A recent world-wide movement is gaining attention. This is very shocking to some (including individuals close to me). The world is loosing Faith. It occurs to me that this is merely another example of inevitable accelerating change. This trend started many centuries ago with the earliest philosophers who formed the first rational science-based foundation for the world they observed around them. A more recent data point on this exponential curve would certainly be the publishing of A History of the Warfare between Science and Christendom published in 1896 by Andrew Dickensen White. This two-volume work is one of the most valued in my personal library and played a significant role in my disassociation from fundamentalist evangelical Christianity some 20 years ago. A.D White founded Cornell University announcing that it would be “an asylum for Science—where truth shall be sought for truth’s sake, not stretched or cut exactly to fit Revealed Religion”.

This latest data point marking a global acceleration away from the mystical and into the rational is accented by a string of new books on the scourge of organized religion. What got me going on this post: It even warranted several inches in a a local newspaper!

One thing missing from White’s book (and many of these sorts of discussions) is the huge contribution to Science from Islamic countries in centuries past — and the stark lack of contribution in modern times. An insightful article on the subject was recently posted on physicstoday.org: Science and the Islamic world–the quest for rapproachement.

I would bet this trend toward a more secular globe will accelerate dramatically over the next decade. Let’s check back.

Filed under: Future, Religion, Science