Below is an essay by Andrew Sullivan. It is rather lengthy but it is quite an eye-opener. Also, please pay close attention to the various responses from people inside and outside the USA.
There’s a new power in America – atheism.
The faithless are a growing force as the churches duck the challenges of the age. There is one thing that is not allowed in American national politics, and that is atheism. “In God We Trust” is on the currency; and the number of congressional members who avow no faith at all are about as plentiful as those who are openly gay (none in the Senate; five in the House).
Under the last president, religious faith – evangelical Christianity or Benedict-style Catholicism – was a prerequisite for real access to the inner circle. But the requirement is not just Republican. Among the more excruciating campaign events of last year was a faith summit for the Democrats in which candidates vied with one another to express the most piety. Barack Obama’s Christianity – educated, nuanced, social – is in many ways more striking than that of, say, Nixon, Truman or Eisenhower.
Americans are losing faith, though; and those who still have it are moving out of established churches. The nonreligious are now the third biggest grouping in the US, after Catholics and Baptists, according to the just-released American Religious Identification Survey. The bulk of this shift occurred in the 1990s, when they jumped from 8% to 14% of the population, but they have consolidated in the past decade to 15%.
As elsewhere in the West, mainline Protestantism has had the biggest drop from 19% to 13%. Despite heavy Latino immigration, the proportion of Catholics has drifted down since 1990, and their numbers have shifted dramatically from the northeast and the rust belt to the south and west. Take South Carolina, a state you might associate with hardcore Protestant evangelicalism. It certainly does exist there but in that southern state, the percentage of Catholics has almost doubled since 1990 and the percentage of atheists has tripled.
America, it turns out, is a more complicated spiritual place than the stereotypes might imply. Islam is still tiny and integrated and largely successful. Catholicism, while buoyant among new Hispanic immigrants (who are, nonetheless, drifting rapidly towards evangelicalism in the southern hemisphere whence they came), has plummeted in its heartland. Think of Massachusetts, the home of the Irish, the Italians, and Portuguese. In 1990, Catholics accounted for 54% of all residents of the Kennedys’ state. That’s now 39%.
The bulk of these ex-Catholics joined no other faith group, and the number of residents claiming no religion at all jumped from 8% to 22%. Of course, the sex abuse scandal played a powerful part. One of the chief enablers and protectors of abusive priests, Cardinal Bernard Law, was based in Boston and escaped real accountability by being given a prestigious sinecure in Rome. The Irish and Italians in Massachusetts did not forget.
In many ways the most interesting dynamic is that between mega-church, politicised evangelicalism and atheism. Mega-churches have emerged in many suburban neighborhoods in America and now serve as community centers, as social-work hubs and as venues for what most outsiders would think of as stadium-style Sunday rock shows, in which religion looks like a form of fandom. Charismatic preachers, like the now disgraced Ted Haggard or the politically powerful Rick Warren, have built massive congregations.
The movement has spawned its own shadow pop music industry, co-opts the popular culture as any brand-conscious franchise would, and has a completely informal form of worship. Go to one of these places and it feels like a town in itself with shops, daycare centers, conference rooms and social networking groups. The car parks feel like those in sports stadiums, and the atmosphere evokes a big match. In 20 years, the number of Americans finding identity and God in these places has soared from 200,000 to more than 8 million.
This is not, one hastens to add, an intellectual form of faith. It is a highly emotional and spontaneous variety of American Protestantism and theologically a blend of self-help, biblical literalism and Republican politics. This is, in many ways, how George W. Bush re-framed conservatism in America, and with one in three Americans now calling themselves evangelical, you can see the political temptation. The problem was that the issues the evangelicals focused obsessively on --- abortion, gays, stem cells, feeding tubes for those in permanent vegetative states –-- often came to seem warped to many others. Those who might once have passively called themselves Christian suddenly found the label toxic, if it meant identifying with such a specific political agenda. And so as evangelicalism rose, atheism and non affiliation emerged as a reaction.
It is impossible to know where this is heading, but the latest survey is a reminder to exercise a little skepticism when you hear of America’s religious exceptionalism. Yes, America is far more devout than most of western Europe; but it is not immune to the broader crises facing established religion in the West. The days when America’s leading intellectuals contained a strong cadre of serious Christians are over. There is no Thomas Merton in our day, no Reinhold Niebuhr, Walker Percy, or Flannery O’Connor. In the arguments spawned by the new atheist wave, the Christian respondents have been underwhelming. As one evangelical noted in a recent issue of The Christian Science Monitor, “. .. .being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of evangelicals can’t articulate the gospel with any coherence. . . ."
