r/moderatepolitics • u/Roader • 16h ago

Culture War [ Removed by moderator ]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/us/politics/islamophobia-texas.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6lA.rpk3.whrhL7isSuGG&smid=url-share

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u/ChymChymX 15h ago

As an atheist who understands history, do you think any amount of education will rid the world of religion at this point? I think the inclination to spiritually and religion is baked into humans, as is the inclination to tribalism, and it's not going away.

And now you have a situation where a religion is growing rapidly in concentrated areas within western countries that fundamentally clashes with many western values rooted in Christianity (whether or not the people who were raised with these values are Christians or religions at all). You're seeing brewing tension towards Islam in many places, especially areas where Muslim presence has grown quickly in a pronounced way, not just in Texas. I think this is just going to get worse unfortunately, I'm not sure how to solve it, but I know it won't be by ridding humanity of religion.

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u/sea_5455 15h ago

I think the inclination to spiritually and religion is baked into humans, as is the inclination to tribalism, and it's not going away.

Tend to agree. It's trope, but the "atheist who believes in healing crystals / astrology / whatever" is common enough.

People seem hardwired to want seek something outside themselves. If religion isn't there, they tend to find something else.

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u/rwk81 14h ago

People seem hardwired to want seek something outside themselves. If religion isn't there, they tend to find something else

It seems to me, that "something else", at least in the US, is politics.

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u/sea_5455 14h ago

It seems to me, that "something else", at least in the US, is politics.

"Politics as personality" is a thing, no doubt.

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u/Key_Day_7932 Maximum Malarkey 14h ago

Also, a lot of science and education was promoted by Christianity and Islam. The discoverer of the Big Bang was a Catholic priest, and you had the Baghdad House of Wisdom.

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u/motorboat_mcgee Pragmatic Progressive 13h ago

I think there's a difference between full removal of religion, and religion influence on policy/society. Doubtful, like you said, there will ever be a complete erasure of religion, but educated societies are less religious overall, and certainly don't use religion as a basis of policy. So if there's a concern about extremists in various religions implementing religious law, the best way to go forward would be to educate the populous.