As an ethnographer: Pasquale (2010, 2007a).
Psychological studies back this up: Saroglou, (2010); Farias and Lalljee (2008).
And a recent Pew study: “‘Nones’ on the Rise,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, October 9, 2012, pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise.
Other scholars agree with this assessment: Nelson (2012), 55.
Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau: Berlinerblau (2012), 113; see also Bainbridge (2005).
Some of the key differences: Caldwell-Harris (2012).
“less in need of social support”: Ibid., 17.
If secularism is to be understood: See Kurtz (1994) for further elaboration.
the proclamation of the Ethical Culture movement: Quoted in McGowan, ed. (2007), 255.
“There is no Eastern solution”: Hitchens (2007).
Chapter 6: Trying Times
Given these undeniably comforting aspects: See, for example, Krause et al. (2001).
For example, numerous studies have shown: Myers (1992).
it can help parents cope: McIntosh, Silver, and Wortman (1993).
it can help people seeking: Zemore and Kastukas (2004).
it can help people deal with chronic illness: Mattlin, Wethington, and Kessler (1990).
and pain: Hayden (1991).
it can help people cope with cancer: Gall, de Renart, and Boonstra (2000).
it can help comfort refugees: Ai et al. (2005).
it can help the victims: Kennedy, Davis, and Taylor (1998).
and in still more ways: See, for example, Pargament (1997).
leading psychologist of religion Ralph Hood: Hood, Hill, and Spilka (2009), 461.
As the leading expert on religious coping: Pargament (1997), 301.
In the absence of God: Laden (2007), 132.
Just another day in the Tomaszów ghetto: Neumark (2006).
So what do secular people do: Hilary Wells isn’t the only therapist out there to emphasize secularity in her practice. Hans Hils of North Carolina has spearheaded seculartherapy.org, which went live in 2012; as of last count, they had 112 registered therapists from all over the country, with over 1,300 clients (Ray, 2013).
In her pioneering research: Hwang (2008).
Rather than questioning the “meaning”: Ibid.
Other studies bolster Dr. Hwang’s assertions: Thompson and Vardaman (1997).
And Kenneth Pargament found: Pargament et al. (1994).
And as Judith Herman argues: Herman (1997), 51.
Luke Galen is a professor of psychology: Galen (2009).
When I asked Professor Galen: McCullough and Smith (2003); Brown (1994).
Chapter 7: Don’t Fear the Reaper
Although the phenomenon is most likely explained: McGowan (2013); Woerlee (2004).
much has been made of near-death experiences: Rivas (2003).
Many people have spoken of: See, for example, Sabom (1998).
And while her reluctance to embrace: Croog and Levine (1972).
And related studies indicate: See Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle (1997), 196.
psychologists Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi: Ibid., 193.
But not everyone buys it: Inglehart et al. (2004), 338.
In fact, approximately 25 percent of Americans: Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, “Summary of Key Findings,” religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report2religious-landscape-study-key-findings.pdf.
And we are seeing that more and more Americans: American Religious Identification Survey (2008), commons.trincoll.edu/aris/publications/2008-2; Kosmin and Keysar (2009).
For instance, in Oregon, about 40 percent: Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, religions.pewforum.org; Kosmin et al. (2009); Joseph Carroll, “Public Divided over Moral Acceptability of DoctorAssisted Suicide,” Gallup, May 31, 2007, gallup.com/poll/27727/public-divided-over-moral-acceptability-doctorassisted-suicide.asp.
And according to a recent census study: Jahnabi Barooah, “Most and Least Christian Cities in America,” Huffington Post, October 8, 2012, huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/most-and-least-christian-cities_n_1915050.html.
Indeed, according to the research: Hamil-Luker and Smith (1998); see also Burdette, Hill, and Moulton (2005).
As Dan Barker, a onetime Christian preacher: Barker (2008), 343.
Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: Sartre, Being and Nothingness.
Similar sentiments were expressed by: Heidegger, Being and Time.
Chapter 8: Aweism
“Humanity’s destiny”: Comte-Sponville (2006), 72.
it is essentially a term of negation: Eller (2010).
