Their quest to find ‘something bigger’ to devote our lives to is only a superficial change from religion – and it ignores the psychological reality of our ever-changing self.
Secular people, including atheists, in Indonesia have to assume multiple identities: they step into a religious persona for the religious family and friends, and a real one for trusted peers.
Richard Flory, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Americans are increasingly choosing not to identify with any religious tradition. But this group of irreligious people is a complex one – with different relationships to religion.
Under Fidel Castro, Cuba declared itself as an atheist state. Castro’s relationship with religion, however, was far more complex. It left a deep impact on the religious identity of Cuba.
Student activists are losing faith in the legacies of anti-apartheid heroes like Nelson Mandela. Perhaps all South Africans should do the same. It may just be what the country needs for its future.
The furore over atheism in Kenya comes at a time of slow but steady growth in the number of people unaffiliated to any religion, thanks to religious discontent and access to scientific knowledge.
Oliver Sacks, the celebrated neurologic storyteller who died at the end of August at age 82, once described himself as “strongly atheist by disposition.” Sacks could write sensitively about religion, including…