Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

Chien, The New Atheism, Znet, September 10, 2007

“This is atheism’s moment.” That according to David Steinberger, CEO of Perseus Books LLC, which recently signed Christopher Hitchens to edit a book of atheist readings for publication this fall. The book will come on the heels of Hitchens’ God is Not Great, the latest in a string of books critical of religion that have become modest bestsellers in recent years. As of June 2007 there were 296,000 copies in print of Hitchens’ book; 500,000 of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion; and 185,000 of Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation. Harris’ previous book The End of Faith was on the New York Times bestseller list for thirty-three weeks in 2004.

How could this happen in a country where upward of 80% majorities assert belief in God, Christ, and miracles? According to some booksellers, wanting to “know thine enemy” is partly why books have been selling even in the Bible Belt. But another dynamic may also be at work. Dawkins suggests that what John Stuart Mill wrote in the nineteenth century remains true today: “The world would be astonished if it knew how great a proportion of its brightest ornaments, of those most distinguished even in popular estimation for wisdom and virtue, are complete skeptics in religion.” But in a highly religious culture, declaring oneself an atheist can be as difficult as open homosexuality was fifty years ago. Today, after the Gay Pride movement, 55% of Gallup respondents declare willingness to vote for a homosexual candidate: a lower percentage than those who would vote for a Catholic, African-American, woman, Mormon, or septuagenarian, but higher than the 45% who would vote for an atheist . Dawkins and others hope to help inspire an Atheist Pride movement, building a critical mass that would encourage closet non-believers to come out.

Paisley Loses his Flock - TIME, September 10, 2007

The elders of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ireland aren’t usually on the streets of Belfast at 2 a.m., an hour more associated with sin than with the business of their church. So, when they emerged from the Martyrs Memorial Church after a five-hour meeting Saturday to make an announcement, the time of day alone was an indication that something unusual was afoot.

The bombshell announcement? Ian Paisley, the First of Minister of Northern Ireland, had suddenly decided to step down as moderator of 12,000-strong Protestant congregation in January, after almost 57 years in charge. Retirement shouldn’t be far from Paisley’s mind at the age of 81, but the circumstances indicated he may be jumping before being pushed by an unprecedented revolt among his most ardent followers.

Chien, Religion and Violence, ZNet, December 23, 2006

When Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor attributing to Mohammed a command “to spread by the sword the faith he preached,” Muslim and non-Muslim critics alike were quick to point out that the implied criticism of Islam applied equally to Christianity. The Crusades and the Inquisition stand out as obvious examples. It was appropriate to mention the Pope’s own faith, but one could also cite, say, the murderous violence against Muslims by Hindu nationalists in Guajarat, the terrorism of the Stern Gang and other Jewish extremists inspired by visions of the biblical Israel, or Zen Buddhist complicity in twentieth-century Japanese war crimes. From a bird’s-eye level of history at least, it’s easy to undermine the notion that there is any link between Islam and violence that isn’t shared by other major religions.

But it’s not as easy to say just what that link is.