The End of Secularism
Hunter BakerPaperback 2009-08-05
This groundbreaking work unearths the failings of secularism as a social policy and proposes a more enduring and positive solution: the institutional separation of church and state.??In a world divided by religious pluralism and the concerns it raises within the public square, secularism has been cited by many as the answer. But is it today's recipe for social harmony and rationality, or a tainted brew that actually deters political and scientific efforts? According to author Hunter Baker, there is only one way to find out: by putting secularism under the microscope and carefully examining its origins, its context, its claims, and the viability of those claims.??As Baker makes clear in this groundbreaking book, secularism not only fails to vindicate its various claims but fails as the "only" way to enjoy modernity's fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. Yet The End of Secularism does more than just declare secularism's demise as a useful social construct - it lays out a more positive and enduring solution that every concerned reader needs to consider: the institutional separation of church and state.
-Publisher.
Publisher Description
"This ambitious work offers one of the most comprehensive attacks on secularism yet attempted. Hunter Baker argues that advocates of secularism misunderstand the borders between science, religion, and politics and cannot solve the problem of religious difference." ?University scholars have spent decades subjecting religion to critical scrutiny. But what would happen if they turned their focus on secularism? Hunter Baker seeks the answer to that question by putting secularism under the microscope and carefully examining its origins, its context, its claims, and the viability of those claims. ?The result of Baker's analysis is "The End of Secularism." He reveals that secularism fails as an instrument designed to create superior social harmony and political rationality to that which is available with theistic alternatives. Baker also demonstrates that secularism is far from the best or only way to enjoy modernity's fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. "The End
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This groundbreaking work unearths the failings of secularism as a social policy and proposes a more enduring and positive solution: the institutional separation of church and state.??In a world divided by religious pluralism and the concerns it raises within the public square, secularism has been cited by many as the answer. But is it today's recipe for social harmony and rationality, or a tainted brew that actually deters political and scientific efforts? According to author Hunter Baker, there is only one way to find out: by putting secularism under the microscope and carefully examining its origins, its context, its claims, and the viability of those claims.??As Baker makes clear in this groundbreaking book, secularism not only fails to vindicate its various claims but fails as the "only" way to enjoy modernity's fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. Yet The End of Secularism does more than just declare secularism's demise as a useful social construct - it lays out a more positive and enduring solution that every concerned reader needs to consider: the institutional separation of church and state.
-Publisher.
Publisher Description
"This ambitious work offers one of the most comprehensive attacks on secularism yet attempted. Hunter Baker argues that advocates of secularism misunderstand the borders between science, religion, and politics and cannot solve the problem of religious difference." ?University scholars have spent decades subjecting religion to critical scrutiny. But what would happen if they turned their focus on secularism? Hunter Baker seeks the answer to that question by putting secularism under the microscope and carefully examining its origins, its context, its claims, and the viability of those claims. ?The result of Baker's analysis is "The End of Secularism." He reveals that secularism fails as an instrument designed to create superior social harmony and political rationality to that which is available with theistic alternatives. Baker also demonstrates that secularism is far from the best or only way to enjoy modernity's fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. "The End