The Future of Religion: Two Views

What is the future of religion? Is it even meaningful to speak of “religion” as an entity with a single future, or can we speak only of individual religions that wax and wane? For generations, humanists, atheists, and freethinkers (along with most sociologists) expected religion-as-a-whole to decline in the wake of expanding education and prosperity. …

Advanced sociological research has determined that dysfunctional socioeconomic factors are responsible for the origin and historical popularity of religious faith and that sci ence, secure prosperity, and consumerism are radically undermining faith all across the first world. Contrary to naysayers, the so-called secularization hypothesis (which predicts that social and scientific advances will drive a gradual …

The “Great God Debate” that ushered in the twenty-first century of our so-called Common Era brought atheism to the top of U.S. best-seller lists. This in itself i s historic: nothing quite like it has happened since the 1890s, when Mark Twain, Robert Ingersoll, and Jack London—world-class nonbelievers all—held mass audiences spellbound with their radical …

With the February 2009 bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth approaching, much commentary will appear about his accomplishments and character. We may hear about ambition, political skill, humor, compassion, and wisdom. We’ll probably hear little, though, about his religious unbelief. Lincoln’s cousin, Denny Hanks, said that when Lincoln was an Indiana teenager, “The Bible puzzled him, …

December 10, 2008, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There is much to celebrate but even more to fight for, as Islamic states have repeatedly resisted human-rights inspections and proposed Islam-specific rights schemes that place unacceptable limits on fundamental human freedoms. The Center for Inquiry has issued a position paper, …

At long last, a protracted and often fierce election campaign is over. America has selected its new president. We congratulate Barack Obama, and we pledge our support for his efforts! President-elect Obama will face awesome problems left over from the Bush administration. But let us focus on the positive. Obama is the first person of …

At long last, a protracted and often fierce election campaign is over. America has selected its new president. We congratulate Barack Obama, and we pledge our support for his efforts! President-elect Obama will face awesome problems left over from the Bush administration. But let us focus on the positive. Obama is the first person of …

The secular humanist movement has often been characterized, by friends and foes alike, primarily in terms of its unbelief: its atheism or agnosticism. Unfortunately, this tends to accentuate the negative aspects of secular humanism, giving short shrift to its affirmative ethical outlook. In fact, secular humanists strongly affirm a new planetary ethic. Secularists are making …

In his editorial (“The Two Imperatives of Planetary Ethics,” page 6) Paul Kurtz emphatically calls for secular humanists—and humans generally—to take action against oceanic dead zones and global poverty. Coastal-water eutrophication leads a grim lineup of ecological threats: global warming; freshwater depletion; and contamination by antibiotic residues, synthetic chemicals, and heavy metals, to name only …

A random observation: members and supporters of secular (humanist/atheist/freethought, etc.) organizations are seldom reluctant to voice their disagreement with a particular point of view. This is not necessarily bad. In fact, it can be a desirable trait, at least when contrasted with the submissiveness one sometimes finds among the religious. Nonetheless, a tendency to be …

When people say “Money is the root of all evil,” they don’t usually mean that it is money itself that is the root of evil. Like Paul, from whom the quote comes, they have in mind the love of money. Could money itself, whether we are greedy for it or not, be a problem? Karl …

“Some Americans question religion’s role in politics,” the Pew Forum announced in August 2008, citing new survey evidence that a “narrow majority” of the public agreed that “churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters.” Pew speculated that increased skepticism about church involvement in politics reflected “frustration and disillusionment among social …

Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have adamantly opposed Turkey’s bid to join the European Union on the grounds that Turkey, a Muslim nation, does not belong in Christian Europe. They worry that the i nclusion of Turkey, coupled with Muslim migrations into Europe and the declining European birthrate, will undermine the Christian character …

The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, by David Berlinski (New York: Random House/Crown Forum, 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-39626) 256 pp. Cloth $23.95. Faith is that quality which enables us to believe what we know to be untrue. —From Boners: Seriously Misguided Facts—According to Schoolkids, by Alexander Abingdon Reviews of putatively serious nonfiction books are …

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God, by Guy P. Harrison (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59102-567-2) 354 pp. Paper $16.95. Guy Harrison’s 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God is not an acerbic critique of religion, and it is not a mean-spirited attack on believers. It does not rely …

Religulous, written by Bill Maher, directed by Larry Charles, produced by Thousand Words, distributed by Lionsgate. 101 minutes. Anyone familiar with Bill Maher’s television work should suspect that his documentary about religion would have a certain . . . point of view. His show Politically Incorrect, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1994 (and …

The Reverend Michael Dowd and his wife, science writer Connie Barlow, have lived permanently on the road for six years, sharing their “sacred view of evolution” with religious and secular audiences of all ages. Dowd recently discussed his new book, Thank God for Evolution, with D.J. Grothe, associate editor of Free Inquiry. Free Inquiry: Obviously, …

A Matter of (Quality) Life or Death The title of Nat Hentoff’s article “The Death Brigade” (FI, October/November 2008) is emotionally charged. I am a retired Oregon physician. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act has proven to be one of the best-crafted laws ever devised. None of the worries predicted by those against the law …

Quelle Horreur! Que passé en la terre de laïcité? On a visit to France in September, Pope Benedict XVI called on the country to relax its rather strict separation of church and state—laïcité, or secularism—which other countries in western Europe increasingly try to emulate. The “pontiff” seems to be playing the same card as U.S. …

One of America’s great humanists was the philosopher and psychologist William James (1842–1910). James served as a vital bridge between the humanism of the transcendentalists and the revival of humanism in the 1920s and 30s. His largest contribution to humanism consisted in his eagerness to champion the individual person and the personal perspective, the direct …

The following passages have been selected from the first publication of the essay “What Makes a Life Significant” in Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life& rsquo;s Ideals (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1899), pp. 265–301.—Eds. A few summers ago I spent a happy week at the famous Assembly …

A Challenge to the Fairness Principle of Secular Humanism In “The Principles of Fairness: Progressive Taxation” (Free Inquiry, October/November 2006) Paul Kurtz presented the most convincing ethical argument I have ever read in opposition to current U.S. government income and wealth tax-policies, both of which are becoming increasingly regressive. As a professional sociologist (now retired), …

“Evil visited us yesterday and we don’t know why.” — Ron Taylor, the headmaster of a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, where, in 1996, a madman murdered sixteen children Because evil is in the mad cell, Not merely the madman outside the cell, Because the devil is not Only in the details but inherent, We inherit an …