In the words of Julian Baggini: Baggini (2003), 4.
Maybe there is a God: See also Le Poidevin (2010), 2.
This form of agnosticism professes: Quoted in Wakefield (1951), 274.
Or in the words of philosopher Eric Maisel: Maisel (2009), 4.
For as Ludwig Wittgenstein put forth: Wittgenstein (1922), sect. 6.44–6.45.
An aweist agrees with the sentiments: Hecht (2003), xiii.
An aweist harkens to the words of Albert Einstein: Quoted in Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007), 387.
As American philosopher Louise Antony explains: Antony (2007), xiii; see also Laden (2007).
After Charles Darwin lost his Christian faith: Quoted in Hitchens, ed. (2007), 96.
Joseph Conrad spoke of living: Quoted in Hitchens, ed. (2007), 123.
French philosopher André Comte-Sponville: Comte-Sponville (2006), 145.
But while such a reality can often inspire: Ibid., 150.
as American atheist Sam Harris further expresses: Harris (2004), 227.
It is akin to what philosopher Robert Solomon dubs: Solomon (2002), xvi.
“We have to admire in humility”: Quoted in Hitchens, ed. (2007), 163.
Conclusion
A clear majority of Americans: Straughn and Feld (2010).
Indeed, the current state constitutions: Heiner (1992); West (2006).
the first President Bush’s position: Quoted in Heiner (1992), 6.
Many Americans clearly agree: Hunter (1990).
As we have seen, more Americans: Jones (2012).
the second President Bush: Bush on Jesus: Stephen Buttry, “Candidates Focus on Christian Beliefs,” Des Moines Register, December 15, 1999, archives.cnn.com/1999/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/15/religion.register;Bush on God and Iraq: “Robert Scheer, “With God on His Side,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2004, available at commondreams.org/views04/0420-01.htm.
the statistics are surprisingly clear: Of course, not all Americans who claim to be nonreligious are atheists or agnostics. As discussed in chapter 2, secularity comes in a variety of shades; the continuum is broad, and not every nonreligious person is a nonbeliever. But a very significant proportion is nonbelieving; about half of all Americans who are nonreligious are atheist or agnostic in orientation. For details, see the American Religious Identification Survey (2008), commons.trincoll.edu/aris/publications/2008-2.
What unites us as Americans: Jacoby (2004).
After all, the brilliant founders of this nation: Niose (2012).
as David Niose, recent past president: Ibid., 54.
As President Ulysses Grant declared: Quoted in Berlinerblau (2012), 85.
Or as President Ronald Reagan declared: Quoted at “Ronald Reagan on Separation of Church and State,” Atheist Revolution, atheistrev.com/2012/03/ronald-reagan-on-separation-of-church.html.
what political, Jeffersonian secularism is all about: Berlinerblau (2012).
But achieving such a state of affairs: Ibid., 89.
we aren’t even allowed in the Boy Scouts: Hammer et al. (2012).
Atheists are often accused of striking an indignant tone: “The God Debate,” Newsweek, April 9, 2007, web.archive.org/web/20100328002309/http://www.newsweek.com/i
d/35784/page/1.
Thus while I deeply admired him: Hitchens (2007).
Alain de Botton recognized: de Botton (2012).
As social psychologist Bob Altemeyer: Altemeyer (2010).
Clearly, countless people find religion attractive: McGowan, ed. (2007).
Bibliography
Abrams, Daniel M., Haley A. Yaple, and Richard J. Wiener. 2011. “A Mathematical Model of Social Group Competition with Application to the Growth of Religious Non-affiliation.” Physical Review Letters 107, no. 8: id. 088701.
Ahlin, Lars. 2005. Pilgrim, Turist Eller Flykting? En Studie av Individuell Religiös Rörlighet i Senmoderniteten. Stockholm: Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposium.
Ai, A. L., et al. 2005. “Wartime Faith-Based Reactions Among Traumatized Kosovar and Bosnian Refugees in the United States.” Mental Health, Religion, and Culture 8: 291–308.
