I think in some quarters almost everything has become a religion: politics, economics, and to a lesser extent religion (he said drolly). The global economy is too complex. They are losing politically. “Traditional values” and religion are perceived as under attack. Science and technology play in an enormous role, but never give the kind of consistent and easy-to-understand answers that people want.

Primitive humans couldn’t understand the weather and other natural phenomena, so they invented gods to explain them. They couldn’t understand the meaning of life or what happens when we die, so they created heaven. Now we seem to be verging back to our original state of being unable to understand anything and creating a God for everything.