[api]

Is/ought... I agree that humans are entirely capable of it. Is it the best thing for us to do?

My biggest problem with secular thought and especially the "pop atheist" variety is that it seems to often lead to is=ought. Regardless of the reality behind any form of theism, theistic thought never accepted that equality. It's always posited that there must be a "better than the way things are now." Some secularists dismiss that as wishful thinking and a coping mechanism, but if so why bother building or doing much of anything beyond the simple core of eat, shit, fight, and fuck?

[0x8BADF00D]

I agree but in order to have a “better society” governed by the “better angels of our nature”, you essentially need a bully. You need an entity that does all of the morally “bad” things.

[api]

I think you need an entity capable of doing the bad things, if only to stand up to others who do, but I'm not convinced there is some conservation of badness that prohibits the net amount of it from decreasing over time.