Rise of Atheism
The recent debates over the 10 commandments monument and pledge of allegiance is indicative of battles between religion and non-religion as opposed to one religion vs another that had been waged a few centuries ago. In the 1700s or the 1800s, the problem would have been one church sect having problems with another church sect or problems of 2 religions, but the situation has changed considerably. The 1st amendment is good for judging cases of both kinds. Refer to Thomas Jefferson's Letter and US Constitution and Religion article.
"separation of church and state" seems to have had the intended effect. Federal laws (amendment 1) and state laws (amendment 14) basically gets the government to be religion insensitive. Laws cannot be religion specific. What exactly is religion? By definition, religion is "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny". However religion is much more than that. Religion is a way of life, an attitude, rules and regulations to follow. As a consequence of the 1st amendment, the set of laws and regulations to be followed can be completely different than what a specific "religion" would dictate.
A human being follows laws with difficulty. If the government laws are taught to him and religious laws are not necessary any more, the tendency of a human to follow any religion decreases. This means "separation of church and state" has effectively decreased the influence of religion and once the influence of any religion reduces, it leads to increase in atheism. Of course, there are other reasons for atheism, including the increase in scientific attitude of thinking which dictates believe what your 5 senses tell you rather than what you have been taught to be believe.
I had been taught in a catholic school in Mumbai where belief in God was taught. Note that most of the students in that school weren't Christian, so the God wasn't Christian. He was just ... God. We worshipped a "secular" God in school. In India, separation of church and state exists in a strange way ... respect all religions and worship all Gods. Lesser chance of promoting Atheism since God is not forgotten.
So ... is America going the way of no-faith? What will the consequences be? Religion comes with its set of advantages and disadvantages. The presence of a supernatural power weakens scientific reasoning but it enhances the ability to do consistent things without reason. Why would anyone want to act in a consistent manner without reason?
Well, let us first see why religion promotes such a behavior. Many acts are required from people following a certain religion. For example, a Christian should attend church every Sunday, a Hindu should do pooja every day, a Muslim should Namaz 5 times a day and so on .... Following a religion teaches a person to be consistent in his/her activities and provides stability to the society. Why is such a consistency useful for the society? A soldier can now go and fight the war even though he/she may be facing imminent death. A spouse will be faithful to his better half inspite of other choices.
A person without religious beliefs can be consistent but it is harder. Discipline will be lacking and there will be tendency to do as one's mind pleases. In the face of danger, why should an atheist soldier fight? He should perhaps fight for his country, however he wouldn't survive to live in it. He should perhaps fight for his fellow citizens, but what is the use if he is not going to see them anymore. Why should a spouse be faithful if he finds a better person? There is nothing binding ... a divorce is all it takes. After all no supernatural power is binding the marriage together.
The only thing binding a soldier to his duty is his oath to his country. The only thing binding a marriage is the contract of marriage. The law of the country is making them act consistently. This means law is taking the place of religion in day-to-day activities. How are laws of a democratic country made? They are rules to be used in the best interest of the people. Rules are built on the general rule "Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you" which also is the general rule that religions follow. This means law of USA is religion minus the supernatural part. Considering the high divorce rate in the country however, it clearly is not helping keep marriages strong. After all, there is no fear from any supernatural force.
Is it possible that in the future, people can be consistent in their life without following religion? It will take great will power but they can be consistent. People just have to follow the law and laws have to built with the best interest of the people in mind. With a supernatural being, fear was a great force in upholding the law but without that, it is quite difficult. There will be people trying to evade laws of the government. This can lead to total chaos in people's lives when a governmental system breaks down. At least there was religion earlier ... rules were by an unchanging supernatural power ... now the Govt is the religion and what should one do if that changes or becomes ineffective? Consider New Orleans after the Katrina disaster ... when the local Govt stopped working, what should the people do? People should follow the law of the state even if the Govt (police, etc) are inoperational, however people can think that it is law made by humans. If there is no one to enforce it, why follow it? You see ... there are some advantages to having laws from a supernatural entity.
