Daniel Dennett spoke at the Canadian Humanist Convention in Montreal on October 2, 2010 about what should replace religion.\u00a0 Here are a few highlights (from the summary at Cobourg Atheist<\/a>):<\/p>\n \u2026[W]e don\u2019t want to retain the bad things of religion.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want the guilt; we don\u2019t want the superstition and glorification of irrationality and we don\u2019t want the hatred and xenophobia nor the systematic hypocrisy.\u00a0 But it would be good to get some of the good things that come from religion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dan lists some things that can come from religion:<\/p>\n Hope, Love\u00a0 \u2013 includes a home (not just shelter) for people who don\u2019t have one;\u00a0 helps people re-evaluate themselves.\u00a0 Similar to the value of a Buddhist<\/a> retreat.<\/p>\n Beauty, Joy \u2013 there has been a lot of great music created in the name of god. Christmas carols are a good example.<\/p>\n Moral teamwork in support of things like justice and freedom\u2026.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dan finishes with, \u201cPeople want to be good, we just have to help them with structure so they can amplify their goodness and join together.\u00a0 The sooner we can create institutions that can do better than religions at helping people to be good, the sooner the toxic varieties of religion will fade away. So let\u2019s do it.<\/p>\n \u2026\u201d[D]on\u2019t turn your nose up at the tradition and ritual\u2026there does not seem to be any stirring atheist music and there are no joyful atheist ceremonies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He even played some secular gospel music!\u00a0 I kept hoping that he would mention Secular Humanistic Judaism, but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 So much of what he was describing is exactly the mission of The Society for Humanistic Judaism.<\/p>\n Dennett has been studying clergy who become non-believers which I blogged about in October<\/a>.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if he got if from them, but he certainly has a great appreciation for non-theistic religion.<\/p>\n I highly recommend watching at least the first fifteen minutes or so.<\/p>\n