Speaking at the Lambeth conference, the chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has said that almost all of the ills that plague modern society are caused by our lack of religion.

Since we stopped going to church we've become a nation of fat, isolated, divorced, graceless and uncaring slobs who spend all our time online creating "ever smaller sects of the like-minded."

Families are falling apart, loneliness is escalating and so on.

The ills that he identifies are all real, of course. Obesity is becoming an epidemic, more people are complaining about depression and isolation and divorce is on the rise.

But isn't the same true of the US – with knobs on? And isn't the States supposed to be one of the most religious nations in the world, not to mention one of the most violent?

I have a different explanation from the rabbi about the way that our society is developing. I believe that some of the things that he complains about are not necessarily negative at all. The rising divorce rate could simply be an acknowledgment that marriage doesn't work for everyone. It is only since we have been released from the shackles of religion that we have we been able to do anything about it. In days of old, when religion ruled every aspect of our lives, divorce was not an option, except for the very rich.

And so millions (mainly women) endured lives of utter misery in marriages that verged on torture.

Obesity is a sign of our affluence, not of our atheism. In deeply religious countries in the developing world there is little obesity. But that has nothing to do with religion restraining people's greed, it is to do with poverty and lack of opportunity.

Yes, new technology can be isolating, we know that, and a new publication by a government advisor suggests that we should be less materialistic and send fewer emails if we want to be happy. But being less materialistic doesn't necessarily mean we have to once more embrace the incredible claims of religion. There are other ways to be philanthropic that don't involve taking orders from priests. Many non-believers work in hospitals, welfare services and voluntary groups. They get a lot of personal satisfaction from such work that goes well beyond the (usually miserly) pay packet.

Yes, we need to make a real effort to take our eyes off the computer monitor and set them on to real people. To do our communication face-to-face rather than through the keyboard. There is something truly uplifting about a good conversation with someone we like, and in solving problems together in person.

Rabbi Sacks thinks we should all troop back to church/synagogue and all the problems would be solved. We would stop splitting into ever smaller interest groups, he says. But then, he was talking to the Anglican Communion, so they would be able to understand precisely with what he's saying.