Sounds like it comes from the same folks who gave us the phrase "Alpha Male," viz, amateur zoologist tries to draw conclusions about humans from looking at animals, and ends up giving us misleading metaphors.
"Homo sapiens indeed has its vaunted reason, it has also been stuck with ossified behavioral patterns and psychological dynamics that persist in its religious values and strictures"
Not sure you can toss out all animal observations. Homo Sapiens is a primate, and we can observe other primates, and make comparisons. Maybe some comparisons are more 'speculative' than others, but you can't ignore all of them because it it violates some idea that god created humans in his image.
Our brain evolved in some type of environment of competition and social organization. Nothing wrong wondering why we would develop a religion. Maybe as some hold over from an earlier organization.
