Arken

If 'The Way' is indescribably and undetectable, it cannot have any scientific observational basis.

crocodile deathroll

IMO religion is what one believes about the nature of the universe as a whole and its origin. If someone sincerely believes that the Earth is flat and rides on the back of a giant turtle that is their religion. Like if a fundie believes that the earth was created literally in six days by an omnipotent creator, that is their's. If a modern day cosmologist believes in a universe of very great age (13+billions years) and size, that is theirs and it is also mine and as such it just as much qualifies as a religion as any of its predecessors. If contemporary cosmology fits that mould then so be it. Thats is the only "religion" that I would enter into any intelligent discussion in. The rest is just folklore.

I cannot tag is "ism" attribute onto contemporary cosmology for the moment, but is still deserves just as must respect and dignity sensitivity as any of the others. I like it because it has answered far more question than the religion I was raised with as a kid.

When I was a kid I used to ask my religious teachers many questions, like:

How does he make planets move in regular orbits?

How does he protect us from asteroid impacts?

Why did your God create the universe at any given point in time?

How does he stop the sun from cooling down?

How does he control the tides?

What power did he give Moses when he parted the Red Sea?

My childhood theology answered none of these questions.

I felt all questions was just as relevant to religion as the last one. But now the laws of Physics and not God answered the first five questions. And as a consequence God was explained away.