22AR27-37

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AR 27:37 - An "incredible achievement" in world religion study

In this issue:

ATHEISM - what happened to America's atheist revolution?

+ Sam Harris admits to "supporting a conspiracy theory if it means subverting an election"

WORLD RELIGIONS - Philip Jenkins in rapture over The Religious Revolution

Apologia Report 27:37 (1,590)
October 28, 2022

ATHEISM

"A Decade After the First Reason Rally, What Happened to America's Atheist Revolution?" by Aysha Khan (Religion & Politics, Aug 30 '22) -- Within the last decade, ten to thirty thousand "atheists, humanists, and skeptics descended by the busload upon the National Mall in Washington to attend the Reason Rally, the largest-ever gathering of nonbelievers." However, "a follow-up rally held on the Mall in 2016 saw lackluster turnout."

Khan describes how "political apathy hasn't been helped by atheist and humanist leaders' failures. ...

"American atheism and humanism were popularly linked to Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and the other so-called Four Horsemen of New Atheism [the other two being Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens]. Their hyper-intellectualism and brash anti-religious polemics left an unpleasant taste in the mouths of many non-believers and moderate believers. It became difficult to disrupt the longstanding image of atheists as angry white men in their 50s. ...

"Many of the old guard atheist leaders have faded from the mainstream spotlight - some in disgrace, like American Atheists' firebrand former president David Silverman, after facing #MeToo-era sexual misconduct allegations. Their downfall heralded a broader split between right-wing reactionary atheist circles and atheist organizations explicitly committed to social justice issues. Recently, more atheist and humanist groups have moved away from anti-religion evangelism."

Khan reviews history, mentioning that in the early 2000s "the Secular Coalition of Arizona had become the country's first organization with a full-time lobbyist advocating for the state's non-theists. Arizona humanist James Woods' 2014 campaign as the only openly atheist candidate running for Congress in the country, though unsuccessful, made national headlines. And in 2012 the state voted Democrat Kyrsten Sinema into Congress, where she became the first member to list her religion as 'none.'

"Leaders of the statewide movement for secular political representation believe they've largely fulfilled their aims."

Then, "by the 2016 primaries, nine openly atheist or humanist candidates were running for office in Arizona, more than in any other state. All nine were working with Spectrum, then the country's only communications strategists focused on humanism and non-religious movements."

Khan goes on to discuss the movement's current status and strategy. She notes that, in the words of Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau <www.jberlinerblau.com>, "The movement's crown jewel ... may well be the Satanic Temple's legal project for religious freedom, which critics accuse of mocking religious liberty claims."

Meanwhile, the Center for Freethought Equality (the American Humanist Association's political advocacy arm) "has identified more than 90 elected officials who openly identify as atheists or humanists. ...

"Organizations have emerged nationally to help guide, fund, and support secular candidates. ...

"Dedicated secularist lobbying agencies are also beginning to emerge, too. ...

"The rise in religiously unaffiliated Americans has also pushed lawmakers, religious and non-religious alike, to offer their support to secular causes and communities." <www.bit.ly/3D39xA6> (Oh my. Is he as bad off as everybody else?)

Sam Harris seems to have damaged his case for an atheistic "moral landscape." Exhibit A: The segment "Prominent Podcaster Sam Harris Admits a Conspiracy to Prevent Trump Presidency Was 'Warranted' and 'Would Not Have Cared' If Hunter Hid Corpses of Children" by Brian Lupo (Gateway Pundit, Aug 18 '22) -- "Sam Harris was on the latest episode of TRIGGERnometry yesterday when he made a series of disturbing remarks. The left-leaning philosopher openly supported the dissemination of disinformation that we were subjected to prior to the 2020 election regarding Hunter Biden's laptop."

In the podcast Harris unapologetically justifies the deception: "At that point, Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement. I would not have cared." And a bit later: "Trump University, as a story, is worse than anything that could be in Hunter Biden's laptop. ...

"Now that doesn't answer the people who say 'it's still completely unfair to not have looked at the laptop in a timely way and to have shut down the NY Post Twitter count. That's a left wing conspiracy to deny the presidency to Donald Trump.' Absolutely it was. Absolutely. But I think it was warranted."

Lupo laments that conservatives "have been censored, banned, suspended, cast out and put aside over factual stories that get labeled misinformation and disinformation. ...

"And here you have a podcaster, author, philosopher and Twitter influencer with over 1.5 million followers admitting to supporting a conspiracy theory if it means subverting an election for someone he doesn't like, regardless of whether or not its true." <www.bit.ly/3VybMCz> (A link to the unfortunate video with Harris mentioned above is included.)

Also see ...

