Comfortably perched atop the podium, Christopher Hitchens declared religion to be an "axis of evil" to an audience comprising, inevitably, some self-identified skeptics and anti-religious listeners. With seemingly equal disdain for nuance and religious belief, it was in this environment that a plethora of similar declarations were afoot, spearheaded by famous proponents of "New Atheism," including Hitchens himself along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett.
Religion, within this framework, was a mere impediment to human progress at worst and a primitive emotional crutch at best. God was simply a "Delusion" (Richard Dawkins, 2006) and "Not Great" (Hitchens, 2007). Faith was to "End" (Sam Harris, 2004), and science could answer moral questions in a Moral Landscape (Sam Harris, 2010). Religion in general and theism in specific had become obsolete and harmful, or so one could be led to believe.
But a major fault line remained along the confident declarations of New Atheism, sustained both by history and the roots of science. Was religion merely an irredeemable axis of evil? Did it teach "[us] to be satisfied with not understanding the world" (Richard Dawkins)?
Modern psychology, for instance, extensively employs mindfulness practice in well-evidenced therapeutic approaches. These practices have their roots in Buddhist philosophy and practices dating back over 2,000 years. Siddhartha Gautama's teachings were not reducible to a "delusion" or "evil," then, nor could their immense contribution to modern science be overlooked by any serious student of history or science.
Millennia later, Christian theology would give rise to fundamental underpinnings of modern science and the Enlightenment. Far from being invoked only in justification of burnings at the stake or holy crusades, the name of God was at the core of numerous scientific endeavors that would later pave the way for our modern world to take its current shape.
Islam's emphasis on the five daily prayers as one of its Five Pillars motivated a subset of the study of astronomy in the medieval era, some of which would influence later research in the field.
Much like a wall made up of continuously accumulating bricks, modern knowledge did not suddenly spring into existence. It is built upon increments from previous millennia, much of which would not have been possible without religion as a component of the human condition. The notion that we should now crush some of the first bricks to be laid and treat them as a hindrance rather than a step along the way seems contrary to history, logic, and—to borrow a favorite term among New Atheist circles—reason.
Religion, within this framework, was a mere impediment to human progress at worst and a primitive emotional crutch at best. God was simply a "Delusion" (Richard Dawkins, 2006) and "Not Great" (Hitchens, 2007). Faith was to "End" (Sam Harris, 2004), and science could answer moral questions in a Moral Landscape (Sam Harris, 2010). Religion in general and theism in specific had become obsolete and harmful, or so one could be led to believe.
But a major fault line remained along the confident declarations of New Atheism, sustained both by history and the roots of science. Was religion merely an irredeemable axis of evil? Did it teach "[us] to be satisfied with not understanding the world" (Richard Dawkins)?
Modern psychology, for instance, extensively employs mindfulness practice in well-evidenced therapeutic approaches. These practices have their roots in Buddhist philosophy and practices dating back over 2,000 years. Siddhartha Gautama's teachings were not reducible to a "delusion" or "evil," then, nor could their immense contribution to modern science be overlooked by any serious student of history or science.
Millennia later, Christian theology would give rise to fundamental underpinnings of modern science and the Enlightenment. Far from being invoked only in justification of burnings at the stake or holy crusades, the name of God was at the core of numerous scientific endeavors that would later pave the way for our modern world to take its current shape.
Islam's emphasis on the five daily prayers as one of its Five Pillars motivated a subset of the study of astronomy in the medieval era, some of which would influence later research in the field.
Much like a wall made up of continuously accumulating bricks, modern knowledge did not suddenly spring into existence. It is built upon increments from previous millennia, much of which would not have been possible without religion as a component of the human condition. The notion that we should now crush some of the first bricks to be laid and treat them as a hindrance rather than a step along the way seems contrary to history, logic, and—to borrow a favorite term among New Atheist circles—reason.
