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[[File:Alister McGrath.jpg|right|thumb|170px|[[Alister McGrath]] points out that many [[atheism|atheists]]/agnostics were angry that the secularization thesis failed because religion was "supposed to" disappear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=creNs9-Ui6A 'Why God Won't Go Away'] by Alister McGrath</ref> ]]

[[File:Alister McGrath.jpg|right|thumb|170px|The [[ex-atheists|ex-atheist]] [[Alister McGrath]] points out that many [[atheism|atheists]]/agnostics were angry that the secularization thesis failed because religion was "supposed to" disappear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=creNs9-Ui6A 'Why God Won't Go Away'] by Alister McGrath</ref> ]]

According to the Religious Studies Project:

According to the Religious Studies Project:

{{cquote|The secularisation thesis – the idea that traditional religions are in terminal decline in the industrialised world – was perhaps the central debate in the sociology of religion in the second half of the 20th century. Scholars such as Steve Bruce, [[Rodney Stark]] and Charles Taylor argued whether religion was becoming less important to individuals, or that only the authority of religions in the public sphere was declining.  Data from the US and South America, however, began to challenge many of their basic assumptions.

{{cquote|The secularisation thesis – the idea that traditional religions are in terminal decline in the industrialised world – was perhaps the central debate in the sociology of religion in the second half of the 20th century. Scholars such as Steve Bruce, [[Rodney Stark]] and Charles Taylor argued whether religion was becoming less important to individuals, or that only the authority of religions in the public sphere was declining.  Data from the US and South America, however, began to challenge many of their basic assumptions.

Harvard University's Samuel Huntington observed: "The late 20th century has seen the global resurgence of religions around the world" (''The Clash of Civilizations'', p.&nbsp;64).<ref>[http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2005/november-december/the-return-of-religion The Return of Religion]</ref>

Harvard University's Samuel Huntington observed: "The late 20th century has seen the global resurgence of religions around the world" (''The Clash of Civilizations'', p.&nbsp;64).<ref>[http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2005/november-december/the-return-of-religion The Return of Religion]</ref>

[[Alister McGrath]] points out that many [[Atheism|atheists]]/[[agnosticism|agnostics]] were angry that the secularization thesis failed because religion was "supposed to" disappear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=creNs9-Ui6A 'Why God Won't Go Away'] by Alister McGrath</ref> Peter Berger said that the religiosity of the United States was a big exception to the secularization theory that should have caused social scientists to question the theory.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHlDyR102G8 Professor Peter Berger on Resurgence of Religion and Decline of Secularization Theory]</ref>  See also: [[Atheists and the endurance of religion]]

[[Alister McGrath]] points out that many [[Atheism|atheists]]/[[agnosticism|agnostics]] were angry that the secularization thesis failed because religion was "supposed to" disappear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=creNs9-Ui6A 'Why God Won't Go Away'] by Alister McGrath</ref> Peter Berger said that the religiosity of the United States was a big exception to the secularization theory that should have caused social scientists to question the theory.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHlDyR102G8 Professor Peter Berger on Resurgence of Religion and Decline of Secularization Theory]</ref>  See also: [[Atheists and the endurance of religion]]

== Failed predictions of the demise of religion ==

== Failed predictions of the demise of religion ==

''See also:'' [[Failed predictions of the decline of religion]]

''See also:'' [[Failed predictions of the demise of religion]]

Dr. Rodney Stark's in his book ''The Triumph of Faith'' wrote:

Dr. Rodney Stark's in his book ''The Triumph of Faith'' wrote:

Stark wrote in his book ''Acts of Faith'':

Stark wrote in his book ''Acts of Faith'':

{{cquote|For nearly three centuries social scientists and assorted Western intellectuals have been promising the end of religion. Each generation has been confident that within another few decades, or possibly a bit longer, humans will 'outgrow' belief in the supernatural. This proposition soon came to be known as the secularization thesis.<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>}}

{{cquote|For nearly three centuries social scientists and assorted Western intellectuals have been promising the end of religion. Each generation has been confident that within another few decades, or possibly a bit longer, humans will 'outgrow' belief in the supernatural. This proposition soon came to be known as the secularization thesis.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>}}

A 2003 paper published by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at [[Harvard University]] entitled ''The [[Secularization]] Debate'' indicates:

A 2003 paper published by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at [[Harvard University]] entitled ''The [[Secularization]] Debate'' indicates:

Toby Lester wrote in ''The Atlantic'':

Toby Lester wrote in ''The Atlantic'':

{{cquote|In 1851 the French historian and philosopher Ernest Renan announced to the world that Islam was "the last religious creation of humanity." He was more than a bit premature. At about the time he was writing, the Bahai faith, [[Christian Science]], Mormonism, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and a major Japanese religious movement known as Tenrikyo were all just coming to life. [[Falun Gong]] and [[Pentecostalism]]—both of which now have millions and millions of members—had yet to emerge. Whoops.<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>}}

