Regardless whether we are atheist, agnost or religious, we can't dispute that religion is an intrinsic part of human culture. So given that religion appears to be such a quintessential human phenomenon, what could be the relationship between religion and robots?
Some argue that early hunter gatherer cultures may have had primarily animistic beliefs. They were dependent on nature, so their gods might have been animals, trees, or who knows, even lifeless objects such as mountains or rivers. So they were more open in believing that things could have godly powers or at least a soul. When agriculture came along, things changed and man to some extent enslaved nature, positioning humans as superior to nature and the artificial world. This has put humans at the center of the universe in Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with, as the Christians put it, men created in an image of God - Imago Dei. So it is no surprise that in these religions, compared to say Buddhism, there is less of a tendency to believe that things (including robots) could be gods, intermediaries to the gods or be believers themselves.
Here we have collected several examples of robots in religion to give you some food for thought:
Many early automatons had religious purposes, such as this 16th century mechanical monk.
Even if bots are not believers or godlike creatures themselves, can they assist in religious rituals or in spreading the gospel?
Can robots help us with mourning the dead, either humans or robots?
What could a cyborg device that brings us closer to God look like?
The idea of religious bots can lead to many more interesting questions, such as:
How do the religious see robots?
What do religious thinkers and scholars think may happen at the junction of religion and super-intelligence?
Is AI a threat to Christianity? Will robots be the end to all religions, or would they actually be the most religious of all beings? Is the singularity the apocalypse? Or can trans-humanism and Christianity be combined?
Can a robot have a soul or even be divine? Can robots be converted? (see also here)
What does this teach us about humans as religious beings, and religion in general?