Twilight of the Gods
September 3, 2010 3 Comments
A couple of posts ago I was pondering the question of why I completely lack any sort of religious sensibility; it turns out that it’s because I am perfectly in tune with the Universe.
It would be nice to think that, now reason has banished God from both biology and physics, the proponents of organised religion would accept that the game was up, and fade away without a fuss, but, as I touched on in that post, I expect that won’t be happening any time soon.
Second Life Shrink 
Reason has done no such thing. Evolution and string theory do not eliminate the need for a God; they only eliminate the need for Creationism. Perhaps you should not restrict your definition of God to Western sensibilities?
It’s now possible to tell the story of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day without once having to invoke divine intervention, so, as far as science goes, supernatural elements of whatever description are redundant.
In cultural terms however, there is clearly still a material basis for the persistence of religious sentiment. As long as we live in a class-based society, with its attendant inequality and injustice, and the resulting material and spiritual impoverishment, the palliative effects of superstition of various kinds will continue to be popular.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure religion isn’t going anywhere.