{{cquote|In 1851 the French historian and philosopher Ernest Renan announced to the world that Islam was "the last religious creation of humanity." He was more than a bit premature. At about the time he was writing, the Bahai faith, [[Christian Science]], Mormonism, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and a major Japanese religious movement known as Tenrikyo were all just coming to life. [[Falun Gong]] and [[Pentecostalism]]—both of which now have millions and millions of members—had yet to emerge. Whoops.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>}}

=== Peter Berger's abandonment of the secular thesis ===

=== Peter Berger's abandonment of the secular thesis ===

In 1968, the American [[sociology|sociologist]] and author [[Peter L. Berger]]  told the ''[[New York Times]]'' that by "the 21st century, religious believers are likely to be found only in small sects, huddled together to resist a worldwide secular culture."<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>

In 1968, the American [[sociology|sociologist]] and author [[Peter L. Berger]]  told the ''[[New York Times]]'' that by "the 21st century, religious believers are likely to be found only in small sects, huddled together to resist a worldwide secular culture."<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/02/oh-gods/302412/ Oh, Gods!] by Toby Lester, ''The Atlantic''</ref>

Berger introduced the concept of [[desecularization]] in 1999.<ref>[http://intl-jcs.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/232.full#fn-2 ''Journal of Church and State'', Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework by Vyacheslav Karpov, 2010]</ref><ref>Peter L. Berger, “The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview,” in The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics, ed. Peter L. Berger (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999)</ref>  According to Berger, "One can say with some confidence that modern Pentecostalism must be the fastest growing religion in human history."<ref>[http://www.the-american-interest.com/2010/07/29/pentecostalism-protestant-ethic-or-cargo-cult/ Pentecostalism – Protestant Ethic or Cargo Cult?], Peter Berger, July 29, 2010</ref>

Berger introduced the concept of [[desecularization]] in 1999.<ref>[http://intl-jcs.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/232.full#fn-2 ''Journal of Church and State'', Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework by Vyacheslav Karpov, 2010]</ref><ref>Peter L. Berger, “The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview,” in The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics, ed. Peter L. Berger (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999)</ref>  According to Berger, "One can say with some confidence that modern Pentecostalism must be the fastest growing religion in human history."<ref>[http://www.the-american-interest.com/2010/07/29/pentecostalism-protestant-ethic-or-cargo-cult/ Pentecostalism – Protestant Ethic or Cargo Cult?], Peter Berger, July 29, 2010</ref>

Giles Frasier wrote in ''The Guardian'':

Giles Frasier wrote in ''The Guardian'':

{{Cquote|In 1900, the year that [[Nietzsche]] died, there were 8 million Christians in Africa. Now there are 335 million. And the growth rate continues to accelerate. God wasn’t dead. God was reborn. Indeed, far from being the century in which religion went away, for both Christianity and Islam, the 20th century was numerically the most successful century since Christ was crucified and Muhammad gave his farewell sermon on Mount Arafat. By 2010, there were 2.2 billion Christians in the world and 1.6 billion Muslims, 31% and 23% of the world population respectively. The secularisation hypothesis is a European myth, a piece of myopic parochialism that shows how narrow our worldview continues to be.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2016/may/26/the-world-is-getting-more-religious-because-the-poor-go-for-god The world is getting more religious, because the poor go for God] by Nile Frasier, ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

{{Cquote|In 1900, the year that [[Nietzsche]] died, there were 8 million Christians in Africa. Now there are 335 million. And the growth rate continues to accelerate. God wasn’t dead. God was reborn. Indeed, far from being the century in which religion went away, for both Christianity and Islam, the 20th century was numerically the most successful century since Christ was crucified and Muhammad gave his farewell sermon on Mount Arafat. By 2010, there were 2.2 billion Christians in the world and 1.6 billion Muslims, 31% and 23% of the world population respectively. The secularisation hypothesis is a European myth, a piece of myopic parochialism that shows how narrow our worldview continues to be.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2016/may/26/the-world-is-getting-more-religious-because-the-poor-go-for-god The world is getting more religious, because the poor go for God] by Nile Frasier, ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

== New Atheism as a reaction to the failure of the secularization thesis ==

== New Atheism as a reaction to the failure of the secularization thesis ==

{{cquote|The tables are turned in a new book, “''The Evolution of Atheism: The Politics of a Modern Movement''” (Oxford University Press). Journalists: It’s heady stuff to be a hook for news treatment, but worth the effort.

{{cquote|The tables are turned in a new book, “''The Evolution of Atheism: The Politics of a Modern Movement''” (Oxford University Press). Journalists: It’s heady stuff to be a hook for news treatment, but worth the effort.

The book analyzes atheistic causes in North America over the past century, including its internal schisms and contradictions. The work is based on Canadian author Stephen LeDrew’s doctoral dissertation at York University in Ontario and post-doctoral study in Sweden at Uppsala University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society.

The book analyzes atheistic causes in North America over the past century, including its internal schisms and contradictions. The work is based on Canadian author Stephen LeDrew’s doctoral dissertation at York University in Ontario and post-doctoral study in Sweden at Uppsala University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society...

