ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that perhaps religions are rather artificial affairs which are unnecessary for everyday living. After all, religions do not actually produce anything, and it is arguable whether they provide any kind of essential service. Even particular religions like Christianity and Islam were never really new. The origin of religion is a mystery. Coming from the West, where it is almost impossible to starve, the whole tragic business seemed to them almost unbelievable. In circumstances like these it is little wonder that people regard religion as a possible insurance against fear and uncertainty. In many societies, the dead are feared, especially the unburied dead. Until the rituals have been performed which secure them a permanent resting-place in the life beyond, it is believed that their spirits can be troublesome and even dangerous.
