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Simon Paynton posted an update 4 years, 11 months ago
if secular societies only flourish under conditions of economic affluence and strong social institutions, then perhaps religion is necessary to stabilize society to the point where secularism can flourish; and even once established, secular societies remain vulnerable to the re-emergence of religion, given the advent of destabilizing factors.
https://www.academia.edu/30951985/Ethics_Secular_and_Religious_An_Evolved_Cognitive_Analysis
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Or religion is a toxic by-product of evolution that takes the right set of conditions to escape. I would put my money on this option.
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According to the article, most of the world is not stable or affluent, and is socially mixed. Religion binds together big disparate groups by enforcing a single moral code and culture. Unfortunately, some secular alternatives haven’t been too great. -
Teehan distinguishes belief systems with “immanent” (“real”) and “transcendent” bases. Nazism, communism and Isis have transcendent bases, because they look forward to a never-never day when the world will be theirs. Humanism is the way forward, which looks for benefits in an immanent time frame rather than never-never. We can have both secular and religious humanism.
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