This is a subject I am a bit interested in. Been reading Ministry for The Future and watching Foundation, so the idea of religion being used to change peoples behavior is an interesting one. I am apprehensive to it as I grew up Mormon but now a firm atheist so the notion of religion in general makes me cringe. However I have been convinced enough through conversations with colleagues that a good way to short circuit human behavior is through religion, us humans we can't get enough of it we love a good mythical story. So the question is what kind of story do we tell, one of connection to our natural world or one of dominance of our own mortality? I have been interested in the idea of Religious Naturalism, using religion as a means to appreciate the natural world and our understanding of it through the scientific method.
So in that spirit I will share what some may call a "religious" experience. I was in Badwater Basin in Death Valley National park this past New Years. Now Death Valley is a desert that was formed as an ancient ocean dried up so you can see the history of the earth on the rocks going down into the valley. Badwater Basin is in the lowest elevation of death valley, it sits below sea level and once in a while when the West has a wet enough season the basin fills up and this briny lake forms in the basin. There is an area where people can park their cars and go into the water so my partner and I did. Feeling that salty briny water on my skin was amazing, I felt a need to touch the water and feel it on my face(will admit I was also smoking a joint on the way down). But touching that water and knowing that millennia ago our single celled ancestors formed in hot briny pools like the one I was standing in, evolved, adapted, grew up and matured enough to begin to understand the infinite and finite nature of its own existence is nothing short of a miracle in its own way. I also felt this deep connection to the earth that allowed for the opportunity for complex life to form and a deep sense of sadness of how one of its creations is currently treating it. I felt I was in a sacred place and it was beautiful. I now wonder if others could feel that sense of connection just once maybe we would be more careful and respectful of the natural resources we take for granted.