In addition, most people I encounter know next to nothing about world religions, so they assume that other religions are more or less like whichever one they grew up with. On another blog, I was having a conversation in which Wright’s book also came up – in that instance, the bloggers (who are atheists) were holding it up as a great example of thinking about religion. Problem is, they admitted that they were very ignorant of world religions and what people around the globe and throughout history actually believe and practice. They simply had to take Wright at his word about God’s supposed “evolution.”

As a wiser person than I once observed, many people think that religions are different on the surface, but the same down deep; in reality, the exact opposite is true – they are very similar on the surface (in terms of morality, clergy, prayer, etc.), but radically different from one another at the core.

While I understand how easy it is to reduce religion to a moral toolbox. But it reminds me of the parents who want to bring their child to church just because they want to teach their child good values. That has always felt to me like such an empty gesture.