Religion offers a great way to give up on the human race without appearing to do so. It allows you to fight the good fight, expecting to lose physically, but win spiritually. So assholes still rule the Earth. The clash of Good and Evil will destroy everything. But then the good people get to go on and enjoy a good place where everything is good.
Timing is everything. Relatively inexplicably, some people get to live placid, prosperous lives, while others struggle endlessly. And if you have the bad luck to live when the great clash of good and evil bathes the globe in fire, don’t expect to enjoy bovine, suburban bliss.
Clearly, destructive forces exist. Some kind of faith provides a padded backstop on which to lean. You could have faith that humanity will eventually grow up and achieve a peaceful, pleasant world. You could have faith that the God of your choice will make things right.
The crucial difference between faith in human ability to learn and grow, and faith in God’s ability to rescue the faithful lies in the basic view of humanity itself. The secular faith really views humans as much more perfectible than does the religious model.
Evil only wins by gaining recruits. Evil can only be a force as long as people agree to do evil. Starve evil to death and the need for forceful conflict disappears. With no aggressors, you need no defenders.
Power intoxicates. A sense of personal strength and prowess may tempt you to use that strength to make an intellectual point. It may be simple greed, or righteousness, but the result either way is coercion.
The difference to reconcile between religious and secular faiths is whether we really can seek the sustainable model of ongoing human existence, or whether the attempt to compromise is in itself a sin.
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