I am with you almost word by word on the factt aht attacking "standard" non-violent pro-scientific religious people for giving cover is we.. I still can not believe he really thinks so..it so wrong on so many ground... because.. well I am not ctholica.. but I was raised.. adn frankly I ahve very good friends who are.. and they are all-loving pacifist ont he left (liberation and allt hat stuff)..a ccusing them of giving cover.. more precisely accusing them of anything at al.. sorry my blood is boiling.. it shouldn't.

Regarding symbolic antrhopology and amgic studies. He never refers to the mythical and amgic fundations of science described by Hume first and detailed by other authors afterwards.. ebcause it would eb a problem for his point.

Other points. the attacks on "the kind of god we are not talking here" is well, weird... the point would be precisely to nurture and spread this vision of God as oen ofthe multiple subnarratives to win people over.

Regarding the lack of understanding of waht "belief is... well I msut say it is a very difficult issue. to difficult.. I think Brit has v better grasp of it..adn knows a nbunch mroe than me.. about the struture of belief and the bonding of belief. I do must say that they are inded different that the two basic magic unviersal laws present in all cultures... and theya re differtn that religion.

Magic unviersal laws are present ina llcultures..s o they could ahve a biological origin.. though not genetic sicne genes do not fix braion conenctivity (one of his serious mistakes about genes and memes, but that's science again)... but religion are a social cosntruct ... here I udnerstand his position though I do nto share it.. it is highlyd ebatable.. but sicne some magic structures are unviersal he could say 8if he knew) that a social cosntruct of religion from them is a very easy outcome... that's probably nto the case, and as always brain connectivity and social structures adn dsicrimantions (probably the strenght of dichotomies in brain perception) helped to developed a highly structured set of anrratives and cocnepts for the notion of "belief".

Well.. and that's all for the moment.....

And great diary....

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude