There is a difference between religion, God and mankind’s relationship with Him. Having lost their relationship with the one true God, mankind tended toward paganism as a kind of physics to explain existential phenomena like thunder (thor), war (mars), and misc things. Romans had a god to explain anything. So did other societies.
I believe that the term religion shares an etymology with allegiance at some point. Minions easily become allegiant to an idea or organizing principle with power. Politics can become a religion- maybe woke qualifies as a temporary disposable religion of shared rem.
Philistines had a half dozen false gods though animism was prior to bigger false gods. Shinto had spirit gates- tori where spirits could land, Romans had Janus the door goddess.
At Mecca there were many pagan faiths and Muhammad’s father was the Keeper of the Kabba. When he lost his job and was purged his son syncretized Judaism and Christianity into a religion and conquered Mecca purging his late Dad’s enemies and paganism for necessarily intolerant monotheism with himself as speaker of the monotheistic diety. Christ is the only way to God, for he is God.
Voltaire believed in God yet thought he has a non-interventionist policy for the fallen . Voltaire thought people should fix things themselves. Perhaps that includes a balanced government budget. He said; “”If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him” (‘Si Dieu n’existait pas, il faudrait l’inventer’).”
Individuals and societies adapt to environmental challenges, sometimes rightly and other times not. If they were all in one homogenous empirical experience of living in my opinion the results for afterlife fate would still differ from one soul to the next. For example, if the entire population lived in a repressive totalitarian social environment for a century and atheism was the official doctrine some would be saved even if most went to hell. People are saved through grace- God selects the elect.
Garrison Gibson: books and blog 