholic religion forbids unions that are not between a woman and a man, therefore for many years other time of union beside what is called "traditional family" where forbidden in many places because of the catholic prejudice around other forms of marriage. This prejudice comes from a particlar sentence in one of Paul's letters.
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2 example | ancient religions where focused a lot on the cycle of the earth, so festivities where often associated with particular moment in the calendar, like the solstice of winter which was associated with the moment in which the light had won over the darkeness, because after the solstice days become longer, thus representing the victory of the light.
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3 example | islam, another modern religion, in its most integral forms, prohibited women to do most of day-to-day activities outside of the house. This still influences many societies today, because the law denies women basic rights in name of religion. However, things are changing quicly and more countries realizing that women should have basic rights too.