Oh it's not only the astrology loons, you have the UFO crowd, conspiracy theories crowd, people who make their political cult leader a semi God, &c. it's also super easy to embrigade them in extremist causes by promising them to be part of a group
Instead of having one big cohesive group you get hundreds of sub groups with a lot of conflicts
I'm not advocating for going back to that, which wouldn't even be possible, just saying we lost something and what we replaced it with is lacking in a lot of aspects
Could you clarify what you consider as the thing we replaced the old tradition with? And what are its drawbacks?
I personally find it very liberating to not worry about someone else's concept of God or how the position of planets affect my future or how God judges everything I do. Religion and tradition has all the baggage that you associate with astrology loons and other conspiracy theorists.
Do you mean consumerism? If so, that isn't the result of replacing theocracy with scientific beliefs. Consumerism is the result of a highly imbalanced political belief. And it prioritizes momentary pleasures over long-term well being. It should have been possible to have a balanced and mostly self-sufficient life with a scientific world view. Unfortunately, we ended up prioritizing profits over happiness.
Instead of having one big cohesive group you get hundreds of sub groups with a lot of conflicts
I'm not advocating for going back to that, which wouldn't even be possible, just saying we lost something and what we replaced it with is lacking in a lot of aspects