As Klawans put it, Humans are evolving though training of their brains rather than actual biological evolution. He calls it non-Darwanian evolution. It is possible that the demise of religion is a part of the non-Darwanian evolution. Maybe the US constitution started it all. Humans needed religion for support and now they do not. We need to wait and watch where this will lead us.
"separation of church and state" seems to have had the intended effect. Federal laws (amendment 1) and state laws (amendment 14) basically gets the government to be religion insensitive. Laws cannot be religion specific. What exactly is religion? By definition, religion is "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny". However religion is much more than that. Religion is a way of life, an attitude, rules and regulations to follow. As a consequence of the 1st amendment, the set of laws and regulations to be followed can be completely different than what a specific "religion" would dictate.
A human being follows laws with difficulty. If the government laws are taught to him and religious laws are not necessary any more, the tendency of a human to follow any religion decreases. This means "separation of church and state" has effectively decreased the influence of religion and once the influence of any religion reduces, it leads to increase in atheism. Of course, there are other reasons for atheism, including the increase in scientific attitude of thinking which dictates believe what your 5 senses tell you rather than what you have been taught to be believe.
I had been taught in a catholic school in Mumbai where belief in God was taught. Note that most of the students in that school weren't Christian, so the God wasn't Christian. He was just ... God. We worshipped a "secular" God in school. In India, separation of church and state exists in a strange way ... respect all religions and worship all Gods. Lesser chance of promoting Atheism since God is not forgotten.
So ... is America going the way of no-faith? What will the consequences be? Religion comes with its set of advantages and disadvantages. The presence of a supernatural power weakens scientific reasoning but it enhances the ability to do consistent things without reason. Why would anyone want to act in a consistent manner without reason?
Well, let us first see why religion promotes such a behavior. Many acts are required from people following a certain religion. For example, a Christian should attend church every Sunday, a Hindu should do pooja every day, a Muslim should Namaz 5 times a day and so on .... Following a religion teaches a person to be consistent in his/her activities and provides stability to the society. Why is such a consistency useful for the society? A soldier can now go and fight the war even though he/she may be facing imminent death. A spouse will be faithful to his better half inspite of other choices.
A person without religious beliefs can be consistent but it is harder. Discipline will be lacking and there will be tendency to do as one's mind pleases. In the face of danger, why should an atheist soldier fight? He should perhaps fight for his country, however he wouldn't survive to live in it. He should perhaps fight for his fellow citizens, but what is the use if he is not going to see them anymore. Why should a spouse be faithful if he finds a better person? There is nothing binding ... a divorce is all it takes. After all no supernatural power is binding the marriage together.
The only thing binding a soldier to his duty is his oath to his country. The only thing binding a marriage is the contract of marriage. The law of the country is making them act consistently. This means law is taking the place of religion in day-to-day activities. How are laws of a democratic country made? They are rules to be used in the best interest of the people. Rules are built on the general rule "Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you" which also is the general rule that religions follow. This means law of USA is religion minus the supernatural part. Considering the high divorce rate in the country however, it clearly is not helping keep marriages strong. After all, there is no fear from any supernatural force.
Is it possible that in the future, people can be consistent in their life without following religion? It will take great will power but they can be consistent. People just have to follow the law and laws have to built with the best interest of the people in mind. With a supernatural being, fear was a great force in upholding the law but without that, it is quite difficult. There will be people trying to evade laws of the government. This can lead to total chaos in people's lives when a governmental system breaks down. At least there was religion earlier ... rules were by an unchanging supernatural power ... now the Govt is the religion and what should one do if that changes or becomes ineffective? Consider New Orleans after the Katrina disaster ... when the local Govt stopped working, what should the people do? People should follow the law of the state even if the Govt (police, etc) are inoperational, however people can think that it is law made by humans. If there is no one to enforce it, why follow it? You see ... there are some advantages to having laws from a supernatural entity.
As Klawans put it, Humans are evolving though training of their brains rather than actual biological evolution. He calls it non-Darwanian evolution. It is possible that the demise of religion is a part of the non-Darwanian evolution. Maybe the US constitution started it all. Humans needed religion for support and now they do not. We need to wait and watch where this will lead us.
posted by Nitin M. Shetti at
3:04 PM
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