@DarkScribe – You are correct. I was quoting Margaret Nydell from the article I mentioned. We should focus more of our energy on how we 6.8 billion people (soon to be 9 billion people) can secure the future of our living on this planet. For that we need the best scientists and engineers, as well as morals and ethics and social guidance, which can be drawn from many modern interpretations of religion, philosophy and other sources of wisdom.
We should not waste too much of our time of taking metaphors literally and argue about virgins or harps or lost sheep.
Have you ever swallowed your pride in a literal sense?
There are as many superstitious atheists as there are religious people believing in magic.
There are as many well-educated religious people with a deep knowledge of science as there are well-educated atheist people with a deep knowledge of science.
But the whole fuss in the media and online forums seems to be about the fools who fall prey to superstition and middle age magic. Well, media need stories to sell and too many people prefer ghost and witchcraft stories over stories about real dark energy.