Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics
by Harley Berger, Vice-President
If you’re like me, you were probably taught early on to never discuss
religion or politics in social situations because no matter what you say
or do, someone will wind up offended... But we’re going to do it anyway.
Thinkers and philosophers of the 19th century, including Auguste Comte,
Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud, all predicted
that religion would gradually fade in importance and cease to be
significant with the emergence of industrial society, but in the 21st
century religion is still going strong and continues to exert an
extraordinary influence over world politics.
Consider the popularity of churchgoing in the U.S. and the importance of
faith as an issue in last year’s presidential election, as well as the
rise of fundamentalist movements in the Muslim world and the widespread
occurrence of ethno-religious conflicts.
Join us on Saturday, May 21, when our guest speaker will be Dr. Ron
Inglehart, director of the World Values Study at the
University of Michigan’s Institute of Public Policy. He has recently
co-authored a new book, "Sacred
and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide". Dr. Inglehart will
discuss why the United States has seen a rise in “religiosity”, while
European and other first-world nations are seeing a rise in secularism as
predicted. |
