ABSTRACT
Religion's usefulness now lies in the past. Its foundational texts are obvious fables. Religion is a man-made burden that remains the enemy of reason, science, and free inquiry. Christian fundamentalists, jihadists, creationists, and "intelligent design" theorists all use modern electronic devices. Yet they choose to ignore that the same science that dictates the flow of electrons in cell phones and computers reveals how the universe really works. Science, the science that Freud predicted and extolled in The Future of an Illusion, has illuminated the foundations of religious belief. All religious beliefs, not just those of the predominant three modern monotheistic religions, have the common denominator of crediting nature with some human capacity for symbolic action. Religion is always a human concept with alterations. The concept of transference is particularly useful in understanding certain aspects of religion. Human minds contain natural kinds modules or "living-thing describers" that permit us to distinguish animate from inanimate objects.
