Religion is as old as fear, philosophy as curiosity. Both probably date from the first moments of mutual symbolic communication; i.e. language. Religion symbolically encompasses the unknown and the inexplicable, philosophy the known and knowable. Both are psychologically empowering. Both are Memes, helping us to survive
Were we inherently logical creatures, the known would steadily supplant the unknown. Instead, rationality has to battle its way against increasingly sophisticated renderings of the unknown.
There is a perverse way in which the unknown is more under our sway: a god that is prayed to can be hoped to respond, whereas gravity is implacable.
The known can be boring. E=mc**2 is a dull equation whereas the sex life of Jesus can be endlessly (and titivatingly) speculated over.
As social creatures, the imaginary antics of soap stars will inevitably attract the attention of more parts of our eco-psyches than an OU maths program will. The same applies for sensationalist documentaries and the like.
Religions and philosophies that fail to satisfy some current or anticipated need get replaced (often after a protracted fight) by creeds and theories that better satisfy those needs.
So, here we are in the early 21st century. Our major religions are millennia deep, as are our popular philosophies. That upstart Science has given both a problem. Has given us, as individuals and communities, a problem. The Known is now provably incompatible with the Unknown. Ancient scriptures are increasingly absurd to modern educated readers. And yet, the very human needs that sustained those scriptures through hundreds of generations are still our needs.
"Progress" as espoused by our Victorian forebears enabled the implications of this clash to be put off until now. The future then was expected to be more interesting than the present - and so it was. Then came the 20th century, and the pace of change accelerated. Whereas the life lived by my great-great-grandfather would have been understandable by generations stretching back for centuries, my life would have baffled them. Terrified them. I live in a world of magic lights and talking boxes, and people have walked on the moon! But "Progress" has kept my generation entranced also, despite M.A.D. etc., until Global Warming etc. became undeniable.
The end of some things is very nearly nigh. Whether of the Human species, our Civilisations, our Science, or of our Creeds: the choice is (collectively) ours.
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