If I have to choose between some pretty acceptable dogmas and the wild materialism, I will choose the first without thinking twice. I will add that I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian if it matters.
Well, on theory, yes, but in practice, it's a dichotomy. I strongly believe that materialism counters progress. For example, if we all believed in a greater mission for our civilization, all our efforts would be focused on building space ships and space colonization, not wasting efforts in buying a bigger home, a newer car model, buying new fancy clothes, getting a crazy haircut, and so on. Yes, there are people who are not on the either extreme today, but these are not the majority. I am happy that geeks start to embrace minimalism, simplify life, and focus our limited seconds on this planet in something productive, but, again, we're a minority. The majority needs guidance and religion has been effective for the masses so far.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 37.5 ms ] threadTo Terry (dead comment below): God should implement a "show dead" feature on the universe. Huge fan of your work, btw.