Quote for the day
"In the US, the religious Right numbers about 35 million. Recent polls show that about 30 million Americans define themselves as having no religious commitment.
But whereas the religious Right is a formidable body whose con-stituent churches and movements have salaried administrators, vast funds, television and radio outlets, and paid Washington lobbyists, America's non-religious folk are simply unconnected individuals.
It is no surprise that the religious Right has political clout and can make a loud noise in the American public square, whereas the non-religious voice is muted.
There are two main reasons for the hardening of responses by non-religious folk.
One is that any increase in the influence of religious bodies in society threatens the de facto secular arrangement that allows all views and none to coexist. History has shown that in societies where one religious outlook becomes dominant, an uneasy situation ensues for other outlooks; at the extreme, religious control of society can degenerate into Taliban-like rule."
Professor Grayling was a participant in a recent public debate in London on the motion "We'd be better off without religion" -- note that the audience vote after the debate favored the motion (that is, it supported the atheist position).
But whereas the religious Right is a formidable body whose con-stituent churches and movements have salaried administrators, vast funds, television and radio outlets, and paid Washington lobbyists, America's non-religious folk are simply unconnected individuals.
It is no surprise that the religious Right has political clout and can make a loud noise in the American public square, whereas the non-religious voice is muted.
There are two main reasons for the hardening of responses by non-religious folk.
One is that any increase in the influence of religious bodies in society threatens the de facto secular arrangement that allows all views and none to coexist. History has shown that in societies where one religious outlook becomes dominant, an uneasy situation ensues for other outlooks; at the extreme, religious control of society can degenerate into Taliban-like rule."
Professor Grayling was a participant in a recent public debate in London on the motion "We'd be better off without religion" -- note that the audience vote after the debate favored the motion (that is, it supported the atheist position).
Labels: Religion
posted by Infidel753 at 9:06 AM
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