Allen, Norm R., Jr., ed. 1991. African-American Humanism: An Anthology. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus.
Altemeyer, Bob. 2009. “Nonbelief and Secularity in North America.” In Atheism and Secularity, vol. 2, edited by Phil Zuckerman. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Altemeyer, Bob, and Bruce Hunsberger. 1997. Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and Others Abandon Religion. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
Antony, Louise M., ed. 2007. Philosophers Without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life. New York: Oxford University Press.
Armfield, Greg G., and R. Lance Holbert. 2003. “The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Use.” Journal of Media and Religion 2, no. 3: 129–44.
Bagg, Samuel, and David Voas. 2010. “The Triumph of Indifference: Irreligion in British Society.” In Atheism and Secularity, vol. 2, edited by Phil Zuckerman. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Baggett, Jerome. 2011. “Protagoras’s Assertion Revisited: American Atheism and Its Accompanying Obscurities.” Implicit Religion 14, no. 3: 257–93.
Baggini, Julian. 2003. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Baier, Kurt. 2008 [1957]. “The Meaning of Life,” in The Meaning of Life: A Reader, edited by E. D. Klemke and Steven M. Cahn. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bainbridge, William Sims. 2005. “Atheism.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 1: 2–26.
Baker, Joseph, and Buster Smith. 2009a. “The Nones: Social Characteristics of the Religiously Unaffiliated.” Social Forces 87, no. 3: 1251–63.
———. 2009b. “None Too Simple: Examining Issues of Religious Nonbelief and Nonbelonging in the United States.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48, no. 4: 719–33.
Barker, Dan. 2008. Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists. New York: Ulysses Press.
Barrett, Justin L. 2012. Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief. New York: Free Press.
———. 2004. Why Would Anyone Believe in God? Lanham, MD: AltaMira.
Barton, Bernadette C. 2012. Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays. New York: New York University Press.
Baynes, Norman H., ed. 1969. Speeches of Adolf Hitler: April 1922–August 1939. New York: Howard Fertig.
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. 2010. “Morality and Immorality Among the Irreligious.” In Atheism and Secularity, vol. 1, edited by Phil Zuckerman. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
———. 2007. “Atheists: A Psychological Profile.” In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin, and Michael Argyle. 1997. The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief, and Experience. London: Routledge.
Bellah, Robert. 2003. “The Ritual Roots of Society and Culture.” In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Michele Dillon. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bengtson, Vern L., with Norella Putney and Susan Harris. 2013. Families and Faith: How Religion Is Passed Down Across Generations. New York: Oxford University Press.
Berger, Peter, Grace Davie, and Effie Fokas. 2008. Religious America, Secular Europe? A Theme and Variations. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Bering, Jesse. 2010. The God Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life. London: Nicholas Brealey.
Berlinerblau, Jaques. 2012. How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bibby, Reginald W., 2002. Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada. Toronto: Stoddart.
Bloom, Paul. 2012. “Religion, Morality, Evolution.” Annual Review of Psychology 63: 179–99.
Boehm, Christopher. 2012. Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame. New York: Basic Books.
Bonger, W. A. 1943. Race and Crime. New York: Columbia University Press.
Boyer, Pascal. 2001. Religion Explained. New York: Basic Books.
Braun, Claude. 2012. “Explaining Global Secularity: Existential Security or Education?” Secularism and Nonreligion 1: 68–93.
Bremmer, Jan. 2007. “Atheism in Antiquity.” In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Brenneman, Robert. 2012. Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Brinkerhoff, Merlin B., and Marlene M. Mackie. 1993. “Casting Off the Bonds of Organized Religion: A Religious-Careers Approach to the Study of Apostasy.” Review of Religious Research 34: 235–58.
———. 1985. “Religion and Gender: A Comparison of Canadian and American Student Attitudes.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 47: 415–29.
Bromley, David. 1988. Falling from the Faith: Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE.
Brooks, Arthur C., and James Q. Wilson. 2007. Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. New York: Basic Books.
Brown, Callum G. 2001. The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation, 1800–2000. New York: Routledge.
