MM,
You seem to again just be regurgitating John Gray's hatred of humanism via a 'no progress' argument with the constant equivocation of religion and enlightenment ideals. Gray acknowledges scientific and technological progress, but ignores the philosophic and political progress required to achieve this relative to unshackling our minds from religious influence.
Gray's other mistake is in denying progress simply on the basis that we can never reach a state of utopia. I've heard him express that eradicating slavery on most of the globe isn't progress, because there are still pockets of it and that at any moment our commitment to this idea can be rescinded. A bit disingenuous I think. Defining progress as achieving some perfected ideal state allows Gray to dismiss the concept of progress out of hand.
Be careful about invoking evolutionary psychology to buttress your point. We are wired to learn and assign cause for what we experience in addition to being a social animal. Religions were created to provide explanation and help give structure to social expectations. This is much different than saying we are hard wired for religion.
You seem to again just be regurgitating John Gray's hatred of humanism via a 'no progress' argument with the constant equivocation of religion and enlightenment ideals. Gray acknowledges scientific and technological progress, but ignores the philosophic and political progress required to achieve this relative to unshackling our minds from religious influence.
Gray's other mistake is in denying progress simply on the basis that we can never reach a state of utopia. I've heard him express that eradicating slavery on most of the globe isn't progress, because there are still pockets of it and that at any moment our commitment to this idea can be rescinded. A bit disingenuous I think. Defining progress as achieving some perfected ideal state allows Gray to dismiss the concept of progress out of hand.
Be careful about invoking evolutionary psychology to buttress your point. We are wired to learn and assign cause for what we experience in addition to being a social animal. Religions were created to provide explanation and help give structure to social expectations. This is much different than saying we are hard wired for religion.
