Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion. – Mary Douglas
I am convinced that living in an enclave shapes the personality, and living alone shapes the personality too. – Mary Douglas
Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside? – Mary Douglas
It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat. – Mary Douglas