Quick survey for your readers, religious or not:

Would anyone prefer to live 400, or a thousand years ago, instead of today, in a world of pre-industrial bliss?

Anyone? Sarcasm aside, another great read Jack . I would reword the thesis: Without Science, There is No Future. Proceed, but Use Caution.

You write

Before the emergence of modern science […] truth, knowledge and wisdom were universally understood to be rooted in the past.

For several millennia of human history, tomorrow was no different from yesterday, lives were bleak, short, brutish. When planning a family, you had to deal w/ the real possibility that your spouse would die in childbirth, and that any surviving offspring would succumb to disease or malnutrition.

Religion could only provide comfort for the harsh present and nothing to look forward to, just a false promise of the afterlife.

Ps: also, i am able to find and teach my kids empathy and compassion, religion ain’t got no monopoly on that.