In the beginning, the temple resembled a hoar house.

In the beginning, the temple resembled a hoar house.

In studying ancient history of the advances of technology used in temples, and knowing that the first prostitutes were temple prostitutes, and also knowing that alcohol and psychotropic drug use was common, I tried to envision the reality of just what the temple and early religion was all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrI1FsH4UH8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7BHvN6rZZA

We generally envisage a large building that held many but in truth, the early churches where more like the home churches used today in smaller communities. I think they may have begun as places of worship but to early man, worship looked quite different than it does today.

Churches latter expanded along with the populations and used the latest technology to draw the crowd and the best technology and God would win the hearts of the patrons. These patrons were mostly poor people and for them to be persuaded to part with their hard earned wealth took the best effort that science and persuasion powers of the priests could muster.

The temple then, by the time Jesus came along to throw his temper tantrum, was a place of commerce, theatre for myth reading, partying and prostitution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_prostitution

http://www.truthcontest.com/entries/the-present-with-religion/belief-truth-fantasy-reality.html

Just how important the theology of whatever God was worshipped we can never know. We can assume, because of the vast number of Gods that their theology was not important to them as they changed from one God to the other. We can know that the wealth that the temples amassed was earned with methods, that many today, would consider rather odious. They were more like carnivals, speak easies and hoar houses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution

There is a hint in the following--

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+6&version=KJV

where the writer seems to be bemoaning the use of these various delights yet not quite calling them illegal.

Even when I was young, the small local church was where I learned of drinking, partying and key clubs. It was rumored that every church had a key club but I have no direct proof of this last. Drinking and drugs though, I can vouch for.

From such is where our, ever so proper moral religions were born. From what we today would call immoral activity. Sacrifice, indulgences, fees for drink and drugs and prostitution gave birth to religion and financed what we have today.

Was religion born of what we would call corruption?

Were the ancient battles between churches just what we would call turf wars for wealth and the various magic tricks that the churches used to compete with each other?

Today, with religions that are based on fantasy, miracle and magic, are priests just doing the same Flim-Fam job on believers for their wealth?

IOW. Are priests just con artists?

http://www.megavideo.com/?d=3D3511DE

Regards
DL