Once upon a time in an underdeveloped society, far, far away there was a group of humans that had a very basic understanding of the world around them. They didn't understand the world or their place in it and they relied on tribal elders who made up random stories to help them make sense of the things they saw. They were fearful that the sun wouldn't rise, they thought that supernatural powers controlled the weather and that demons and monsters roamed the flat earth. They had very little knowledge.
One day, someone was walking up a hill somewhere and they found fossils and shells and evidence of previous life and they just couldn't get their primitive brains around what they were or how they could have got there. So they went to the tribal elders ( who enjoyed a life of privilege because they had nurtured fear and ignorance in those below them ).
"How can these animal bones have got to the top of the hill oh wise one?" asked the fearful and ignorant humans. The tribal elders decided that this was another great opportunity to reinforce their position as leaders so they told another story of a vengeful and destructive deity who would smite them unless they complied with the rules ( made up by the elders