I’m pretty sure he wasn’t promoting the idea of abandoning the Bible for Harry Potter. I think he was saying we shouldn’t take it to be an heirloom, but see it as a living fountain, which he was able to do in this world as recently as 1972 when he died.

I agree with him that it’s religion’s fault for not staying focused on its own message of compassion, but also that that message is still the original authentic message, and that it is as relevant to day as ever.

@skado I only quoted the one line. The rest of the words in my comment are my own thoughts. We do have a living fountain with new stories that might help us see more plainly, in the modern era, the invisible truths of humanity and examples of harmony as well as destruction, whether fact or fiction, and understood as such.

@Julie808
We do have some new stories, some of which convey some values similar to the religious stories. And some of which are as corrupt as some of the old ones. And some of the old ones are still as relevant as ever, when understood properly.

But of course religion is more than stories. It’s weekly human contact with a group of neighbors who have agreed to devote some regular time to reminding each other that compassion and forgiveness and tolerance and charity don’t emerge automatically, but require conscious effort.

Religion, in essence and intent, is a glue that binds a community into a single functioning unit under the ideal of something greater than every individual for him/herself. And an affordable source of consolation, with a human touch. Functions that movies, no matter how popular, don’t even claim to do.

The religions are tired and outdated and corrupt, but still without viable secular equivalents.

@skado SOME of the weekly meetings of church congregations espouse "compassion and forgiveness and tolerance and charity" but not all, and those who do are cherry picking portions of their religious texts, but the fact remains that not everything in their texts proclaim those things.

Reality is that without the confines of the church, many secular groups (meaning all inclusive regardless of faith backgrounds) are doing the work of promoting human equality, nature preservation, concern for our environment, human rights, and so on. We can feel a kinship and the support within these groups -- but the flip side is that there are also destructive groups who can suck followers in to a downward spiral to benefit only those at the top.

My feeling is that religious texts leave a lot to be desired to be relevant in today's society and need a total revamping with more current scientific facts and a story more plausible though also understood as myth for the reason of informing a path toward a more peaceful, harmonious and productive society.

I agree that some sort of relevant mythos can inform society of the "right" way to live, but that is what the old myths are lacking relevancy to modern society and a feeling of inclusiveness with ALL human beings, not those just from this tribe or that. This is where I believe that the old dusty religions fail.

@Julie808

I pretty much agree with all of that. I think you put your finger on the main problem. As societies have grown so large that they are no longer isolated from each other, their individual religions, which previously provided unity, are now a source of division. That's why I think we need a rosetta stone that can translate them all into a world-unifying system. And I can think of no better tool than science to do that.

And, as luck would have it, when examined scientifically, most major world religions have more in common than at odds. It would be a gargantuan project, and would take a long time, but I do think a universal human religion would be a worthy project. I know you have put some thought into similar ideas.

@skado Yes, many of the old time religions have much in common, but that doesn't make them right or helpful in today's world.

Personally I think a whole new mythos, for the entire world, something to grab everyone's attention, and make pertinent sense, not just a piecing together of the old things that have been shown not to bring people together. We need something that make sense from inside a person, not some supernatural deity outside one self. That's my opinion anyway.

Yes, I've put a lot of thought into that idea, for the last 30 years, but sadly I can't find many people who agree with me. Too many people don't want to leave the security of what's old and not working - happy to keep the status quo - and not bold enough to be a part of something new. Guess that's why I'm here.

@Julie808
If by “here” you mean AgnosticDotCom, that’s why I’m here too. And, so far, I haven’t found anyone who is interested enough to even hear my ideas, let alone agree with them.

I’d love to hear your ideas if you’d like to share.