The quality of the Catholic priesthood has also drifted downward. The next generation of priests is more orthodox, but also more insular and less engaged with the wider world. There are a few exceptions. The 29-year-old orthodox Catholic, Ross Douthat, has just won a treasured opinion column slot in The New York Times. But he is sadly an exception that proves a more general rule. American Christianity may be stronger in some pockets, but it is dumber too. In the end, it is the free market-place of ideas and beliefs that will count.
What one yearns for is a resuscitation of a via media in American religious life --- the role that the established Protestant churches once played. Or at least an understanding that religion must absorb and explain the new facts of modernity, the deepening of the Darwinian consensus in the sciences, the irrefutable scriptural scholarship that makes biblical literalism intellectually contemptible, the shifting shape of family life, the new reality of openly gay people, the fact of gender equality in the secular world. It seems to me that American Christianity, despite so many resources, has ignored its intellectual responsibility. And atheists, if this continues much longer, will continue to pick up that slack.
Atheism just rejects all philosophies based on "supernaturalism" and "faith" (in my view, a vice). Atheism is not a philosophy although some confuse their particular philosophic views with atheism. If you decide to escape religion, you will have to find a philosophy based on reality and reason. -- Mel M, Berkeley, CA, USA
To define atheism as a reaction to a supreme being or others' belief in a supreme being is inaccurate. An atheist has a working theory that we're out here on our own and we need to deal with the world and other people on that basis.
-- Elizabeth Margareta Griffith, Tampa, FL, USA
All points well taken, but nearly every comment betrays ignorance of the writings of the last two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is irrefutable that they were/are intellectual giants. Yet they have the greatest faith. -- Cory, Princeton, NJ, USA
"And atheists. . .will continue to pick up that slack." Good for us, I'd say. If people stop worrying about doing God's will, they can start concentrating on what would be good for fellow humans. -- Sophie Amrain, Munich, Germany
Just be good for goodness' sake. Religion is a great way to pull humanity up from barbarism, but what then? -- Philip Anderson, Chatham, MA, USA
I think this column was very interesting. One point Mr. Sullivan didn't really highlight (although he does quite frequently on his blog) is the role fundamentalist thought plays in the decreasing intellectual role of Christianity in America. Thought leads to questions that can't be easily answered -- Kathy Petz, Blue Bell, USA
Philip Jenkin's (professor of history and religious studies at Penn State) book The Next Christendom would probably be of interest to readers here. While one could argue that Christianity is dying in the West, it is growing explosively in the global South and East. The West itself may be dying. --- Jonathan, St. Louis, MO, USA
"John: I disagree with the suggesting that faith and reason must be mutually exclusive as qualities inherent in an individual. Faith, is to believe without evidence, or in the face of contrary evidence. If that is "reasonable" then, you and the dictionary have a different understanding of the word. -- Ferran, London, UK
With all due respect to John in Melbourne. Reason by definition requires a reason to assert a thing as "true" with proof and evidence. I have "faith" in a better future, but I can't prove it, just as a "believer" can't prove any one of the world's hundreds of invisible "gods". Belief is not fact. -- Chris Aable, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
Atheism gives nothing (to society, charity, people) has nothing to offer except eternal obliteration. I've tried it; I'll pass. The religious climate is much like the other; cyclical. There will be times of heat and times of coolness. But hard times tend to bring people to their knees. -- Steve, Julian, CA, USA
I am a Christian, and one more inclined toward the evangelical than traditional expression, but I think the article is fair. I don't, however, agree with the comments suggesting that faith and reason must be mutually exclusive as qualities inherent in an individual.
