So this tells us a couple of things:
1. If this whole oppressing women thing was ever about religion (that is their justification), they are pretty willing to forget religion when they need money.
2. That whole oil thing isn't going so great for them these days.
Your response was that all of "them" (hundreds or millions of people potentially depending on how you define it) are backward. Religion isn't math; it's subjective. Not a subscriber myself but I welcome the reinterpretation.
Oil / The economy isn't going so great. 1) It is certainly generating income and power. 2) The most wealthy and powerful beneficiary announced he's trying to distribute the money using that power and transform it in a positive way
No I'm sorry. It is objectively delusional.
That said: we have science now for the first bit, which is much more effective at that job minus the simplicity. What do we have to replace the second part?
I should probably expand on that somewhat tongue in cheek answer. It's a pretty cynical response, but there's truth in it. Following and/or playing sports provides people with a tribe and a set of shared values and camaraderie. Much like religion, I've never felt the need for this, but there's certainly a very large set of people who do.
No it's not. At least it's not in the case of Abraham religions. Each of these religions have texts that claim to come from God. And the content of these texts are about as open to interpretation as the sentences I'm typing now . . . which is not very. They're relatively clear and not all that open to interpretation.
On a related note, they are also increasing their use on solar. For one such example, see http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Saudi-Arabia-To-Sp...