Our generation, globally, is embarking on a new age of reason. More than
three centuries ago, classic political and theocratic views were objectified in
an age of reason, or enlightenment, whereby new discoveries in the
scientific community brought about natural explanations for the things
previously thought to be supernatural “Acts of God,” earlier referenced in more
notable works like the Quinque Viae by 13h-century scholar and theologian of
the Catholic Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas. (I
have previously blogged about the Quinque Viae here).
Scientific consciousness has advanced exponentially from the
building blocks established primarily by the French, and later the British.
Today we understand the physical properties and life cycles of stars, we
understand simple laws and theories, such as gravity or relativity. We continue
to further our position on broader theories such as evolution and the big bang.
Medical sciences are finding the causes and cures for diseases once thought to
be borne upon civilizations at the hands of an “angry God.”
Although only a very few examples, in short and with very
determined and critical thinking, we’re (rationally) explaining the things that
used to terrify less educated societies to the point of even sacrificing their
children to a God they felt would prevent an earthquake in respect for the offering
of their first-born. Early followers of religion (including Christianity) used
to bury (alive) their children in the postholes of buildings they would erect,
believing this would “calm the Gods.” There are numerous publications that
describe even more graphic and horrendous practices; all based on nothing more
than misunderstanding natural circumsatnces.
With only pure emotion, the antithetical, or religious point-of-view
could object to these postulates. However, with any integrity in intellectual
conscience, they cannot dispute their validity and perhaps more important, their
falsifiability. The scientific method is built to question itself in order to
always improve upon and bring further accuracy to substantially-backed
explanation for the circumstances and defined processes of our natural world.
This is an introspective quality that those rooted and confined within the
walls of religious doctrine are unable to fully engage. There is a
psychological block whereby fear of the unknown, or even questioning the
unreasonable, would have detrimental effects on one’s post-biological life.
It’s those fears that are gradually becoming diluted, and
not just among the more advanced cultures and societies.
The charts below demonstrate some interesting perspectives,
and arguably to a tangent, the world’s shift from religiosity to reason. These
charts were all sourced from the PEW Research
Center. (Click on any image to enlarge).
The first chart shows the perspective on belief by generation.
These next three charts breakdown thoughts on evolution. There are some interesting extrapolations that can be taken from these charts, not the least of which is the Evangelical aversion to the Theory of Evolution. Also noteworthy is the relation between education and the belief in that theory.
These charts display the results of questions asked with regards to social values and morality.
Finally, observing the perspectives of the second most populous of the three major monotheistic religions, some Islamic views on value and religious freedom.
There is a quiz available to test your knowledge of religion, not restricted to only Christianity. There's a history of atheists, agnostics, and humanists scoring much higher on these quizzes than those who stake a claim to being devout religious followers. Perhaps part of this reason is that in the quest to be honestly objective, most skeptics spend a much greater amount of time researching, understanding, cross-referencing, and approaching all religions at a depth greater than those who practice. In past posts on our Facebook Page, I've discussed the benefit to reading religious doctrine and history from both a linear and lateral perspective. I'll be blogging more about that in more detail soon. Those who practice tend to read in a linear way, which hinders them from seeing the inconsistencies contained within their very own texts. You can take the quiz here. Below were my results.
In addition to these charts, and the data trends contained within them, a poll was conducted by WIN-Gallup International in 2012, based on interviews with 50,000 people from 57 countries and five continents. Participants were asked, "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person, or a convinced atheist?"
The poll, called "The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism," found that the number of Americans who say they are "religious" dropped from 73 percent in 2005 (the last time the poll was conducted) to 60 percent in 2012. At the same time, the number of Americans who say they are atheists rose, from 1 percent to 5 percent.
The seven years between the polls is notable because 2005 saw the publication of "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris, the first in a wave of best-selling books on atheism by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and other so-called "New Atheists."
The poll provided similar trends around the world, with even sharper declines in religiosity demonstrated in Europe, particularly Ireland, where Catholicism has had deep roots for a few hundred years.
There are quite a few topical points that can become a product of religiosity, not the least of which is morality. There are, of course, charitable causes and services that religion provides; just as there are for secular communities and organizations. It is no less accurate to state that those with religion have no morality than it is to state that those without religion have no morality. It is the way in which those respective groups base their morality that is cause for the divide across our social society.
In a world where religion is so often used as a reason to proliferate absolutisms, one thing is certain; wherever religion has an intrusive influence, there is always unnecessary death and suffering. The list of examples fills volumes of texts, going back to ancient sacrificial acts, to the Crusades and Inquisitions, to terrorist acts such as those that took place on September 11, 2001 and more recently at the Boston Marathon.
Cultures practicing stricter doctrines might apply this more physically, where developed countries such as the United States utilize legislative means to try and subjugate objective moralities and beliefs. A person of moral conscience (religious or otherwise) needn’t look much further than the political opposition to gay rights, or attempts to legislate a woman’s personal health choices and reproductive rights, to see that extreme religious doctrine is still an oppression we contend with.
The good news, for a humanity that includes both religious followers as well as skeptics, is that trends clearly show a more conscientious generation on the horizon, with a desire to see the world’s diversity as a valuable asset, as opposed to an adversity that pontifications of conflicting absolutisms must roll over and remain contentious with. Humanity is waking up, and growing up. There are many of us, atheists of good character, who focus our energy on asserting what we can change and influence, rather than just wishing something true. And, there are many followers of religion who do in fact hold a more tolerable view of the world. The latter group, however, tends to award themselves less credit for their achievements, and often tries to excuse their failures or moral affronts through an ambiguous and subjective doctrine that has no evidential basis for reasonable belief.
More and more people are believing in themselves. As that philosophy of self-worth ratifies across borders, the world will eventually become a more cohesive place to live and productively share the wealth of perspectives we all have across this pale blue dot.