-- John, Melbourne, Australia
I'm going to have to disagree with Sandy. Our country was founded on the belief that every individual is free to his or her beliefs. I, personally, am glad that atheism is on the rise. But I also have the sympathy and enough of an open mind to respect every individuals beliefs. -- Katie, California, USA
I think the end of religion in it's current form is on the horizon. It just won't be possible to deny reason in the face of proof for much longer and still be able to contribute to society in a meaningful way. I am so ready for this to happen. -- Dan, Raleigh, NC, USA
Soothsayers & alchemists once were respected until science ended their role in society. Similarly religion will wither as science & reason lays bare its inconsistencies. Faith may persevere for we still need it to cope with the harsh realities of life but religious dogma must surely die. -- Sanjay, Royal Oak, MI, USA
Reading this article hurts my heart. Our country was founded on Christian, Godly principles. I t is true, our world has strayed far away from them, which I read many of you applaud. I believe that this is the reason that the world is so messed up! May the Lord have mercy on us. God loves you all! -- Sandy, Hawaii, USA
As an atheist becoming acquainted with more and more history, my respect for religion in general and Christianity in particular grows, and I honestly do hope for a rebirth of intellectual Christianity, especially in America. I'd rather have Christians like Darwin and Babbage than Bush and Limbaugh. -- Boris, Minneapolis, MN, USA
I am a former Lutheran chaplain, [but] not now affiliated with any religion. Yet my expression of self is wholly based on Spirit, as is true for others I know as well. Translate: Not all of the "unaffiliated" are rationalists. Rather, there are those who see the Sacred Divine...in everyone and everything. -- Barbyrah Fluor, Minneapolis, MN, USA
The decline of irrational, often violent and always mythological and superstitious, religious beliefs inherited from our ignorant bronze age ancestors is likely a good thing. The gap in social infrastructure as churches decline may be a bad thing.
-- J. R. Shipley, Iowa city, IA, USA
As a nonbeliever who recently identified with a religious tradition, I'd like to suggest that the impact of 9/11 should not be underestimated. Our respect for belief, and our identification with believers, was irretrievably lost on that day. And I would like to second Paul Fidalgo's sentiment. -- Ken Pidcock, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
Unlike most of the responders today, I yearn for a passionate, articulate faith. I wonder where the contemporary Reinhold Niebuhrs might be? -- Diane Roth, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Christian intellectual irresponsibility is nothing new. History suggests it can be expected. Recall the Church's reaction to Galileo and Darwin, yet without the contributions of these men we scarcely would know where or what we are. -- Scott, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Religion is an explanation of reality humans developed when we knew nothing. We no longer need it. I hope and believe that Sullivan will someday accept this, and cast off religion himself. His mind is too good to waste on agonizing over how to reconcile ancient superstition with modern knowledge. -- Jeffrey Deboo, Portland, OR, USA
I think the rise of the religious right and their preoccupation with issues such as homosexuality, stem cells, abortion and science bashing was part of a society that had nothing else to worry about, in other words pure decadence. Times have changed, now we have real worries! -- Marc Hesse, Providence, RI, USA
Christians have taken a bad wrap. I agree it has taken a turn for the worse, and it must get back to its true roots. Christianity is not about pushing a political agenda. It's always been about love and respect for others and self. When it returns to those roots, it will have relevance again. -- Kent W., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
As an atheist, I want to say "God, I hope so!" As society matures and becomes more educated, there is less and less need of superstition of any form. We can get a handle on morality without invoking an external power, and this has been the sole virtue of religion for most people. -- Forrest, Randolph, VT, USA
Religion had its purpose but now it is doing nothing but holding humanity back. Keep the good things, such as community, but drop faith. Let's stop believing in god, and start believing in ourselves. If a fictional character is all that holds us together, no wonder we are always at war. -- Jonah, New York, USA
The problem was that the issues the evangelicals focused obsessively on – abortion, gays, stem cells, feeding tubes for those in permanent vegetative states – often came to seem warped to many others. For me, that's the take away line. If that's what Christianity is, count me out. -- Paul Girard, Sacramento, CA, USA
What one yearns for is a resuscitation..." I definitely don't yearn for this. Religion must absorb and explain the new facts of modernity. The problem is, the more facts you have the less you need religion. What we really need is, simply, less religion.
-- Justin, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Good news but still a very long way to go. It is no accident that the most irreligious societies are also the most highly educated. There are many in the US who need to drop the bronze age fairy tales into the dustbin of history and embrace a life of reason. This appears to be finally happening. -- Jason Mead, Bristol, England
Mr. Sullivan, you show great respect to atheists, with whom I know you do not agree, and it is very much appreciated. Your embrace of intellectual integrity is refreshing, and I thank you for a thoughtful piece. -- Paul Fidalgo, Washington, DC, USA
Seconding Mr. Fidalgo's sentiments: thank you for your respectful engagement with those of us who're non-theists of whatever stripe. That's vanishingly rare. I consider my worldview richer for the influence of serious Christian thinkers like Lewis, Niebuhr, Merton & Percy. I'd welcome their return. -- CMW, St. Louis, MO, USA
Written by Arthur Sullivan
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There’s a new power in America – atheism.
