Skeptical cautions for the faithful

British skeptic David Flint cautions the faithful that some religious explanations are not benign. No one's faith need be shaken by contemplating the points he raises. For example:

I accept that such words may bring comfort to some people and seem to do no harm. There are other religious "meanings" that certainly do, however. It's little more than 150 years since Dr Robert Brown declared in the Lancet that women should suffer in childbirth; painless delivery was, he thought, an invention of the devil. It's only nine years since prominent American evangelicals blamed "the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians" for 9/11 [The Rev. Jerry Falwell apologized]. And it's only four years since Australia's leading Muslim cleric blamed rape victims for rape – on the grounds that they wouldn't have been raped had they stayed home. These stories (Karen Armstrong's word) try to reconcile us to evil. They matter.

A prayer unanswered

The Washington Post's "On Faith" panel of 19 writers discusse the "State of our Disunion" while lamenting how Rick Warren's Inauguration Day prayer is far from being answered.

Warren prayed that Americans would "have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ."

Instead, note the Post's Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham, "clarity, responsibility, humility and civility seem to have given way to self-righteousness, anger, resentment, and what columnist Kathleen Parker calls 'a political era of uninhibited belligerence' that is finding expression in sermons, at town hall meetings, on radio talk shows, even on the floor of Congress -- especially when we differ."

Susan Jacoby, whose entry has attracted about 400 comments, discusses how faith and hatred often co-exist. She says:

What we are seeing is the rage of a minority--we don't know exactly how large, but we do know that it is almost entirely white and concentrated in the South and Southwest--at an African-American president who is considered not only wrong in his policies but illegitimate as the leader of our nation.

Jacoby also tells of a college student afraid to tell her parents she supports Obama for fear they'll no longer pay her tuition and writes:

Many Americans spent a good deal of time last November patting themselves on the back for having elected an African-American president. What we are seeing now is the bitterness of an unreconciled minority that will never accept the legitimacy of that election.

Would it be that she were wrong but the full sweep of post-Civil War Southern history says she isn't.

Still, we long for the day when Warren's prayer is answered.

All dogs and most of the rest of us go to heaven

Denominational codifications are of little concern to most Americans. Most of us write our own theology.

Note a Barna Group survey released Jan. 12:

By a three to one margin (71% to 26%) adults noted that they are personally more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than to accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a particular church. Although born again Christians were among the segments least likely to adopt the a la carte approach to beliefs, a considerable majority even of born again adults (61%) has taken that route. Leading the charge in the move to customize one’s package of beliefs are people under the age of 25, among whom more than four out of five (82%) said they develop their own combination of beliefs rather than adopt a set proposed by a church.

Heresy of some sort is a commonplace:

Among individuals who describe themselves as Christian, for instance, close to half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third contend that Jesus sinned while He was on earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Christian faith with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches.

Religious instruction and Bible study are anachronisms, the study found:

Faith, of whatever variety, is increasingly viral rather than pedagogical. With people spending less time reading the Bible, and becoming less engaged in activities that deepen their biblical literacy, faith views are more often adopted on the basis of dialogue, self-reflection, and observation than teaching. Feelings and emotions now play a significant role in the development of people’s faith views - in many cases, much more significant than information-based exercises such as listening to preaching and participating in Bible study.

Heaven isn't denied those who fail to hew to the current Southern Baptist faith and practice, or whatever, most of us believe. A recent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey found that a majority of Christians believe people of other religions can find salvation and eternal life. Indeed, 52% of religious Americans say atheists may find eternal life.

In rationalizing the ways of God to man, Americans increasingly opt for a broadly inclusive view, old-time visions of traveling to warm places in hand baskets notwithstanding.

Reconciling Darwinism and Faith

Francisco J. Ayala is a professor of biology, ecology, evolutionary biology and philosophy at the University of California, Irvine.

Sally Lehrman writes in the Scientific American:

A geneticist ordained as a Dominican priest, Francisco J. Ayala sees no conflict between Darwinism and faith. Convincing most of the American public of that remains the challenge. Ayala straddles science and religion by speaking both languages extremely well (and with a Castilian accent).

The article is well worth reading.