> As I get older, I'm increasingly convinced that, while I have no patience whatsoever for the intolerant, self-righteous I (also getting older) would have end

> As I get older, I'm increasingly convinced that, while I have no patience whatsoever for the intolerant, self-righteous I (also getting older) would have ended the sentence right there. I live in NYC, and so I guess in general I don't come across the 'right-wing strains of US Christianity' that frequently. > we do need something like religion, at least enough of it to convince people and society (a) that cultural integrity is important and worth fighting for, and (b) that playing a decent role within one's culture, rather than trying to dominate or "influence" it as much as possible, is enough. I think the fundamental problem your trying to address here is that after decades of telling people there isn't any transcendant meaning to life, they've begun to believe it and are ordering their lives thusly.