'Rational religion' stressing allegorical meanings + 'emotional science' inventing rituals - What is the potential of such an approach?

The appeal of religion and spirituality doesn’t go away.

So how can we find remedies for the epidemic of anti-science syndrome?

Carolyn Porco who is a planetary scientist and adjunct professor at the University of Colorado and the University of Arizona made an interesting prediction based on an unorthodox proposal:

The confrontation between science and formal religion will come to an end when the role played by science in the lives of all people is the same played by religion today.

At the heart of every scientific inquiry is a deep spiritual quest – to grasp, to know, to feel connected through an understanding of the secrets of the natural world, to have a sense of one’s part in the greater whole.

Every culture has religion. It undoubtedly satisfies a manifest human need. But the same spiritual fulfillment and connection can be found in the revelations of science. From energy to matter, from fundamental particles to DNA, from microbes to Homo sapiens, from the singularity of the Big Bang to the immensity of the universe, ours is the greatest story ever told. We scientists have the drama, the plot, the icons, the spectacles, the ‘miracles’, the magnificence, and even the special effects. We inspire awe. We evoke wonder.

So what are we missing?

Ceremony.

We lack ceremony. We lack ritual. We lack the initiation of baptism, the brotherhood of communal worship. We have no loving ministers, guiding and teaching the flocks in the ways of the ‘gods’. We have no fervent missionaries, no loyal apostles. And we lack the all-inclusive ecumenical embrace, the extended invitation to the unwashed masses. Alienation does not warm the heart; communion does.

But what if? What if we appropriated the craft, the artistry, the methods of formal religion to get the message across? Imagine ‘Einstein’s Witnesses’ going door to door or TV evangelists passionately espousing the beauty of evolution.

http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_print.html#porco

When I read her article I said to myself, why not take this a step further. Instead of waiting or hoping traditional religion goes away, why not change them, make them more rational and meet Einstein’s Witnesses half way? Why give up the valuable non-superstitious wisdom like do not judge, or you too will be judged ? Why not keep the parts of religion that are worth keeping?

I can imagine that some will think, oh, this will never work. But what if it did? What if we had 2000 Carl Sagans who can make science more emotional? What if we had 2000 religious TV evangelists who can help people find meaning in their lives, who understand allegorical meaning, and who value the teachings of science?

I think an approach like this has a much better chance of driving change than the dull repetition of the mantra that ‘religion is utterly ridiculous’.

To me, mantras like this look more like utter resignation.

Why not discuss ideas that provide hope and inspiration?