Contemplating the problem of integrating the religious into the modern world, philosopher of science Maarten Boudry make an observation that will be familiar to long-time Civil Commotion readers.
The religions that were too malleable, too easily accommodating to changing circumstances, too prone to compromise, have disappeared in the folds of history. Numerous gods have failed, precisely because their supporters too easily blended in with other cultures. The religions that have endured long enough to still be around, are the religions that managed to forge close-knit groups that actively resisted assimilation, and didn’t tolerate any questioning or doubt. Religious doctrines, at least culturally successful ones, are not open to critical scrutiny, but must be accepted on blind faith. By its very nature, religion creates a dichotomy between those who live in the ‘Truth’, and the outsiders who are deprived of it. In other words, religion is the mother lode of Us-vs-Them thinking. Blind faith is divisive, whereas doubt and critical thinking unites and bridges our differences.
The falsity of the Abrahamic narratives is simply not susceptible of any educated dispute. They persist because they exploit insecure people who are willing to humiliate and debase themselves in order to win acceptance by a group; they feed on the weak.