Understanding the need for religion is a far superior goal to bashing it.

Religions have a strong binding function and a cohesive element. They emphasize the primacy of the community as opposed to the individual, and they also help set one community apart from another that doesn't share their beliefs.

When humans behave murderously, such as inflicting senseless slaughter of innocents in warfare, we like to blame it on some dark, 'animalistic' instinct.

There are beautiful examples of art done by chimpanzees in human care.

Chimps don't have language. Humans actively instruct others about how things should be done. Chimpanzees probably pick up cultural traditions by observation.

There's a long tradition in Western thought that humans are not shackled by biology, whereas animals are pure instinct machines.

Very ancient parts of the brain are involved in moral decision making.

Male chimpanzees have an extraordinarily strong drive for dominance. They're constantly jockeying for position.

Empathy probably started out as a mechanism to improve maternal care. Mammalian mothers who were attentive to their young's needs were more likely to rear successful offspring.

People want to work with somebody who feels shame, who worries about the perceptions of others. Dishonesty is something we don't like in others.