In nature, in particular among our primate cousins, we may have some clues as to how and why theism evolved. In many species there is a pecking order in which the stronger and more dominant males have first access if not exclusive access to the females. In addition to animals like chickens and lions, gorillas exhibit this kind of behavior. The top male-silverback gorilla rules the roost keeping all other males away from the females unless, of course, another male gorilla defeats him wresting dominance and sexual access to those females away from him. As long as a male silverback is dominant, he maintains a God-like status in which all of the other gorillas in his group must bow to him. The transmission of that male's genes to the next generation is assured this way.
Religions like Judaism as well as Islam and Christianity have a lot of dos and don'ts regarding sexual activity. Married women, for instance, are expected to remain faithful to their husbands under pain of possibly severe penalty, and such a rule is encoded into the religion's scriptures presumably as revealed by that religion's version of God. Any violations of these rules are said to make violators subject to punishment by the all-powerful God who cannot be resisted. Any man who has sex with another man's wife will be punished by God along with her. God's prohibition of adultery helps to ensure that a man's wife or wives never get pregnant to other men safeguarding the married men's transmission of their genes to the next generation.
So it appears that if God does exist, then his laws regarding sex among humans are quite similar to what we see in nature. In humans as well as in other species like gorillas, gene transfer to offspring is more likely accomplished by stronger, more dominant males helping to ensure stronger offspring. Is this similarity just a coincidence, or is God that great silverback in the sky keeping a watchful eye on both male and female sexual activity to favor the stronger and dominant males passing their genes down to offspring? It seems to me that knowing how we evolved helps to explain why so many of believe in a dominant male God who lays down and supposedly enforces rules regarding how and with whom we have sex.
Religions like Judaism as well as Islam and Christianity have a lot of dos and don'ts regarding sexual activity. Married women, for instance, are expected to remain faithful to their husbands under pain of possibly severe penalty, and such a rule is encoded into the religion's scriptures presumably as revealed by that religion's version of God. Any violations of these rules are said to make violators subject to punishment by the all-powerful God who cannot be resisted. Any man who has sex with another man's wife will be punished by God along with her. God's prohibition of adultery helps to ensure that a man's wife or wives never get pregnant to other men safeguarding the married men's transmission of their genes to the next generation.
So it appears that if God does exist, then his laws regarding sex among humans are quite similar to what we see in nature. In humans as well as in other species like gorillas, gene transfer to offspring is more likely accomplished by stronger, more dominant males helping to ensure stronger offspring. Is this similarity just a coincidence, or is God that great silverback in the sky keeping a watchful eye on both male and female sexual activity to favor the stronger and dominant males passing their genes down to offspring? It seems to me that knowing how we evolved helps to explain why so many of believe in a dominant male God who lays down and supposedly enforces rules regarding how and with whom we have sex.