147: The secular perspective on religion

P&C drink a homebrew fail from Crowhill, then discuss various sociological perspectives on religion. If you look at religion from an evolutionary or sociological perspective, what function does it serve? How was religious belief a positive adaptation? Or was it? Sociologists and evolutionary psychologists who study this question have come up with some interesting theories about the benefits of religion, and why it helped humans advance. P&C consider the "New Atheist" perspective on religion and compare it with other secular approaches.