The Illusion of Certainty: How the Flawed Beliefs of Religion Harm Our Culture - Softcover

Houk, James T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 163388323X ISBN 13: 9781633883239

Verlag: Prometheus Books, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

In this examination of religion's influence on society, an anthropologist critiques fundamentalism and all mindsets based on rigid cultural certainties. The author argues that the future can only be safeguarded by a global humanistic outlook that recognizes and respects differing cultural perspectives and endorses the use of critical reason and empiricism. Houk coins the term "culturalism" to describe dogmatic viewpoints governed by culture-specific values and preconceived notions. Culturalism gives rise not only to fundamentalism in religion but also stereotypes about race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Turning specifically to Christian fundamentalism, the author analyzes the many weaknesses of what he calls a faith-based epistemology, particularly as such thinking is displayed in young-earth creationism, the reliance on revelation and subjective experiences as a source of religious knowledge, and the reverence accorded the Bible despite its obvious flaws. As he points out, the problem with such cultural knowledge generally is that it is non-falsifiable and ultimately has no lasting value in contrast to the data-based and falsifiable knowledge produced by science, which continues to prove its worth as a reliable source of accurate information.

Concluding that there is no future to the fundamentalist mindset in a diverse world where religion often exacerbates conflicts, he makes a strong case for reason and mutual tolerance.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

James T. Houk is professor of anthropology at Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge, LA. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Houk received his PhD in anthropology from Tulane University and has done extensive fieldwork in Trinidad, Jamaica, and India. He is the author of Introduction to Anthropology: An Interactive Text and Spirits, Blood, and Drums: The Orisha Religion in Trinidad, as well as the novel Humanus Diabolicus: A Postmodern Prophecy.

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From the Preface


It is the certainty that is often part and parcel of religion that harms our culture. In this book, then, my primary concern is exposing the illusion that is religious certainty. If we ponder some of the worst episodes and aspects of human history (e.g., the tens of thousands burned at the stake for the fictional crime of witchcraft; the horrible treatment of women; the subjugation and, in some cases, the extermination of whole cultures in the name of Christianity; bloody religious conflicts; suicide bombings; and “honor” killings; just to mention a few), it is frustratingly obvious that it is doubt, not certainty, that should be celebrated and embraced. Given the subject matter under consideration here, namely a putative transcendental realm replete with celestial creatures of all sorts and their supposed concern with the activities of humans in this world, doubt, not faith, is the only rationally defensible response.

I will begin my defense of doubt and, consequently, my argument against the illusion of certainty in part one, with a discussion of the “faith-based epistemology” that has generated fantasies, fallacies, falsehoods, and misinformation in our cultural ideology regarding not only religion but sexual orientation, race and racism, and bigotry in the form of anti-Semitism. In part two, I will deconstruct what is, perhaps, exhibit A for irrational, faith-based thinking, an idea that is so antithetically empirical that only the inertia, power, and influence of religion could possibly persuade ostensibly sane and reasonable folks to embrace it—namely young-earth creationism. In part three, continuing with the general theme, the sources of religious knowledge are critiqued, and they are found wanting at best and totally unreliable at worst. Holy scriptures and the many unfounded and false assumptions made regarding these ancient writings are the subject of part four. The illusion of certainty is on full display here as believers make assumptions regarding, for example, the inerrancy and divine literality of the Bible that are clearly unwarranted. Finally, in part five, even the best objective arguments for the existence of God made by brilliant thinkers throughout the centuries are examined and found to be unconvincing. We will also look at the problem of evil that, according to many, constitutes perhaps the best argument for atheism, or at least the best argument against the existence of a personal God in the Judeo-Christo-Islamic mold.

A close and thorough examination of the products of the faith-based epistemology that, unfortunately, serves as the foundation for not only religion but popular thinking regarding many aspects of the human condition, will show unequivocally that it is horribly flawed. If humanity is to finally shake off this cultural absolutist, nonempirical, faith-based mode of thinking birthed during a time when individuals did not know where the sun went at night, it will have to become intellectually mature enough to embrace nature, pure and unadulterated, warts and all, stripped of the fantasies, fallacies, and falsehoods of religious fundamentalism.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Prometheus Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 163388323X
• ISBN 13: 9781633883239
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 381
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; Utrecht; 3584 AA; Niederlande