this pattern of religiosity rising in hardship and declining in prosperity also underscores its reactive and transient nature, challenging the notion that it is a consistent moral or stabilizing force. if religion were truly integral to maintaining a good state, one would expect its influence to persist and even strengthen during times of well-being to safeguard against future decline. instead, its ebb and flow suggest that it operates more as a psychological crutch than a foundational pillar of human progress. by emerging only in crisis, religiosity demonstrates its dependence on the very darkness it claims to counteract, failing to proactively build or sustain the light of flourishing societies. this inconsistency reveals its limitationsnot as a source of lasting solutions but as a temporary balm that dissipates when its existential relevance fades, leaving the work of progress to secular systems of reason, governance, and science.
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