The faithless are a growing force as the churches duck the challenges of the age. There is one thing that is not allowed in American national politics, and that is atheism. “In God We Trust” is on the currency; and the number of congressional members who avow no faith at all are about as plentiful as those who are openly gay (none in the Senate; five in the House).
Under the last president, religious faith – evangelical Christianity or Benedict-style Catholicism – was a prerequisite for real access to the inner circle. But the requirement is not just Republican. Among the more excruciating campaign events of last year was a faith summit for the Democrats in which candidates vied with one another to express the most piety. Barack Obama’s Christianity – educated, nuanced, social – is in many ways more striking than that of, say, Nixon, Truman or Eisenhower.
Americans are losing faith, though; and those who still have it are moving out of established churches. The nonreligious are now the third biggest grouping in the US, after Catholics and Baptists, according to the just-released American Religious Identification Survey. The bulk of this shift occurred in the 1990s, when they jumped from 8% to 14% of the population, but they have consolidated in the past decade to 15%.
As elsewhere in the West, mainline Protestantism has had the biggest drop from 19% to 13%. Despite heavy Latino immigration, the proportion of Catholics has drifted down since 1990, and their numbers have shifted dramatically from the northeast and the rust belt to the south and west. Take South Carolina, a state you might associate with hardcore Protestant evangelicalism. It certainly does exist there but in that southern state, the percentage of Catholics has almost doubled since 1990 and the percentage of atheists has tripled.
America, it turns out, is a more complicated spiritual place than the stereotypes might imply. Islam is still tiny and integrated and largely successful. Catholicism, while buoyant among new Hispanic immigrants (who are, nonetheless, drifting rapidly towards evangelicalism in the southern hemisphere whence they came), has plummeted in its heartland. Think of Massachusetts, the home of the Irish, the Italians, and Portuguese. In 1990, Catholics accounted for 54% of all residents of the Kennedys’ state. That’s now 39%.
The bulk of these ex-Catholics joined no other faith group, and the number of residents claiming no religion at all jumped from 8% to 22%. Of course, the sex abuse scandal played a powerful part. One of the chief enablers and protectors of abusive priests, Cardinal Bernard Law, was based in Boston and escaped real accountability by being given a prestigious sinecure in Rome. The Irish and Italians in Massachusetts did not forget.
In many ways the most interesting dynamic is that between mega-church, politicised evangelicalism and atheism. Mega-churches have emerged in many suburban neighborhoods in America and now serve as community centers, as social-work hubs and as venues for what most outsiders would think of as stadium-style Sunday rock shows, in which religion looks like a form of fandom. Charismatic preachers, like the now disgraced Ted Haggard or the politically powerful Rick Warren, have built massive congregations.
The movement has spawned its own shadow pop music industry, co-opts the popular culture as any brand-conscious franchise would, and has a completely informal form of worship. Go to one of these places and it feels like a town in itself with shops, daycare centers, conference rooms and social networking groups. The car parks feel like those in sports stadiums, and the atmosphere evokes a big match. In 20 years, the number of Americans finding identity and God in these places has soared from 200,000 to more than 8 million.
This is not, one hastens to add, an intellectual form of faith. It is a highly emotional and spontaneous variety of American Protestantism and theologically a blend of self-help, biblical literalism and Republican politics. This is, in many ways, how George W. Bush re-framed conservatism in America, and with one in three Americans now calling themselves evangelical, you can see the political temptation. The problem was that the issues the evangelicals focused obsessively on --- abortion, gays, stem cells, feeding tubes for those in permanent vegetative states –-- often came to seem warped to many others. Those who might once have passively called themselves Christian suddenly found the label toxic, if it meant identifying with such a specific political agenda. And so as evangelicalism rose, atheism and non affiliation emerged as a reaction.
It is impossible to know where this is heading, but the latest survey is a reminder to exercise a little skepticism when you hear of America’s religious exceptionalism. Yes, America is far more devout than most of western Europe; but it is not immune to the broader crises facing established religion in the West. The days when America’s leading intellectuals contained a strong cadre of serious Christians are over. There is no Thomas Merton in our day, no Reinhold Niebuhr, Walker Percy, or Flannery O’Connor. In the arguments spawned by the new atheist wave, the Christian respondents have been underwhelming. As one evangelical noted in a recent issue of The Christian Science Monitor, “. .. .being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of evangelicals can’t articulate the gospel with any coherence. . . ."
