https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSrVCSQucGY&feature=relmfu

I nearly went to this!

Brilliant lecture.

Ki-Katanga:
I nearly went to this!

Brilliant lecture.

I have issues with de Botton.

Pastor AIO:

I have issues with de Botton.

So do I but I see his work not so much as religion for Atheists as Atheism for the Religious. -- The way it's broken down does nothing to convince me, but tends to explain the origins and tenets of religion very well to people.

I just find a lot of his work very superficial. Status Anxiety is probably the most disappointing book that I've ever picked up.

Even in this lecture in the OP his treatment of religion is superficial and very cursory making it inaccurate with regard to most religions. He sees religion as a cultural artifact and I agree with him there. However He sees religion ONLY as a cultural artifact and that is precisely where I do not agree with him. There is more to religion than just the product of some culture.

The issues that he wants to use religion to address are what I consider very superficial aspects of religion.

Ah -- to me the superficial aspect of religion is the only tolerable bit. The cultural ties have spread to media, entertainment and language and I think he's missed that, however a superficial religion being used to permit a certain personal interaction seems innocuous if not somewhat positive.

By abstracting ritual from dogma, you might maintain some identity but cleanse some of the more pernicious aspects -- as well as drawing light to the non-religious cultural artefacts, like Female Mutilation and veiling which are ascribed to religious piety but reflect no such thing.