I just read a book review that startled me by making me consider religion in a completely new light.
The review was for The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins.
"Religion isn’t bad science, I'd even go so far as to say that theology isn't bad science. Religion isn’t scientific at all; it is a symbol system and as such closely tied with condensed and ritual forms of communication and identity formation. When a Christian says, 'I believe,' they are not making a scientific claim but attesting to membership within a particular community."
I don't actually agree that this is always true, but I hadn't really ever considered that it might me even sometimes true. I don't think I'd even really considered the social dynamics aspect of religion in a modern cultural context. Definitely lots of food for thought.