The quality of the Catholic priesthood has also drifted downward. The next generation of priests is more orthodox, but also more insular and less engaged with the wider world. There are a few exceptions. The 29-year-old orthodox Catholic, Ross Douthat, has just won a treasured opinion column slot in The New York Times. But he is sadly an exception that proves a more general rule. American Christianity may be stronger in some pockets, but it is dumber too. In the end, it is the free market-place of ideas and beliefs that will count.
What one yearns for is a resuscitation of a via media in American religious life --- the role that the established Protestant churches once played. Or at least an understanding that religion must absorb and explain the new facts of modernity, the deepening of the Darwinian consensus in the sciences, the irrefutable scriptural scholarship that makes biblical literalism intellectually contemptible, the shifting shape of family life, the new reality of openly gay people, the fact of gender equality in the secular world. It seems to me that American Christianity, despite so many resources, has ignored its intellectual responsibility. And atheists, if this continues much longer, will continue to pick up that slack.
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Have Your Say
[Responses To The Above Article]
[Responses To The Above Article]
Atheism just rejects all philosophies based on "supernaturalism" and "faith" (in my view, a vice). Atheism is not a philosophy although some confuse their particular philosophic views with atheism. If you decide to escape religion, you will have to find a philosophy based on reality and reason. -- Mel M, Berkeley, CA, USA
To define atheism as a reaction to a supreme being or others' belief in a supreme being is inaccurate. An atheist has a working theory that we're out here on our own and we need to deal with the world and other people on that basis.
-- Elizabeth Margareta Griffith, Tampa, FL, USA
All points well taken, but nearly every comment betrays ignorance of the writings of the last two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is irrefutable that they were/are intellectual giants. Yet they have the greatest faith. -- Cory, Princeton, NJ, USA
"And atheists. . .will continue to pick up that slack." Good for us, I'd say. If people stop worrying about doing God's will, they can start concentrating on what would be good for fellow humans. -- Sophie Amrain, Munich, Germany
Just be good for goodness' sake. Religion is a great way to pull humanity up from barbarism, but what then? -- Philip Anderson, Chatham, MA, USA
I think this column was very interesting. One point Mr. Sullivan didn't really highlight (although he does quite frequently on his blog) is the role fundamentalist thought plays in the decreasing intellectual role of Christianity in America. Thought leads to questions that can't be easily answered -- Kathy Petz, Blue Bell, USA
Philip Jenkin's (professor of history and religious studies at Penn State) book The Next Christendom would probably be of interest to readers here. While one could argue that Christianity is dying in the West, it is growing explosively in the global South and East. The West itself may be dying. --- Jonathan, St. Louis, MO, USA
"John: I disagree with the suggesting that faith and reason must be mutually exclusive as qualities inherent in an individual. Faith, is to believe without evidence, or in the face of contrary evidence. If that is "reasonable" then, you and the dictionary have a different understanding of the word. -- Ferran, London, UK
With all due respect to John in Melbourne. Reason by definition requires a reason to assert a thing as "true" with proof and evidence. I have "faith" in a better future, but I can't prove it, just as a "believer" can't prove any one of the world's hundreds of invisible "gods". Belief is not fact. -- Chris Aable, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
Atheism gives nothing (to society, charity, people) has nothing to offer except eternal obliteration. I've tried it; I'll pass. The religious climate is much like the other; cyclical. There will be times of heat and times of coolness. But hard times tend to bring people to their knees. -- Steve, Julian, CA, USA
I am a Christian, and one more inclined toward the evangelical than traditional expression, but I think the article is fair. I don't, however, agree with the comments suggesting that faith and reason must be mutually exclusive as qualities inherent in an individual.
