Religion and Certainty

Dewey interprets Religion as functioning as a quest for Certainty, which, as he goes on to argue, neither it, nor its more rigorous descendant, Philosophy, can achieve.  So, he proposes that Probability is the more realistic alternative, an end to which Experimentalism is the best means.  He, thus, implicitly accepts the pre-philosophical premise that Uncertainty is an undesirable condition in need of a solution.  However, in his study of Art he expresses glimpses of a recognition that Uncertainty is not inherently an ill, e. g. when he praises variety as a vital correction to monotony.  Such observations imply that the deeper criticism of Religion is not that its quest for Certainty is unrealistic, but that it is unwelcome in contexts where creativity, novelty, adventure, etc. are called for, and, hence, lacks presumed universal scope.  Now, whether or not that is a criticism that can be formulated in Functionalist terms, i. e. as an adaptation to an environment, is unclear.  If not, then perhaps his study of Art reveals Dewey's abandonment of Functionalism.