If Religion was never a thing, what would have replaced it?

[VGPolyglot]

Ka-pi96 said:

dark_gh0st_b0y said:

one of the very few I could agree with

why do people refer to religion as a way to obtain power...  can't you see around you? the most efficient way to obtain power is by obtaining money, it's always been that way, nothing to do with religion

the answer to the OP is very simple in my opinion, money

the very point of religion is that wealth is spiritual, not material

Religion has been around longer than money though, so clearly that's not the case.

Maybe currency, but I assume resources that were directly traded precede religion.