[FoRK] An optimistic view of religious evolution

[Jeff Bone]

On Feb 25, 2008, at 9:06 AM, Dr. Ernie Prabhakar wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Neither pro- nor anti- religion, but a thoughtful study of trends  
> over time (and across countries) which some of you might find  
> encouraging...
>
> -- Ernie P.
>
> http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/secularism
>
> ..A lot rides on which of these predictions turn out to be true, and  
> on how and where different religions bump up against one another. A  
> common worry is that intense competition for souls could produce  
> another era in which religious conflict leads to religious war—only  
> this time with nuclear weapons. If we are really in for anything  
> like the kind of zeal that accompanied earlier periods of religious  
> expansion, we might as well say goodbye to the Enlightenment and its  
> principles of tolerance...

Without wasting any further time on the article, as frankly it smacks  
of the common apologia at best (and the wildly delusional polyanna at  
worst) I have to say that this paragraph doesn't exactly inspire  
optimism.  Note too the apparent workings of this optimism;  it's  
possible to be optimistic about religion if and only if you assume the  
best of it to begin with.

jb