From the book Sapiens I learned that humans made a huge organizational leap when they started agreeing on overarching ideas and ideals: religion, values, money, laws, contracts, ownership, governments, etc. As an atheist, I fully accept that I believe in a lot of things I can’t “prove” beyond some flimsy piece of paper that other humans agree with—marriage licenses, state lines, car titles, educational degrees, and house deeds to name a few. For example, a piece of real estate is “real” but who “owns” it is just something some humans have agreed to.

Religions are among the things I don’t buy into but belief in them is as legit as belief in any other human construct. We all believe in things that don’t strictly exist the physical realm.