[tinco]

Thanks for that angle, my fathers family is protestant, as most are in the north of The Netherlands, and I never identified much with any religion at all. I feel this held me back when trying to convey my belief system to theists.

With the angle of protestant beliefs I can perhaps just convince them of their value, and let them figure out the rest on their own.

[lotsofmangos]

You may find John Gray interesting. His view is very roughly that secular humanism and the ideals of the enlightenment, especially the idea that moral and intellectual progress should correlate, are extensions rather than disownments of religious dogma.

Here's a taste of his kind of take on things - http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2009/12/past-decade-world-...

I would strongly recommend his book Straw Dogs, though it is very polemic in style.