Brown, Laurence B., ed. 1994. Religion, Personality, and Mental Health. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Bruce, Steve. 2011. Secularization: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
———. 2002. God Is Dead: Secularization in the West. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
———. 2001. “Christianity in Britain, R.I.P.” Sociology of Religion 62, no. 2: 191–203.
Bruce, Steve, and Anthony Glendinning. 2003. “Religious Beliefs and Differences.” In Devolution: Scottish Answers to Scottish Questions, edited by Catherine Bromley, John Curtice, Kerstin Hinds, and Alison Park. Edinburgh University Press, 86–115.
Bruce, Tammy. 2003. The Death of Right and Wrong. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Burdette, Amy M., Terrence D. Hill, and Benjamin E. Moulton. 2005. “Religion and Attitudes Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide and Terminal Palliative Care.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44, no. 1: 79–93.
Caldwell-Harris, Catherine. 2012. “Understanding Atheism/Nonbelief as Expected Individual-Differences Variable.” Religion, Brain, and Behavior 2, no. 1: 4–47.
Chaves, Mark. 2011. American Religion: Contemporary Trends. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Cimino, Richard, and Christopher Smith. 2011. “The New Atheism and the Formation of the Imagined Secularist Community.” Journal of Media and Religion 10, no. 1: 24–38.
———. 2007. “Secular Humanism and Atheism Beyond Progressive Secularism.” Sociology of Religion 68, no. 4: 407–24.
Comte-Sponville, André. 2006. The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality. Translated by Nancy Huston. New York: Viking.
Connors, John F., Richard C. Leonard, and Kenneth E. Burnham. 1968. “Religion and Opposition to War Among College Students.” Sociological Analysis 29: 211–19.
Cornell, Svante. 2006. The Politicization of Islam in Azerbaijan. Central Asia–Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program, October. silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/Silkroadpapers/0610Azer.pd
f.
Cota-McKinley, Amy, William Douglas Woody, and Paul A. Bell. 2001. “Vengeance: Effects of Gender, Age, and Religious Background.” Aggressive Behavior 27: 343–50.
Cottone, John, Philip Drucker, and Rafael A. Javier. 2007. “Predictors of Moral Reasoning: Components of Executive Functioning and Aspects of Religiosity.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46, no. 1: 37–53.
Couprie, Dirk L., Robert Hahn, and Gerard Naddaf. 2003. Anaximander in Context: New Studies in the Origins of Greek Philosophy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Cragun, Ryan T. 2013. What You Don’t Know About Religion (but Should). Durham, NC: Pitchstone Publishing.
Cragun, Ryan T., et al. 2012. “On the Receiving End: Discrimination Toward the Nonreligious in the United States.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 27, no. 1: 105–27.
Crockett, Alasdair, and David Voas. 2006. “Generations of Decline: Religious Change in 10th Century Britain.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45, no. 4: 567–84.
Croog, Sydney H., and Sol Levine. 1972. “Religious Identity and Response to Serious Illness: A Report on Heart Patients.” Social Science and Medicine 6: 17–32.
Dashefsky, Arnold, Bernard Lazerwitz, and Ephraim Tabory. 2003. “A Journey of the ‘Straight Way’ or the ‘Roundabout Path’: Jewish Identity in the United States and Israel.” In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Michele Dillon. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Davidman, Lynn. 1993. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Davie, Grace. 1990. “Believing Without Belonging: Is This the Future of Religion in Britain?” Social Compass 37, no. 4: 455–69.
de Botton, Alain. 2012. Religion for Atheists: A Nonbeliever’s Guide to the Uses of Religion. New York: Pantheon.
Delamontagne, R. Georges. 2010. “High Religiosity and Societal Dysfunction in the United States During the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century.” Evolutionary Psychology 8, no. 4: 617–57.
DeLeeuw, Jan, et al. 2007. “Support for Animal Rights as a Function of Belief in Evolution and Religious Fundamentalism.” Animals and Society 15: 353–63.
Living the Secular Life_New Answers to Old Questions Page 25
