Reddit mentions of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs

"Advocating" for is very different to "proof". We agree that science (or anything) cannot prove God. Hence why my argument is made on moral grounds as opposed to logical grounds.

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I oppose your conception of "the dogma of religion" .

I don't think you have to blindly accept beliefs in order to be religious. I think one ought to consider the various claims made by various religions, evaluate them within their personal framework of understanding and then include these claims as part of that framework should they deem them coherent.

I have seen some examples of dogmatic religion, but mostly through the media. My actual experiences of faith are that individuals' beliefs are patchwork, varied and yet accepted. People in my church/other churches I have visited do not test each other with "don't you believe X?". An individual is responsible for professing their own faith, one cannot judge the faith of another (so the Bible tells us). Maybe I have a very luck suite of churches in my city, but I don't know a Christian that would stay at a church where the pastor said "believe X no matter what, even if there is no evidence for X and even if other evidence contradicts X".

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Obviously I agree with your point about Buddhism. Fab religion with some strange bits (like many others) . For me, the character of Jesus is very important, I find him more relatable than Buddha (but I think that's personal). Buddhism is more individually oriented than Christianity, in that enlightenment can be achieved with isolation, meditation and removal of oneself from the world (as I understand it). Christianity is different in that it basically commands community living. We must act together for any good to come of our actions.

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Finally, regarding supernatural thinking. I am fond of the theory that we are spiritually inclined by nature. Name a society in history that developed to be atheist? Better yet, name a cohesive and progressive society in history that was atheist?

We are evolutionarily adapted to perceive patterns everywhere (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia), and this naturally lead to us forming complex beliefs around these patterns in order to place the chaos around us within some sort of interpretable frame.
Here's a good book on the topic by a lecturer in my department: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Superstition-Developing-Creates-Supernatural/dp/0061452653/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449500099&sr=1-1

Spiritual thinking gives us a great many advantages as a species, and it has given rise to basically all modern science, philosophy and art. We apply "supernatural thinking" all the time in almost every aspect of our lives. Things like belief in the greater good, a coherent sense of self, the idea of good and evil, patriotism, luck, superstition, optimism, trust in induction (future events turning out like past events) all result from irrational and "supernatural" thinking which helps frame/control the UTTER FREAKING CHAOS that is reality. Sorry, that's a rubbish list, it's the end of the day and my brain is out of ideas. Do you see my point however?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Superstition-Developing-Supernatural/dp/0061452653