I distrust arguments that assert there are only 3 ways to view a complex sociological phenomenon. Between truth and lies there is no middle ground.

There is an organization for secular people called Sunday Assembly if someone feels the need for connection. The idea of getting together with like minds for encouragement of better living, social connections, and volunteerism, etc., is a nice one for me.

[sundayassembly.org]

The middle way is a good and time-honored description from a certain perspective, but what often gets lost is the fact that there is a way. It’s not this way or that way, it’s The Way.

It’s not the Christian way or the Buddhist way or the Hindu way, it’s the human way.

It’s not only not just about belief, it’s also not just about community and ritually marking special events. At its core, it’s about a particular kind of cognitive development which enables the achiever of this stage of development to experience every moment of life as perfect, no matter what is happening, and to thereby be maximally effective at contributing positively toward the harmonious survival of our species.

It’s not just a tasty soup. There’s some actual meat in that stew.

There is nothing to criticise or disapprove here. Belief, faith, trust, whatever have you, it is all personal and so it should be, like those personal cases in the article, and it's complicated! Unless you can open their sculls and see what is exactly going on in their brains (metaphorically speaking!), we can never know 100% what it is like to be them.

Much mental ado about basically nothing.

So how did that Muslim woman come up with a 50/50 probability of her religion being true? The possibility of 2 choices doesn't mean that the choices are equally probable. Her whole argument is based on this fallacy.

And there are more than just a 3rd option. One can, for example, totally disbelieve a religion yet follow its cultural practices for spiritual, community, and fellowship purposes. No mental gymnastics are needed...

Unitarian-Universalist for example.

some dig it.

Some people need the social and spiritual aspects of religion. I think many of my friends that participate in organized religion find their participation to be good for their psyche. I also believe that most of them think that the Christian myths are just that myths. I respect those people especially the ones that never push my joining them.

Do I believe there is a 50/50 chance that religion is true and gods are real? Hell no. I see it all as me being tricked as a teenager. But if i knew Zen maybe I could fix my motorcycle.

From a negative view, it changes nothing. All of the evils of religion always stemmed from the exaggerated respect given to its cultural traditions, holy writings, hierarchical structures and rituals. If you take the literal belief in the non existent god, out of the equation, you take away a zero, nothing, but you still leave all of those things intact. So that all you do, in effect, is to change the name of god from the say singular Zeus or Odin, to the words tradition, holy book, priest and ritual.

It still remains by nature the worship of the ultra-traditional as a fake authority, and is only therefore useful to the ultra -conservative, and anti-progressive.

Moreover it opens the door even more to the metaphorical interpretation of myth, which is a gift to the criminally intended. Since the main use of religion by the criminally intended is as a source of fake authority, which they can interpret as they wish. That being, naturally, something which people with something dubious and selfish to promote, want more than anything. And the authority of religion, with an added almost total freedom of interpretation, is just such a wonderful gift. (Most, well intended people will usually despise fake authority, since they will tend to believe that good intentions can be supported by reason, and at least good sources of authority, and most well intended people have an attachment to honesty at an instinctive level anyway. )

Read Sasha Sagan's book "For Small Creatures Such as We."

I prefer the learnings of Zen Taoism. No repercussions, just gifts, and no Deity other than myself. I don't see a point to practicing something with no personal belief in it just for old time's sake but I'm unusual.

Definitely in the neighborhood of my alley, if not right up it.
Like you, I’d put it a little differently for myself, but certainly a view I can respect.