-- John, Melbourne, Australia
I'm going to have to disagree with Sandy. Our country was founded on the belief that every individual is free to his or her beliefs. I, personally, am glad that atheism is on the rise. But I also have the sympathy and enough of an open mind to respect every individuals beliefs. -- Katie, California, USA
I think the end of religion in it's current form is on the horizon. It just won't be possible to deny reason in the face of proof for much longer and still be able to contribute to society in a meaningful way. I am so ready for this to happen. -- Dan, Raleigh, NC, USA
Soothsayers & alchemists once were respected until science ended their role in society. Similarly religion will wither as science & reason lays bare its inconsistencies. Faith may persevere for we still need it to cope with the harsh realities of life but religious dogma must surely die. -- Sanjay, Royal Oak, MI, USA
Reading this article hurts my heart. Our country was founded on Christian, Godly principles. I t is true, our world has strayed far away from them, which I read many of you applaud. I believe that this is the reason that the world is so messed up! May the Lord have mercy on us. God loves you all! -- Sandy, Hawaii, USA
As an atheist becoming acquainted with more and more history, my respect for religion in general and Christianity in particular grows, and I honestly do hope for a rebirth of intellectual Christianity, especially in America. I'd rather have Christians like Darwin and Babbage than Bush and Limbaugh. -- Boris, Minneapolis, MN, USA
I am a former Lutheran chaplain, [but] not now affiliated with any religion. Yet my expression of self is wholly based on Spirit, as is true for others I know as well. Translate: Not all of the "unaffiliated" are rationalists. Rather, there are those who see the Sacred Divine...in everyone and everything. -- Barbyrah Fluor, Minneapolis, MN, USA
The decline of irrational, often violent and always mythological and superstitious, religious beliefs inherited from our ignorant bronze age ancestors is likely a good thing. The gap in social infrastructure as churches decline may be a bad thing.
-- J. R. Shipley, Iowa city, IA, USA
As a nonbeliever who recently identified with a religious tradition, I'd like to suggest that the impact of 9/11 should not be underestimated. Our respect for belief, and our identification with believers, was irretrievably lost on that day. And I would like to second Paul Fidalgo's sentiment. -- Ken Pidcock, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
Unlike most of the responders today, I yearn for a passionate, articulate faith. I wonder where the contemporary Reinhold Niebuhrs might be? -- Diane Roth, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Christian intellectual irresponsibility is nothing new. History suggests it can be expected. Recall the Church's reaction to Galileo and Darwin, yet without the contributions of these men we scarcely would know where or what we are. -- Scott, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Religion is an explanation of reality humans developed when we knew nothing. We no longer need it. I hope and believe that Sullivan will someday accept this, and cast off religion himself. His mind is too good to waste on agonizing over how to reconcile ancient superstition with modern knowledge. -- Jeffrey Deboo, Portland, OR, USA
I think the rise of the religious right and their preoccupation with issues such as homosexuality, stem cells, abortion and science bashing was part of a society that had nothing else to worry about, in other words pure decadence. Times have changed, now we have real worries! -- Marc Hesse, Providence, RI, USA
Christians have taken a bad wrap. I agree it has taken a turn for the worse, and it must get back to its true roots. Christianity is not about pushing a political agenda. It's always been about love and respect for others and self. When it returns to those roots, it will have relevance again. -- Kent W., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
As an atheist, I want to say "God, I hope so!" As society matures and becomes more educated, there is less and less need of superstition of any form. We can get a handle on morality without invoking an external power, and this has been the sole virtue of religion for most people. -- Forrest, Randolph, VT, USA
Religion had its purpose but now it is doing nothing but holding humanity back. Keep the good things, such as community, but drop faith. Let's stop believing in god, and start believing in ourselves. If a fictional character is all that holds us together, no wonder we are always at war. -- Jonah, New York, USA
The problem was that the issues the evangelicals focused obsessively on – abortion, gays, stem cells, feeding tubes for those in permanent vegetative states – often came to seem warped to many others. For me, that's the take away line. If that's what Christianity is, count me out. -- Paul Girard, Sacramento, CA, USA
What one yearns for is a resuscitation..." I definitely don't yearn for this. Religion must absorb and explain the new facts of modernity. The problem is, the more facts you have the less you need religion. What we really need is, simply, less religion.
-- Justin, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Good news but still a very long way to go. It is no accident that the most irreligious societies are also the most highly educated. There are many in the US who need to drop the bronze age fairy tales into the dustbin of history and embrace a life of reason. This appears to be finally happening. -- Jason Mead, Bristol, England
Mr. Sullivan, you show great respect to atheists, with whom I know you do not agree, and it is very much appreciated. Your embrace of intellectual integrity is refreshing, and I thank you for a thoughtful piece. -- Paul Fidalgo, Washington, DC, USA
Seconding Mr. Fidalgo's sentiments: thank you for your respectful engagement with those of us who're non-theists of whatever stripe. That's vanishingly rare. I consider my worldview richer for the influence of serious Christian thinkers like Lewis, Niebuhr, Merton & Percy. I'd welcome their return. -- CMW, St. Louis, MO, USA
Written by Arthur Sullivan
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