End of religion is greatly exaggerated

A Facebook friend took it upon himself to post on my home page for all my other friends to see an article entitled: “Religion is disappearing. That’s great for politics.”

Don’t know if this friend was trying to make a point or if he was poking me for a reaction. Regardless, it looked interesting so I read it. And it stirred a lot of thoughts. More on those in a moment. Those interested in reading the entire article can find it at politico.com/ or on my Facebook page.

In a nutshell, the article is about former taboos in social discussion: politics and religion. The article is U.S.-centric, of course, but some of what it delves into applies to Canada, as well.

The author is Michael Shermer, a former evangelical Christian from California turned atheist and science writer. His new book is The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice and Freedom.

I enjoy reading atheists, especially when they put forth reasoned arguments, or, on the other side of the ledger, when they smugly accuse persons of faith of infringing on their rights not to believe and then they proselytize ad nausea about their own “unfaith.” I’ve always been a fan of irony, especially when others don’t see it. And when atheists get on their high horse they never seem to see the irony.