What does a person want?

[Gordon]

Be that as it may, I am happy to see a softening of stand against religion. From the very Dawkinian 'hate religion in all its forms' stand of some years back, people seem to be now taking a more 'it has its use' stand.  Wisdom gained. Nice!

Cheers.

Sriram

PS: Individuals indignantly saying 'I never ever said such and such'...or...'I have always said such and such' etc., is neither here nor there. In the OP I was talking of what most posters have maintained, quite emphatically, over the years.

I think your 'science vs religion' portrayal is a false dichotomy from the outset, and I also think that many who are non-religious simply treat religion as background noise that doesn't directly affect them, where they only encounter religion in an indirect or peripheral sense such as when someone in the media decides what some cleric thinks is newsworthy or on encountering someone who is proselytising in pubic (as someone was in Buchanan Street in Glasgow on Friday evening).

It is quite possible, here in the UK at least, to live without any reference to religion at all, which is perhaps why the once dominant religion here in the UK (Christianity, in its various flavours) is in decline.

[ProfessorDavey]

Be that as it may, I am happy to see a softening of stand against religion. From the very Dawkinian 'hate religion in all its forms' stand of some years back, people seem to be now taking a more 'it has its use' stand.  Wisdom gained. Nice!

There a very few people who 'hate religion in all its forms', and indeed were when Dawkins was in his pomp. There hasn't been a shift toward religion at all over the past few years. For most people in the UK religion is an irrelevance. They recognise it exists and are happy for those that want to be active to do so, but it has very little impact on their day to day lives and that is how they like it.

The numbers for whom religion is an irrelevance in their day to day lives are gently increasing in the UK, making this point of view the norm. They aren't suddenly thinking that religion has its use, but as their numbers increase and the active religious decrease the tensions of prior years - the expectations that people should be religious, the expectations that religion is provided with a special privilege get less significant. Sure they still flare up from time to time (ask a non religious parent who discovers that the only school in their village is a faith school that prioritises church goers) but for the large part most of us can live our lives untouched by religion and that's the way we like it.

[Enki]

Be that as it may, I am happy to see a softening of stand against religion. From the very Dawkinian 'hate religion in all its forms' stand of some years back, people seem to be now taking a more 'it has its use' stand.  Wisdom gained. Nice!

Cheers.

Sriram

PS: Individuals indignantly saying 'I never ever said such and such'...or...'I have always said such and such' etc., is neither here nor there. In the OP I was talking of what most posters have maintained, quite emphatically, over the years.

Sorry Sriram to disillusion you, but I have not changed my position at all. Religion is for those who wish to partake of it. In my case I am very happy to live without it as it does not hold any significance for me. I am at a loss to see which other posters have altered or even 'softened' their views as you maintain. Without giving details of which posters you are thinking of, you are just coming over as a 'sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal' 'signifying nothing' (to mix my quotations).