Re 3: Since gods are never safe, that suggests that the rise of a society's rationalist phase is in part an attempt to make the world safe by excluding them.
On the one hand you have the mental machismo (if not masochism) of atheists like Bertrand Russel who portray their views as a brave acceptance of a world without hope or meaning, and on the other hand you have those like Carl Sagan who are quite eager to be rid of the "demon-haunted world" of religion.
Re: Astrology?
On the one hand you have the mental machismo (if not masochism) of atheists like Bertrand Russel who portray their views as a brave acceptance of a world without hope or meaning, and on the other hand you have those like Carl Sagan who are quite eager to be rid of the "demon-haunted world" of religion.
Hmm.