* - "Sam Harris takes jab at those who believe in heaven: Maybe listen to some ancient voices?" by Terry Mattingly (GetReligion, Sep 4 '22) <www.bit.ly/3siYqwA>

* - "Sam Harris is wrong about science and morality" by bioethicist Brian Earp, who writes that in Harris's booklet "Lying" <www.amzn.to/3DAU9LE> he "says, in effect, you should never, ever, do it,” arguing that Harris's "moral landscape" is "not scientifically determined as he claims." <www.bit.ly/3FrKacP>

---

WORLD RELIGIONS

When Philip Jenkins (Distinguished Professor, History; co-director, Program on Historical Studies of Religion, Baylor University) praises a new history of world religions as an "incredible achievement," we sit up and take notice. He's referring to The Religious Revolution: The Birth of Modern Spirituality, 1848-1898, by Dominic Green. <www.bit.ly/3yU3hYP>

Jenkins' describes the book as "a superbly written account of a thrilling era in intellectual and cultural history." On top of that, "it is hard to imagine anyone so erudite that they would not learn immensely from this book."

For those not familiar with the reviewer, Jenkins has consistently been one of the leading personalities AR has followed over the years, first appearing in March of 2002. (However, our current archive doesn't quite go back that far. Nevertheless, a search for his name there still returns 30 hits.) <www.bit.ly/3Dfc5Ly>

OK. What makes The Religious Revolution so special? The range of time covered by Green is explored "by focusing on some twenty key thinkers and activists" whose "careers and intellectual courses [that Green uses] as a means of presenting the ideas and currents of the age, frequently cutting between apparently unrelated contexts and situations, in the manner of a very accomplished novelist or filmmaker [employing] set-piece scenes and confrontations....

"[F]undamental to his argument is the interplay between the new forms of Western modernity and the religions of the East, especially those of India." Green reveals the "thoroughgoing reconstruction of the religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, which struggled to rethink themselves in order to confront the Western Christian threat."

Prominently featured is "the Theosophical movement founded by Helena Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Olcott" who are "Arguably ... the book's heroes...." (Bet you never thought you'd read such a remark in AR, eh?)

"Between about 1880 and 1930, Theosophical influence in every major European tradition can scarcely be overstated, [as it eventually] marked the beginning of most aspects of the New Age....

"At the same moment ... Hindus saw how Christian missionaries won such successes by distributing New Testaments, they realized the virtues of a single concise book that could encapsulate their own teachings. Hence the popularity of the Bhagavad Gita.... The great Hindu reformer of this era was Swami Vivekananda, who appropriated what proved useful from the missionaries." Jenkins calls Vivekananda "the superstar" of the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Vivekananda also "had many counterparts in other traditions, including in Buddhism, which learned from American Transcendentalism."

What follows is a balancing insight for some recent criticism of religious growth: "In an age when cultural appropriation is viewed as cardinal sin, it is healthy to be reminded that such acts of borrowing and outright theft are the essential means by which faiths, and cultures, develop and adapt to changing conditions. Small religions borrow; great religions steal."

During the mid-to-late 1800s, "The most important thinker was Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, known from his origin as al-Afghani, who is the ultimate source of much modern Islamist thought and activism." Al-Afghani "was a Johnny Appleseed, wandering the world sowing reformist ideas," and he and his followers "resembled their Western progressive counterparts in using freemasonry as a vehicle for spiritual reform, and al-Afghani headed Egypt's Masonic lodges. ... (Repeat after us: "The following statement is perfectly reasonable given the former.")

"I was surprised not to see Green say much or indeed anything about freemasonry: the term is not included in the quite thorough index. Without freemasonry, it is impossible to understand the esoteric traditions that are so central to his theme. ...

"How, then, could anyone doubt that this was a, or the, religious revolution?

"Actually, an alternative view is possible. As an intellectual exercise, look at the past eight centuries or so, and choose any half-century period. ... For what comparable time period could we not posit a sweeping religious revolution, and one that is transnational rather than merely European or Euro-American?"

Given Jenkins' expertise in related fields, it's no surprise to see his "shoulda included" reply from 30,000 feet above. Even so, he finds that "some of [Green's] omissions are surprising. In terms of mainstreaming esoteric and metaphysical ideas, I would put far more stress than he does on the Christian Science tradition and its offshoots.... [A]t the turn of the 20th century ... Mark Twain was projecting that by the year 2000, the world's two dominant religious traditions would be Christian Science and the Roman Catholic Church."

In addition, "The book offers no sense of the African ventures that would produce the mass conversion of so much of that continent in the 20th century, which was arguably the world's single greatest religious change in that era."

Last, there is "Pentecostalism, which was technically a new movement from 1906, but which had clear antecedents during the time of Green's 'religious revolution.'" Modern Age (Intercollegiate Studies Institute), Fall 2021 (digital release Aug 29 '22), <www.bit.ly/3z0pCnH>

Also see John Wilson's brief - but helpful - assessment of the book's strengths and shortcomings in National Review, Apr 28 '22 <www.bit.ly/3szoSCz>. He characterizes Green as a "Jewish skeptic," adding that "it is not necessary to share Green’s understanding of religion in order to profit from his book; religious believers (such as myself) can learn from it and relish it even as they disagree with his framing."

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