The paranormal belief motive [religion] is so obvious and all-pervasive that it is hard to see. It shows itself everywhere, which makes it as difficult to grasp as if it were to be seen nowhere at all. It is the canvas against which all other facets of human consciousness and human endeavors are painted.
…Evidence that we are creatures of the paranormal can be found when we look at behaviors across the many different cultures of the world. (p.5)
…When we apply the cross-cultural litmus-test to the entire range of human behavior, we find something very interesting. We see that only one category of behavior is universal by the strictest definition. That is paranormal believing. Cultural anthropologists and cross-cultural psychologists have yet to isolate a single society in which its people do not have longstanding and well-developed systems of paranormal belief. Although some other human traits are common to most cultures, none is as widespread and pervasive as beliefs that transcend reality and the normal order of earthly events. (p.6)
…From a global perspective, we can see that we are able to live with – or without – almost anything. We can adjust to and accommodate almost any physical, social, or cultural conditions. In that sense, we are almost indefinitely malleable. The only exception is that we do not seem able to live without belief, and in particular belief in something, someone, or some force that simplifies and/or supersedes the reality of the human situation. Less than one percent of people, regardless of culture, have no paranormal beliefs at all. The same invariance cannot be seen in any other form of human behavior. (p.7)
Schumaker, John F. Wings of Illusion, Prometheus Press, 1990.