In my recent post "Is religiosity an operant?", I laid out some quick thoughts on the psychological foundations for being religious. In an essay for the National Review Online, John Derbyshire puts the topic into a contemporary, societal perspective. I found the article rather informative and insightful. Go and read it!
On a similar note, James D. Carmine, chair of the Philosophy Department at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wrote an excellent article on how to distinguish religion from pseudo-religion, drawing from current global developments. A very interesting and insipring read!