Watching japanese medieval samurai series', one notices how much worth was placed on a life (not much, here today, gone chop chop (gerrit ?))

One thing the western world brought in was the sanctity of life. Since all have a soul, it would be wrong to kill without restraint (ironically,  the brother of jesus precipitated one of the bloodiest battles in china, well documented by flashman)

Japan was a closed country at one time, standing heavily on the backs of the farmers, who "grew rice but ate millets" ... the rice fed the armed mob who called themselves samurai and would lop off heads at will;the rice fed the craftsmen who made pottery and smiths who made swords.  And (as per gaijin book) all lives were equally insignificant.

(The non-conformist genes got lopped off a long time ago, leaving a country that worked themselves into a an imperialist expansion, a world war,  an economic powerhouse replete with runaway inflation, the impossibility of a working man buying an apartment, karoshi, hikikomori, and a 1.34 birth rate country)

With a soul in the picture, and the agency of depositing it in the right hands, lopping of heads (or own guts) became more complicated.

And that ensured that large scale conflict, like the world wars ,wouldn't happen.the end. Wait ...

With increasing population comes surplus of minds,arms,and legs. And a flourishing of sorts.

With concentration comes surplus and then sophisticatiion, specialization, and more segmentation ... 

One dimensional man emerged, and , and took turns with the integrators, to rule.

The flaw in this ointment is the dependence on belief. Man's enemy had always been man. Man can exploit man like no other. And exploiting the believers is the chief pastime of the 21st century

The shrine is the place where the elements are in harmony. or in abeyance.and don't kill each other. From the vantage point outside, emerges an understanding of the blind spots of each, and a recipes and practices for succour.

And yet, as the tale has to inevitably wind on, religion becomes weaponised. Easy to lop off heads of the soulless, easy to behead one notnof the true faith, easier to rob the infidel, the barbarian, and not call it thievery.