Someone wrote an essay that I could respond to with one called “What is Religion?”
https://x.com/Hshsiwkmefbg/status/1922554563728437271
Religion, culture and institutions On the definition, categorization, origin and historical (and contemporary) role of religion (as distinct from the rest of culture and non-religious institutions)
People I want to respond to with this essay:
- Ruben Moor sees religion as bad, points out all the bad parts of it, why would I defend it? https://x.com/RubenMoor/status/1921929041931558994
Are you defending sort of a religious positivism? Maybe you find something in here to contradict, something about the role of religion in society that I underestimate.
- Sam McRoberts understands religion, agrees that fighting it from the outside “activates its defenses”, but argues the label is “tainted beyond repair” https://x.com/Sams_Antics/status/1921666949777371375
You are correct that criticizing it just raises defenses, and (if you’d ever read The Grand Resesign you would know I agree) that replacing it with a different system with some of the same good bits is the right path, but you’re going to need to discard the label religion. It’s tainted beyond recovery.