comments:
Yes for sure! The specific book I read on this was named "The Early History of God" https://www.amazon.com/Early-History-God-Biblical-Resource/dp/080283972X Generally, and academically, religon seems to follow what you said, that being: it is a creation by human culture caused by a variety of sociological forces (of which a large one is the question of "what comes after we die", but more generally is about answering questions we think to be un-knowable (see: god of the gaps)). As for my personal beliefs, I only believe in god to the extent that there is some force dictating the rules of the universe, i. e. "when an atom interacts with another atom, X occurs". It may be conscious, although i highly doubt that it is concsious in fhe same way we are. Overall, i see science as my religon, as I want to learn more about the workings of the world we live in, and science seems like the best method we have thought of to figure it all out. But as for religons themsleves, I mostly see them as misguided methods of figuring out the same truth we all want, that being: Why? and How? (sorry for any typos i am very tired and it is also very late for me, feel free to ask anything else though!)