re: #91 William Barnett-Lewis

And then says that simply being altar girls or charity committee members isn’t enough of a role either. It’s going to be interesting to see not so much what he’s able to do personally but if he can change the culture at all - a much harder task but the only one that gives any long term chance of the church getting back to what it should be about.

As someone who hasn’t practiced any form of religion for over 55 yrs, I think all religion in its various forms will gradually lose any prominence in life because in and of itself it is anti-democratic and authoritarian. Most people give religion only lip service anyway, as some sort of dishonest “insurance” that they can play both ends against the middle.

As we progress in science and reasoned thinking, religion will play an ever marginalized role in future generations who won’t want to be bothered with its irrationality and superstition. It can’t ever be “modernized” enough, even by fiat, because it would have to accept actual science, reasoning, and real exposure of what constitutes belief in a “supreme being” which is our own human behavior, not something that can’t be proved by adherence to ancient dogma.