Why We Need Religion: An Agnostic Celebration of Spiritual Emotions, by Stephen T. Asma

Somewhat belatedly, perhaps (as a non-militant atheist) I have to disagree with the undeniability advanced in this review: " “religion, like art, has direct access to our emotional lives in ways that science does not”. This is undeniable; " In my experience, both learning and doing science can trigger emotions, epiphanies even, relating to, e.g. beauty and wonder, on a par with non-pathological religious states of mind, without involving metaphysical religious notions. It might not suggest moral imperatives or immediate therapeutic benefits, but contemplating the advances in understanding uncovered by science can certainly help to put human problems and crises into a perspective that is at least as helpful as what I term the "societal fictions" advanced by most religions. And it seems to me that science untainted by political agendas is less likely to encourage violence and chaos than religious zealotry. Paul G. Ellis