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Religion for Rationalists — LessWrong

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At Less Online, I ran a well-attended session titled "Religion for Rationalists" to help me work out how I could write a post (this one!) about one of my more controversial beliefs without getting downvoted to hell. Let's see how I do! My thesis is that most people, including the overwhelmingly atheist and non-religious rationalist crowd, would be better off if they actively participated in an organized religion. My argument is roughly that religions uniquely provide a source of meaning, community, and life guidance not available elsewhere, and to the extent anything that doesn't consider itself a religion provides these, it's because it's imitating the package of things that makes something a religion. Not participating in a religion is obviously fine, but I think it leaves people missing out on a straightforward way they can make their lives better. The session was a lot more peaceful than you might expect. I think it helped that my religion is Zen Buddhism, which is a lot less offen

x Religion for Rationalists — LessWrong Rationality World Optimization Practical Frontpage 27 Religion for Rationalists by Gordon Seidoh Worley 11th Jun 2025 5 min read 65 27 At Less Online, I ran a well-attended session titled "Religion for Rationalists" to help me work out how I could write a post (this one!) about one of my more controversial beliefs without getting downvoted to hell. Let's see how I do! My thesis is that most people, including the overwhelmingly atheist and non-religious rationalist crowd, would be better off if they actively participated in an organized religion. My argum

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