Interesting take. I like your willingness to think about this and I agree that religion offers a lot and there are many lessons to learn. Some thoughts:
What will one say when their congregation asks what they believe and why?
Generally it seems EAs advise against going into harmful organisations to “change them”. Have I misunderstood or why not here? Perhaps you don’t think religious orgs are on balance harmful.
In my understanding the quickest growing religious sects are conservative, which will be strongly opposed to doing things for maximising wellbeing as opposed to what the Bible/Qu’ran says.
I think seeking the growth of more liberal branches is an interesting idea but what if that gives the “oxygen” required by more conservative groups. What if this ends up aiding the growth of conservative dogmatism?
Interesting take. I like your willingness to think about this and I agree that religion offers a lot and there are many lessons to learn. Some thoughts:
What will one say when their congregation asks what they believe and why?
Generally it seems EAs advise against going into harmful organisations to “change them”. Have I misunderstood or why not here? Perhaps you don’t think religious orgs are on balance harmful.
In my understanding the quickest growing religious sects are conservative, which will be strongly opposed to doing things for maximising wellbeing as opposed to what the Bible/Qu’ran says.
I think seeking the growth of more liberal branches is an interesting idea but what if that gives the “oxygen” required by more conservative groups. What if this ends up aiding the growth of conservative dogmatism?