Religion for atheists, ctd

Alain de Botton expands on his philosophy:



In summary, from a Q&A on the TED website:

The starting point of religion is that we are children, and we need guidance. The secular world often gets offended by this. It assumes that all adults are mature – and therefore, it hates didacticism, it hates the idea of moral instruction. But of course we are children, big children who need guidance and reminders of how to live. And yet the modern education system denies this. It treats us all as far too rational, reasonable, in control. We are far more desperate than secular modernity recognises. All of us are on the edge of panic and terror pretty much all the time – and religions recognise this. We need to build a similar awareness into secular structures.

Alain de Botton's talk is awfully entertaining, but I'm in not position to deny that I find the whole concept of reason learning from faith to be beyond odd. And, of course, unbelief in something has never disqualified the possibility of learning from it.