What I found most interesting about this was the concept that religion is actually a method of how to live life. Instead of why the universe exists. Great philosophers don't actually reply to the question being asked but instead asks the question in a different light. Religion seems on the surface to be an answer of why the universe exists but is actually a metaphor to explain a way of experiencing the world in which we are living.
From the way I see it, religion is a way for most people to assign a purpose into their life. Based on this story of the creation of how the universe works, people create goals for themselves to guide them on their path through life. The reason people create these goals for themselves is at it's root in human nature. To live one must have a goal. Without a goal we cease to live. Every second of your life there is a goal in your mind. If you don't have a goal you are dead. Life is the act of having a goal. As we are humans it's quite difficult to actually not have a goal and based on how you define a goal, impossible to stop having goals.
There is something that most people don't understand though because of a misconception that we carry. The reason why most people follow a religion is because we are all lemmings. What I mean by this is that most people cease to have individual thoughts. Everyone lives their lives based on something because we are simply incapable of generating new ideas. People are only capable of using what they know and learning something new. But we are not capable of generating new ideas. If there is ever a new idea it's simply by accident or the person that created it is mentally damaged. We follow the majority of people and the influences in our environment around us. If both your parents are Catholic, than you are most likely going to be Catholic. That is an example of environmental influence. People that seem lost in life tend to grasp on to anything they can. When one person is drowning, you throw a buoy out to them because of the fact that if you were give yourself as an object to grab, in panic that person would probably drown you along with themselves. The same concept applies to religion. When someone is lost they panic and latch onto anything they can. Religion is a buoy while people are people. Religion is something that can easily be grasped and held onto while people have a tendency of falling and making mistakes.
With this new grasp on an idea that people think is a goal, they abide by it and live for it. Without it, people find themselves lost and without a goal. In a sense they are "dead". This is why religion is not something easy to part from. It's a set long term goal that people follow. While there are people who live short term goal based lives, a long term goal is always more stable. Religion is in a sense human nature. The thing is, religion is always based on something. In the case of most religions, it's a certain scripture. This scripture is usually a story. It may also be a collection of scriptures. But the thing that needs to be argued here is that good stories will always have a deeper meaning or metaphor. With these scriptures, there is a meaning but humans in their simplistic nature never pass the gilded exterior of an object. The outside of the object is always the easiest to understand and grasp, as is a story in a book. While the deeper meaning and the actual mechanisms that run the device remain a mystery to most and are only revealed to elect individuals. This is the point that Campbell tries to argue.
In conclusion, almost everything that Campbell says backs up my original thoughts on religion and why people need it. With some adjustments I understand exactly what Campbell was trying to say and find the flaws in a 11th grade argument and mend them. I guess Campbell has added concrete in my dilapidated brick wall of ideas.
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