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50 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 0 SPECIALSECTON:GODANDTHETWENTY-FIRSTCENTURY T he future of God depends on the future of secularism.Mostpeoplewillhearinthatsentimentaprediction about the growth of secularism: If secularism grows,beliefinGodwillcommensuratelyshrink.Ifsecularismstagnates ,theworldwillcontinuetobelieveinGod in2100. A hundred years ago, such predictions would have seemed straightforward. At the height of the secularization thesis, it was assumed that religion would decline with the growth of science. But, with the resurgence of Islam, Christianity, and other faiths worldwide,thesecularizationthesisseemeddiscredited,asargued inbookssuchastherecentGodisBack. Yet the secularization thesis has probablybeendismissedtooquickly.In March 2009, the American Religion Identification Survey reported that 15 percentofAmericanshave“noreligion.” That report, coupled with President Barack Obama’s reference to “nonbelievers ”inhisInauguralAddress,means that America no longer understands itselfasapurelyreligioussociety . By 2100, I believe that the numbers of nonbelievers in the world will have increased dramatically. Surprisingly, however,seculargrowthisnotthemost importantissueforthefutureofGod.Thequestionis,whatkindof secularismwillemerge?Currently,theNewAtheists—peoplelike Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins—dominate secular thought. They identify God as a supernatural being commanding thenaturalworldanddemandingsubmissionfromhumankind.If thisremainsthemessageofsecularism,thisconceptionofGodwill alsotendtoremaindominant.Suchacourseofeventswouldultimately weaken belief in God because this is precisely the kind of Godthatsciencediscredits. Fortunately, another kind of secularism is emerging, one that would foretell a different future for God. In February 2009, Peter Steinfels called it the “new new atheism” and, in October, Daniel Burke used the term “Atheism 3.0.” These terms apply to writers such as Ronald Aronson, André Comte-Sponville, Austin Dacey, and Greg Epstein. These thinkers defend ideas often associated with religion, such as the objectivity of values and the reality of mysticalexperience.Ihavecalledthisphenomenonthe“newnew secularism”becausesomeofthesenonbelieversusethetermGod; for example, biologist Stuart Kauffman writes of God as the creativityattheheartoftheuniverse . It should come as no shock that God could entail much more than a supernatural being. There are plenty of religious believers whoalsoseebeyondthesupernatural,including,ofcourse,Rabbi Green in this issue of Tikkun. If secularism continues to grow in this direction, then conceptions of God that are not rooted in supernaturalism will grow as well. In such a world, believers and nonbelieversmightbegintocometogetherastheirconceptionsof reality overlap. And we could even see the end of disputes about referencestoGodinthepublicsquare,assecularideasaboutGod become more sophisticated and inclusive. This is a future for God ofharmonyratherthandivision.Itisnotafutureofholywar,butof holycommunity.I THEFUTUREOFGOD—ANDSECULARISM by Bruce Ledewitz Bruce Ledewitz is professor of law at Duquesne University Law School. He is author of American Religious Democracy: Coming to Terms with the End of Secular Politics (2007) and Hallowed Secularism: Theory, Belief, Practice (2009). WWW.NAOMIFUKS-MISHOL.COM ASKTHEAUTHOR!March8:BruceLedewitz 6p.m.PacificTime(9p.m.Eastern) Call1-888-346-3950forfree!Thenenterthiscode:11978# Seefullscheduleatwww.tikkun.org “Desire (three pieces)” by Naomi Fuks-Mishol. ...

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