In local news, two questions have been added to the suggestion list. After a detailed essay by Kyle Eschen on the reasons why America is constitutionally not a Christian nation - I want to know why then, it most certainly is a Christian nation. Why are bible-bashers most commonly found in the most visionary secular nation in the world? And just why is it that here in Britain, almost exclusively lagging behind Scandinavia in terms of religious non-belief, does the population seem not too fussed? Does the lack of religion in the state mean people crave it more in their daily lives? And vice-versa – does its presence in the political system and the enshrined status of the CofE mean that in people's private lives, they'd just rather forget about the whole thing? Whilst, I'm guessing, the majority in Britain would perhaps vaguely believe in some kind of supernatural force in the universe, America is second to none for fervent Christianity. Why?
For the second question we look east. Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism... I haven't heard much talk from the new atheists about any of these religions (or faiths). Perhaps this can be put down to the unfamiliar nature of such religions, or, to put it bluntly, western ignorance. Do these faiths pose so much of a threat as the three monotheisms we are all familiar with? Can we learn anything from them? How do we battle such faiths? Feel free to pick up on any aspect of these religions you like.
I look forward to publishing your responses.
3 comments:
Just a point of clarification from a Singaporean, whose country serve as a meeting point of eastern and western values. Most people here are Buddhist (approx 60%), with a budding Christian population (approx 20%).
"Confucianism" can refer to two different things. The first would be a school of eastern philosophy, with values such as filial piety, respect for elders and the placing of society over the individual. This form of Confucianism does not have any deity worshipping, and can hardly be considered religion. Anyone seeking to understand eastern society fully needs to have a basic understanding of this form of confucianism.
The second form of Confucianism involves worshipping Confucius as a deity, and so qualifies as a religion.
I don't see Confuciansim, Taosim or indeed any eastern religion replacing the mainstream western ones anytime soon. For starters, these religions often require some understanding of the local language to be fully understood. Secondly, they are even more dubious in their beliefs than the western religions. Even in my own country, Taoists are becoming and endangered species. It is simply too hard to attract the more educated youngsters into a religion perceived as archaic and out of touch with the world.
Of all the horsemen, Christopher Hitchens is the only one to have leveled any serious charges against any Eastern Religion. He takes issue with the Dalai Lama in particular in this article:
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/07/13news.html
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