Religious belief itself is an adaptation that has evolved because we're hard-wired to form tribalistic religions.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Religion is often just tribalism: pride in a group one was born into, a group that is often believed to have 'God' on its side.
Through some combination of culture and biology, our minds are intuitively receptive to religion.
Let me say it diplomatically: Most religions are tribal to some degree.
The equation of religion with belief is rather recent.
We are so accustomed to think of religion as a thing between individual men and God that we can hardly enter into the idea of a religion in which a whole nation in its national organisation appears as the religious unit.
Religion is the organization of spirituality into something that became the hand maiden of conquerors. Nearly all religions were brought to people and imposed on people by conquerors, and used as the framework to control their minds.
I think a lot of people really have religious overtones of having come from somewhere. I mean, even the whole concept of religion is kind of alien.
Religious faith, like political belief, should be based on reasoning, on the development of thought and feelings. The two things are inseparable.
The biological evolutionary perception of life and of human qualities is radically different from that of traditional religion, whether it's Southern Baptist or Islam or any religion that believes in a supernatural supervalance over humanity.
Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.