Recapitulation Theory

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The Recapitulation theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapitulation_theory) states that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny—[...] a hypothesis that in developing from embryo to adult, animals go through stages resembling or representing successive stages in the evolution of their remote ancestors".

I have the theory that the same happens with religion. When we are children we believe in fairies and magic beings behind everything we can't explain, like the earlier human religions. As we grow old we move from polytheism to monotheism, and then to the idea of a creator less interested in every single little thing we do. And finally we go through Enlightenment, realizing that god is simply Santa Claus for adults.

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Believing evolution would occur in any way such that eventually societies would look like they do today is hard to accept. Not only it's against all the odds, but it's also a blind faith in science and rationalism. It's somewhat funny that through rationalizations we reach to the point we tend to swallow that reason may not explain everything; science like Descartes describes works to the extend where observer doesn't interfere with the subject and thus allows objective postulations. This clear break between observer and subject has been checked up on by quantum mechanics, Heisenberg uncertainty principle and philosophers like Nietzsche and Heidegger.
I had this same feeling reading your genealogy of religion. Firstly, regarding religion as faith and worshipping, I don't think believe in magic creatures, like fairies, falls into this category. Secondly, despite the course of history as we know it, it's hard to say religions would evolve such way regardless everything else. By other means than chronology, I don't know why you say polytheism is more evolved than monotheism. The common misconception here, I think, is the confusion between something which springs up before another with something being more evolved than another.
Finally, with all that said, I think atheism based on science is the new religion. :-)
— Rafael
It's not that polytheism is more or less evolved than monotheism; on the ocidental society there was a change from believing in spirits of the nature, toward polytheistic religions, to monotheistic, and then atheism. So you can draw a parallel between a child (or at least me) that believes in several spirits/gods, then is imposed a monotheistic religion, and later starts to question it, becoming an atheist.

And of course you may say that science-based atheism is a kind of religion. It is also a very unique religion, different of all others -- for we would love to be proved wrong. :)

— Roberto De Almeida
By the way, this comment box is horrible, sorry. =/
— Roberto De Almeida