>Everytime I read some attempt to "explain" religious belief and/or "supernatural" phenomenon on a sociological basis I think, um, could it possibly be the case that such phenomenon are to some extent real? Belief in them is a near-universal human characteristic.
"Religious belief" and "supernatural" explanations are different phenomenon.
In essence, religion is merely a strategy for passing social traditions, including experience and knowledge, down through the generations.
>In fact, historically, atheism and/or agnosticism is just weird. Has there ever been an atheistic pre-modern society?
Not in the sense of a pre-modern society without a set of social customs and beliefs, no. Clearly if there are no social customs and beliefs, then there is no society in any meaningful sense, just a collection of individuals. Likewise there will be no social customs without a way of passing them on to the next generation, and in pre-modern times there was no other way of passing on such a large body of knowledge, except as religious dogma.
That is a full explanation for religious belief, its that simple. You may choose to religiously believe otherwise of course. ;-)
> Has there ever been a pre-modern society that didn't believe in ghosts and/or have some sort of ancestor cult? Either there is _some_ sort of reality underlying them, or it must be hardwired into the human brain, methinks.
Well belief in ghosts is quite a different kettle of fish than a cult of ancestors. We all definitely have ancestors. So belief in or even worship of ancestors doesn't necessitate a belief in any supernatural phenomenon. Some cultures believe that their ancestors live on, in the memories of their descendants, rather than believing they have some kind of existence independent of living breathing bodies.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas