One consistent theme in my writing about science and religion is that there is an awful lot of randomness in the world, and that supernatural beliefs typically deny this randomness.

Here’s a discussion of some recent psychological research that connects nicely. Religiosity is often associated with an inability to accept randomness.

I should probably add a qualification. I have run into some more strict-rationalist nonbelievers who also object to randomness, and who also are compelled by the intuition that there has to be a reason for everything. Such nonbelievers, however, favor nonanthropomorphic causes. So perhaps a good broad-brush characterization of religious psychology is rejection of randomness in favor of anthropomorphic hidden causes.