 

Religion newswriters are well aware that those aggressive “[[New Atheism|New Atheists]]” sometimes suggest faith is not just stupid but morally evil or a sort of mental illness, such that parents should be forbidden to infect their own children with it. Journalists may be surprised to learn that for LeDrew and others, this sort of anti-religion thinking is outdated and “utterly out of sync with contemporary social science.”

Social scientists long embraced the “secularization thesis,” according to which religion will inevitably decline as modern science advances. But now, says LeDrew, many acknowledge that scenario was “a product of ideology” rather than empirical fact. Thus, the New Atheism could be seen as a promotional effort to defend against “a perceived failure of secularism in practice in late modern society.”... When examined closely, he sees the New Atheism as “secular fundamentalism, a modern utopian ideology” that’s “essentially political.”...

Social scientists long embraced the “secularization thesis,” according to which religion will inevitably decline as modern science advances. But now, says LeDrew, many acknowledge that scenario was “a product of ideology” rather than empirical fact. Thus, the [[New Atheism]] could be seen as a promotional effort to defend against “a perceived failure of secularism in practice in late modern society.”... When examined closely, he sees the New Atheism as “secular fundamentalism, a modern utopian ideology” that’s “essentially political.”...

To LeDrew, current atheism is much more than a mere critique of religious faith or absence of belief. It “ignores the reservoirs of knowledge offered by the social sciences, which add complexities to our understanding of religion that the New Atheists prefer to ignore, indulging in the kind of willful ignorance that they disparage religion for promoting.” Therefore, it’s “an ideology,” defined as “a schematic or rigid framework of preconceived ideas that shape, and thus distort, understanding.” It must exclude social scientists’ thinking about religion and obscure “social reality.”<ref>[https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2015/11/20/this-just-in-from-oxford-press-turning-the-intellectual-tables-on-new-atheists This just in from Oxford Press: Turning the intellectual tables on 'New Atheists'] by Richard Osling</ref>}}

To LeDrew, current atheism is much more than a mere critique of religious faith or absence of belief. It “ignores the reservoirs of knowledge offered by the social sciences, which add complexities to our understanding of religion that the New Atheists prefer to ignore, indulging in the kind of willful ignorance that they disparage religion for promoting.”<ref>[https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2015/11/20/this-just-in-from-oxford-press-turning-the-intellectual-tables-on-new-atheists This just in from Oxford Press: Turning the intellectual tables on 'New Atheists'] by Richard Osling</ref>}}

[[Vox Day]]'s book ''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]'' found multiple errors in reasoning and factual errors when it came to the works of new atheist authors.<ref>[http://creation.com/review-irrational-atheist-by-vox-day Excellent refutation of ‘new atheists’ flawed by heterodox open theism],  A review of The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by Vox Day, Benbella Books, Dallas, TX, 2008, reviewed by Lita Cosner</ref>

Vox Day's book ''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]'' found multiple errors in reasoning and factual errors when it came to the works of new atheist authors.<ref>[https://creation.com/review-irrational-atheist-by-vox-day Excellent refutation of ‘new atheists’ flawed by heterodox open theism],  A review of The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by Vox Day, Benbella Books, Dallas, TX, 2008, reviewed by Lita Cosner</ref>

== Limits to secularization ==

== Limits to secularization ==

The [[Desecularization|resurgence of religion]] is a worldwide development. Russian Orthodoxy is stronger than it has been for over a century, while China is the scene of a reawakening of its indigenous faiths and of underground movements that could [[Growth of Christianity in China|make it the largest Christian country]] in the world by the end of this century. Despite tentative shifts in opinion that have been hailed as evidence it is becoming less pious, the US remains massively and [[American atheism#American atheist activists exaggerating the number of atheists in the United States|pervasively religious]] – it’s inconceivable that a professed unbeliever could become president, for example. It’s inconceivable that a professed unbeliever could become president of the United States

The [[Desecularization|resurgence of religion]] is a worldwide development. Russian Orthodoxy is stronger than it has been for over a century, while China is the scene of a reawakening of its indigenous faiths and of underground movements that could [[Growth of Christianity in China|make it the largest Christian country]] in the world by the end of this century. Despite tentative shifts in opinion that have been hailed as evidence it is becoming less pious, the US remains massively and [[American atheism#American atheist activists exaggerating the number of atheists in the United States|pervasively religious]] – it’s inconceivable that a professed unbeliever could become president, for example. It’s inconceivable that a professed unbeliever could become president of the United States

For secular thinkers, the continuing vitality of religion calls into question the belief that history underpins their values. To be sure, there is disagreement as to the nature of these values. But pretty well all secular thinkers now take for granted that modern societies must in the end converge on some version of liberalism. Never well founded, this assumption is today clearly unreasonable.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists What scares the new atheists] by [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]], ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

For secular thinkers, the continuing vitality of religion calls into question the belief that history underpins their values. To be sure, there is disagreement as to the nature of these values. But pretty well all secular thinkers now take for granted that modern societies must in the end converge on some version of liberalism. Never well founded, this assumption is today clearly unreasonable.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists What scares the new atheists] by [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]], ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

== See also ==

== See also ==