rufio wrote:Well perhaps we should answer the function of religion question first. A general definition wouldn't be a bad idea either - does a religion need daily rituals, or shrines, or even a deity? For example, magic-based religions tend not to have a deity as the central focus of a religion, as judeo/christian ones have, and a lot of African religions have deities which don't interfere with the world, and thus don't function in the religion in the same way.
If I try to put myself into the mind of a great ape (Orangutan for example), I can picture eating and sleeping and being very aware of the other members of the group. I would probably know their smells, their personalities and their position in the social group. I would probably also be aware of some things outside the group, like predators in the forrest and weather (storms). I might also recognize when a member of the group was lost or killed and be afraid of that, feeling a sense of loss and helplessness even if I didn't understand what had happened.
Fear of things like weather (thunder), or loss of life, are the closest things I can imagine which would be abstract concepts which might take on an indentity in my mind. And so I can see how an Orangutan might be able to have abstract concepts which might be given an identity in their minds. But I'm still not sure those identities would be focused enough, or given enough anthropomorphic (the ape equivalent of anthropomorphism) identity to warrant religious overtones.
Also, "Religion" involves some kind of ritual doesn't it? Religion itself is not the same as a deity, or the concept of deism, is it?