Being irreligious was daring and rebellious for the longest time in history. But with the advent of capitalism, religion became an obstacle in the capital’s way. Religion places restrictions on consumption (fasting is one obvious example) and positions the non-material as more important than material and ready for purchase. So capital killed religion.
What’s really funny, though, is that many still see the decision not to allow any religious obstacle to stand in capital’s way as some sort of a brave choice.
Clarissa's Blog 
I know you’re no fan of Douthat, but in this note, you might like his latest article, where he essentially speaks of the fluid state: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/opinion/sunday/the-myth-of-cosmopolitanism.html
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It’s definitely good that everybody is catching up, even Douthat. There is no topic more important to discuss.
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“… the Republican Party out of contention for the presidency…”
WTF??
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“(fasting is one obvious example)”
Well of course that was then. Ramadan has turned from fasting in the day with a light meal at night to fasting in the day and having massive food blowouts at night.
google ramadan and overeating
fasting in roman catholocism (at least in Poland) has morphed into food substitution (eating your fill but omitting certain foods while doing so).
hijab (a very new phenomenon) is also largely about consumerism as are wigs for orthodox jewish women.
Religions aren’t dead they’re just morphing for the needs of their followers to consume as much as possible. Are you familiar with the various strands of evangelical protestantism in the US that are all about becoming rich and prosperous (if not, you can google ‘abundant life’ and ‘seed faith’ to get an idea)
Similarly, the muslim word deals with the islamic injunction against interest by calling interest something else (and calculating it a very slightly different way).
Even inter-religious pseudo taxes like tithing and zakat can be seen as a type of conspicuous consumption.
Virtually all religion now has been reformatted to be about consumption (and feeling good while consuming).
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I think science did more than capitalism (unless you want to argue that capitalism caused science to increase due to enhanced economic retursn to science , innovation, engineering etc)
Most peope who don’t believe, do believe in evolution. Some version of the big bang. Basic physics and also advanced (relativity, quantam mechanicsetc.)
Increased media / communication made it easier and now nearly free to have unlimited information at your hands. Its a lot easier to keep people beleiving in mythical ideas when the cost of a book would be say $10k , vs 10 bucks at most now.
I think the capitalism canard is very wrong here.
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In some countries it’s daring to be an atheist.
In my dark moments I wonder what Israel’s future holds. Especially after reading the following article, I am sure insane made-up shallow identities are much preferable to any mainstream religious practice:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4832210,00.html
The commentors tell the article “reads like a hizzy fit from a cantankerous shrew, not a level headed analysis” , say it’s all lies and exaggerations.
The exaggerations do exist in some places (for instance, I read more and the rabbi did not say it was OK for today’s soldiers to rape anybody, but referred to Old Testament times and words).
However, the truth is ugly enough w/o exaggerations.
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What’s described at the link is hardly mainstream.
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Here is an even greater problem for Israel:
The Yesh Atid party’s reforms are being cancelled. Op-ed: The state is abandoning ultra-Orthodox children when it waives core subject requirements for the sector’s schools; this isn’t just a problem for the young people being harmed, but a looming crisis for the entire country.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4833074,00.html
Regarding reforms, I am for Haredi children studying math, but was horrified to read about “a two-way partnership” from hell:
\ Former Education Minister Shai Piron (from Yesh Atid party) promised the ultra-Orthodox public that the curriculum would be adjusted to their needs. He also explained that he was planning a two-way partnership: More core subject education for the ultra-Orthodox public, more education in Judaism for the rest. It did not help him advance his argument. \
Btw, Shai Piron is a religious Zionist and a rabbi. No doubt it influenced his views on the appropriate amount of religious indoctrination, aka ” education in Judaism,” in supposedly secular schools.
“More education in Judaism” part is going to be implemented soon, btw. (Very informative link is below.) But not Haredi studying math part. In fact, implementing the former seems to make the latter less likely. The more religious general population is, the more money it will be ready to give yeshivot, happily.
And I honestly think requiring Haredi to study math is not the same as indoctrinating supposedly secular children. Studying Tanach (the Old Testament) is already a must subject for high school diploma.
Here our new program for secular schools. If you read, please tell whether I am paranoid here:
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.715380
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