This month's Atlantic had several intriguing articles about religion, but the most interesting article to me was Alan Wolfe's article entitled "And the Winner Is . . ."In his article, Wolfe examines the often-overlooked symbiotic relationship between religion and secularism and identifies many of the forces that influence the growth and decline of certain religions. He predicts that the global proliferation of secularism, particularly the separation of church and state, will ultimately level the playing field for all religions to compete with one another and potentially flourish. Interestingly, Wolfe identifies Mormonism as the popular dark-horse pick to win the worldwide race for converts, despite the Church's relatively small present-day membership.
The article also discusses the unique status of the United States as the only nation in the world that can realistically claim to be both wealthy and religious (a sobering thought if you consider that the United States is only shallowly religious). I couldn't help reading Wolfe's description of the generally inverse relationship between wealth and religion without thinking that many of the ideas in the Book of Mormon have proven to be far ahead of their time, regardless of whether or not you believe the Book of Mormon is an authentic compilation of inspired, ancient prophecies.
Anyway, here's a link to the article:
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4 comments:
You summarized Wolfe's thoughts well (better than he did, but I guess he had to have something long enough to be paid for writing). I agree, the pride cycle from the Book of Mormon was very evident in some of Wolfe's description of the countries of the world and their economies and religiosity. Thanks for the intriguing thoughts and link!
I would post my enlightening insights on the topic but I am still offended from your negative remarks about my new bike. It's your loss.
That's interesting. It's as if he's looking at a still photo of the pride cycle. A two dimensional view of a four dimensional process. You make my brain hurt. E.
I think my brother rides a "pride cycle" now.
Glad you enjoyed the article.
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