One of the main functions of religion is the binding function, the pulling together of communities into tight, uniformly believing groups. That gives survival value, over those who do not bind closely or those who prefer to be solitary. The best way to do it is to have some common mythology, a common set of rites and rituals, which are regarded as being ordained by the gods.

says Biologist and Writer Edward O. Wilson in an interview from the series in Grist God & the Environment. I mentioned him in a recent blog entry after hearing a bit of another interview on the radio. In Grist, he also says

We need to seek to live harmoniously together. Through time, religion will evolve. If you look back through the history of various Christian and Judeo denominations, you find that although there's always a group of hard-liners, there's a trend toward relaxing the posture of superiority, the bonds of dogmatic belief.

I would probably enjoy his book since I relate to the way he talks about religion and faith.