[RickSp]

I think there is a very simple reason why religion seems to be a psychological need.

When early man sat around a campfire, there was a circle of darkness beyond which the fire could not illuminate. There were many dangers in that darkness. Creating a god for protection and guidance was comforting.

We all still face the same figurative circle of darkness, a region beyond which we cannot see and cannot know. We are finite in both body and minds in an effectively infinite universe. It is comforting to create the omniscient. Man creates god in his own image so god can create man in his.