I would primarily contend that you don't need religion for those parts you find redeeming

All societies function on the 10 commandments without them being explicitly written. Convergent evolution of the concept of society leans towards that. Lying, coveting, and laying all result in the same outcomes.

"Religion" is fine... the "groups" that practices, can be not so much. I can be a Christian and follow Christian tenants without following the Dogma of the Catholic/Lutheran/Baptist/etc. (I consider myself Lutheran even if I don't agree with stuff like baptism of babies - a carry over from the Catholic Church.)

I also tend to follow JBPetersons line of thinking in that "religion" is a result of hundreds of thousands of years of "evolution". "religions" codify, as you've said, the important parts of life (Don't steal, kill, that's not your wife, etc).

There is physical truth - an apple weighs this much, an atom has these parts, etc.

And then there is Truth - don't lie. Don't steal. Don't screw your neighbor or your neighbors wife. Those aren't "true" like the weight of an atom is true... but it is true as in life is better if you live with those "rules".

Religions give a basis of reference - and yes, that comes with some of the baggage (IE: Catholic priests, holy rollers in churches getting caught in bath houses, etc). It is hard - and at times impossible - to separate the Church from the Truth at the core.

Like you said, all religions have similar cores... but there ARE differences - Jesus was a carpenter... Muhamad was a warlord. Buddha was a scholar. Their cores are very similar but there are differences in and out of the religions.

Bit of a ramble as it's hard to pack a complicated conversation in a few paragraphs.

Religion does provide a convenient framework and community around those values, you could also call it enforcement, depending on how strict a given religion is.

As with any ideology, there are of course those who wish to exploit it to their own ends, which is where we get the atrocities that have happened through human history.

Yes, I would say it's human capacity for atrocity that's the danger, and the justification for it attaches itself to anything. In the past, that has been religion, nationality, race, even abstract concepts like justice. I believe it's naive to blame religion, even wishful thinking: if it were religion that is solely responsible for human atrocity, the answer then is simple: get rid of religion by any means necessary.

Absolutely. Justification for why My Tribe can kill Your Tribe doesn't need any rational basis. All you have to do is look at the religious fervor and protests/violence/intolerance from The Woke to see that at a level more clear than it's ever been - and NONE of that is because of "religion" per-se, even if the level of energy is the same as the devoutly religious.

I hope we can survive as a species long enough to figure a solution.

"The Woke" as you call them, the extremely active, extremely online and extremist faction are an absolutely miniscule number of people, who are neither violent, nor particularly intolerant. The fearmongering about them is completely overblown, this is simply another case of the American penchant for the extreme, rearing its head again. Stirring up a storm by shouting loudly and getting attention in the media is nothing new, and is necessary for bringing attention to problems that the comfortable majority have been able to ignore.

"Police are infallible!" is now "police are infallible?", thanks to activists and media attention on the very real problems faced by minorities in the US. The people who were previously sitting very comfortably and safe on top of the pile are feeling their position threatened, so of course they're afraid of the world becoming more equitable. That's just too bad for them.

The extremists will move to another cause or mellow out, but that spark of activism is needed to effect real social change.

> neither violent or intolerant

You didn't notice hundreds of millions in damage in multiple states? I think the number may be in the billions... Court houses destroyed... people killed... ran over.. 4 years of violence. Flash mobs against people who go against the Woke tenants and Woke Crusaders to burn the heathens at the stake.

Overblown? Violence and destruction continues by "peaceful activists" as they spread Love and Tolerance by destroying those who disagree.

"Police are infallible" thanks to people willing to lie and destroy to get their ways. And while the violence escalates and police get more "infallible?"... people around the country are more unsafe than ever... the cities that are defunding police are seeing spikes in violence, murder, robberies, etc.

Because idiots focus on a couple bad apples and ignore the millions of good interactions and positive things police provide.

"too bad for them" I like how your basic premise is "they aren't violent or intolerant" yet it's fear and violence that are making "them" scared.

Too bad for them? Too bad for the hypocrites that use hate to fight hate and racism to fight racism and violence to support lies.

> "The Woke" as you call them, the extremely active, extremely online and extremist faction are an absolutely miniscule number of people, who are neither violent, nor particularly intolerant. The fearmongering about them is completely overblown

Do you think it might be possible, at all, that those who fear the woke might know some things about which you are unaware? Incidents, details or facts that, if you yourself knew them, would change your mind? Yes, no...?