Atheism is a religion.

[Mudhammam]

Who said we are hardwired for faith in faeries? You lost me.

I don't think religious devotion is retarded. The need to have systems of belief is hardwired into our brains.

Did you mean to imply something else?

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You are quite right, science and a belief in human progress does not flow from a lack of belief in a god, nor am I suggesting they do. I am putting forward the idea that they both serve the same human needs as their religious counterparts.

Putting grass in a bowl of water and calling it soup also serves the universal human need to consume food but clearly it is not as nutritional as an actual meal. And I think that's a fair comparison.