Hegar

We’re definitely capable of some amazingly counterintuitive behavior - things like moral panics, groups who make high risk travel, or high control cult groups. But again I’m not convinced that religion is causing that. A lot of those things have non religious examples as well - large parts of the cultural revolution sounds like a secular mania to me.

I still suspect these sorts of things are just human behavior. Even if we finally cast off religion for good, I fear we’d still see all the same things happening just with different explanations.

Yeah there are definitely some earnestly religious people.

I just think that material circumstances, group identity, social status and things like that are what determine the behavior of social primates. Religion is a convenient explanation because it makes you look upstanding and can justify absolutely anything, really.

Buying a 10 year old civic will always be more environmentally responsible than buying a brand new EV

I hear so few people talking about this fact. The middle and upper class don’t want to hear about any solution unless it involves buying status symbols.

Proving you’re morally superior to the poors is definitely the most important part of combating climate change.

Yeah, I think religious explanations are often given when someone can’t tell or can’t face why something is happening. When people tell me they’re doing something out of religious conviction, I usually wonder what the real reasons are.