<<As ardeith says, modern religions are a result of "totalitarian
agriculture".  Their mantra is "everyone must follow our way of life",
"convert the heathen HGs to christianity [or whatever] and make them
grow
food and herd animals".  The religion then reinforces to the
"have-nots"
that they should do what the "haves" want.  "Don't commit adultery"
although polygamy and "free sex" is a typical HG practice, "do not
steal"
although possessions are essentially meaningless in HG society, "do
what We
want because you will burn in hell if you don't" although HGs never
had any
concept of hell, sin, God, or the Devil before.>>

It seems that you are judging "modern religions" by the actions of
people
who claim to be associated with it.  Applying this premise to this
group,
this is what I could find:

Modern paleo eaters' mantra is "everyone must follow our way of life."
Convert the ignorant grain eaters and vegetarians to paleofood.  The
paleo-eater reinforces to the non paleo- eater that they should do
what the
paleo-eaters do. "Don't eat things that were not eaten by those in the
paleolithic era"
although eating domesticated animals inundated with artificial
hormones and
antibiotics that did not exist in paleolithic times is a typical
modern day
HG practice. Also non-existent during the paleolithic era were fruit
and
vegetables that contain genetically modified organisms, yet most of
today's
paleo-eaters seems unbothered by this fact and eat them while
referring to
their diets as 'paleo'.   A mantra associated with this is, "hey, we
know
it's not *really* paleo, but we're doing the best we can".

They seem to also say, "do what we want because you will burn in the
hell of
poor health, and we will look down upon you if you cannot see how very
right
and superior our ways are".

My point is that people are not always the best representatives or
guardians
of a philosophy, religion or way of life.  People's motives are also
prone
to being misunderstood.  I'm sure no one in this group would want to
be
misperceived as above, yet, it's possible for this to happen.

All groups evolve and grow, although often more slowly than
individuals due
to "group think",  where people would rather be in agreement with each
other
than risk standing out in the group.  There are those in groups who
also
abuse the 'power' conferred upon them by their association with the
group.

Paleo-theory = religion.  Many who subscribe to paleo-theory
bastardize it
as many who subscribe to religions bastardize them.  I also think that
just
as people take little time to study the paleodiet and then loudly
proclaim
what is wrong with it, few take time to study religion before loudly
proclaiming what is wrong with it.  It is rarely the paleo-eater or
the
religion subscriber who is proclaiming 'wrongness', it is most often
the one
who has heard things from others and has taken little time themselves
to
explore that to which they so strongly object.

Honestly, I have my own issues with most organized religion, but I
remain
aware that these religions are prone to error and misunderstanding as
they
are interpreted by humans.

I guess this as good a time as any to clear up a misunderstanding.
Somehow,
I've been labeed a vegetarian.  I'm not.  I was, but felt that grains
were
not good for me.  I was eating natural meat but did not like the way I
felt
eating it.  Someone here suggested I try game.  I did, and found it
much
more compatible with my system.  This is all I will eat for meat now.
My
complete diet looks like this:

game meat, fish (cold water ocean fish only purchased straight off the
boat), organic vegetables, mostly green, and local when in season,
small
amounts of fruits eaten only after meals, large quantities of clean
water, a
wide array of top quality vitamins, minerals, EFAs, and herbs,
and...moderate amounts of organic gourmet coffee with organic light
cream
<grin>.  When feeling really stressed I'll sometimes resort to organic
cheeses (my love for cheese is so great that I fear I'd eat it melted
on dog
doo).  I crave alot of sun, air and water also.

 I eat most of my meat raw or rare, vegetables cooked (uncooked seems
to
make my immune system think it is under seige), and don't eat nuts as
I
really dislike them.   If I had my way, I'd live outside year-round
(in a
temperate climate with lots of sun), on a lake, naked.  Instead, I
live on
the ocean, inside (but am known in town for being the weirdo who
pitches a
tent in her yard or on the beach and sleeps in it most nights, seven
months
out of the year), can't get enough sun, air and water, and wear
clothing
most of the time.


The best I can tell, I was born with Addison's disease (Type I),
accompanied
by many autoimmune illness symptoms.  I'm 44 years old now.

So that's Siobhan in a nutshell (better than a straitjacket, eh?).
;-)

Siobhan