Much as people might hate me saying it, religion has proved to be an important civilising factor in human development. Quite apart from the seemingly innate tendency within us to seek what is transcendent, religions of various stripes tend to set behavioural benchmarks for adherents. They set up rules by which to live ones life, ways of acting in the world and relating to others. By and large these tend to make us better people.

The decline of religion in the West has tended to coincide with an increased brutalisation in human relations. Consider how awful were the conflicts of the 20th century - the two World Wars, Stalinism, Maoism, Fascism, The Holocaust, nuclear weapons, Pol Pot, African genocides and so on. The current century has started off little better than the last.

Within individual societies, there is a coarsening of both public and private relations and a race to the bottom in popular culture. There are many signs of social progress, sure, but they tend to be small beer when compared to wider trends. You might argue that religious belief has caused more trouble than any good it has done, but I would reply that it is the exploitation of belief by elites and fanatics that is the real culprit.

A crisis of belief inevitably leads to a crisis of individual purpose. One can find purposes outside of faith to build a meaningful life upon. Philosophers have weighed in for centuries on this matter. Sartre located the creation of meaning in leading a bold, intentional life in which authentic action in the world is the fundamental building block. But most people don’t have either the luxury of deep thought nor the time to consider such authentic action, so busy are their lives. So when things start to fall apart, when the mortgage is too much to pay or the marriage crumbles or ones health fails, then what is there to fall back on?

The "ghostly silt" may have dispersed, but people are still hungry for something beyond the mundane.