"At least as much evil has been done by secular nations as religious ones."
This critique of secularism is more insightful than we usually give it credit for. Sure, the simplistic version is easy to counter: Look closely at any "evil" secular state and you'll see that the problem is not secularism, but a quasi-religious commitment to some ideology or personality. As Sam Harris famously quips, "I know of no society in recorded history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable." But the real force of this criticism is its implicit indictment of human nature. Without a robust religious tradition (so the argument goes), people will inevitably attach themselves to something else, be it a personality, nationality, political ideology or racial/ethnic group. The attachment will be every bit as irrational and dangerous as religion. Possibly more. That's just how people work. This criticism is not so easy to reject. We can point to all the individuals who get along just fine without religious convictions, but that's beside the point. A people does not always behave like an individual. We have Europe, I suppose, but the jury is still out there. Will liberal values hold up against the passion of Islam? Will "liberalism" itself become quasi-religious, persecuting the un- PC? Theoretically, this is an emperical question. It says nothing about the objective truth of any religion, of course, but it might inform our politics or social impact strategies if it were true. Most of us are not merely interested in getting rid of religion. We want to improve society. How would it affect us if the critisism were proved correct? Aaron --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
