Agreed on all points. That said, “the veneer of civilization is a thin one”. Mankind reverts to his animalistic nature when that veneer is stripped such as when participating in a mob seeking to overthrow our duly elected government.
Agree, I think the religions of the Axial Age came about precisely to address the savage nature of man, and in response to the savage and sometimes brutal nature of life in those times, especially in the late bronze age.