By Donald B. Ardell – May 31, 2009
Recently, Daniel C. Dennett and I have been pondering the
future of religion. Will the influence of organized religion grow or will it
die off, at long last, as wishful thinkers in the freethinking communities have
hoped for ages? Or, might some other scenarios come to pass. Dr.
Dennett's musings have been, of course, more creative, profound, thorough and
deservedly attended than mine, so I'll summarize a few of his observations on
the topic for your consideration. All of the ideas noted in this summary
are taken from his acceptance speech at the annual Freedom From Religion
Foundation (FFRF) awards dinner held in Chicago on October 10, 2008.
Dr. Dennett sketched five possibilities:
1. A religious fervor will sweep the planet. When this
happens, say goodbye to Enlightenment values, especially if one religion gains
sway over all the others. I wonder what would be worse - universal
Christianity, or the Caliphate dream come to pass for Islamists? That's
like asking what's worse - being shot in the butt or hung by metal hooks -
upside down? I'd prefer a few additional, gentler choices (e.g., left
alone).
2. The end of religions. Dennett suggested St. Peter’s
Square and the Vatican could be transformed into the European Museum of Roman
Catholicism. He mentioned Mecca becoming the Magic Kingdom of Allah.
3. Religions transformed as harmless sports teams. The
teams would have no dogmas, creeds or claims to know anything - but they would
have cheerful songs, colors, symbols and pageantry.
4. Religions as cults - basically bad habits of an
underclass, something like the way smoking is viewed today. As Dennett noted,
"it will be considered bad form to draw attention to the fact that
somebody is religious."
5. Judgment Day appears out of nowhere! The
fundamentalist crazies were right - here comes the Rapture. All is lost -
we're all toast.
Dennett termed three of the scenarios quite benign. The
fifth he called "a nonstarter. We don’t have to worry about that."
The worry related to this preposterous scenario is, in reality, the behavior of
those who want to make Armageddon happen.
Naturally, nobody knows what will happen, though change for
better or worse is likely. However, it's always wise to encourage
everyone "to look under the hood of religion to see what makes it tick, so
we can better think about what steps we might take to get the outcome we most
want."
What does Dennet want? He favors the study of religion
to be taken as seriously as the study of other real and present dangers to the
future of the planets inhabitants, such as global warming, the global economy,
water and energy problems and all the rest.
Key issues related to the future of religion that Dennett
addressed included:
* The very great need to persuade those who study
religion and write about it to stop doing so with a "hyper-diplomacy,
hyper-reverence, and hyper-respect..." We don't do that with any other
industry. The deference must end. There should not be a free ride for
religions. They should be scrutinized firmly and calmly - and honestly.
* More research is needed. For starters, how
about a theory of religion? What is it, how did it arise, how has it
evolved, what it is today, what are the parts and how do they work? Such
questions have not been objectively answered by dispassionate investigators
using modern tools of analyses.
* Introducing into the educational system a 4th
“R.” He wants compulsory religion, that is, compulsory education about
world religions for children in public and private schools and in home
schooling. This will inoculate our children to brainwashing into any one
religion and lead children to critical thinking, since it will be clear that
all religions can't be true and lead to doubt, skepticism and open inquiry.
* A review of evidence that religion is not so much
strong today as it is desperate. The leaders can no longer control education
and access to information, as in the past. Cell phones, transistor radios
and the Internet have breached the natural barriers. Around the world, people
and cultures are being flooded with western ideas, with American ideas, with
American technology and all the ideas that come with them. To us, its
all-harmless but to the control agents of religion, its toxic - the new
communication technologies are wreaking havoc. In this fashion, they are
starting to overturn ancient cultures.
* "People are not ready to have their religion
subjected to careful, calm, objective analysis and scrutiny. But we should
change that, one step at a time."
It was a great speech, in which the above and a lot of other
ideas were fully developed. The entire talk is available at the FFRF
website - http://www.ffrf.org/
Be well.
Don Ardell is the Well Infidel. He favors evidence over faith, reason over revelation and
meaning and purpose over spirituality. His enthusiasm for reason, exuberance and liberty are reflected in his
books (14), newsletter (490 editions of a weekly report) and lectures across
North America and a dozen other countries. He is very old (over 40) but very fast (national and world
triathlon champion). 