The need for feeling part of something eternal, greater than one's self remains, however, and in the place of religion the worship of "environmentalism" has arisen.
It mimics, almost exactly, the structure of traditional religions.
There was a time of Paradise call preindustrialization.
Then came a fall from grace, an expulsion from the garden called the rise of carbon based society.
Finally, there will be peace in Heaven when we achieve an idyllic state called "sustainability."
It's interesting that in those countries where people have fled from church attendance, Western Europe for example, are precisely those countries where the cult of environmentalism is most popular.
Good point.
I think it's because when they cast aside God a vacuum ocurred that they've attempted to fill through "science" so when a person acquires the right set of credentials he becomes basically a priest and when he speaks in the name of "science" he may not be doubted.