Well said. I think of this as the Nietzschean problem: we could use a viable, non-embarrassing religion or myth, something to inspire us in the late-modern zeitgeist.

Your point about the perennial philosophy raises the contrast between theism and deism. I try to be clear about the target in this article. What's preposterous or anti-modern is theism, and more specifically exoteric, literalistic theism. I leave the esoteric, mystical traditions aside here.