If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny.
Mary DouglasIt's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure.
Mary DouglasReligion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside?
Mary DouglasIt is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.
Mary Douglas