wbur.org
support wbur today!
Listen to this show
The State of the Enlightenment
photo

In April, 1966, the cover of Time magazine asked “Is God Dead?” Well, “no” the answer turned out to be.

Despite centuries of science, the Enlightenment’s resistance to religious dogma, and modernity’s romance with reason, faith has not only survived but made a huge comeback in recent years.

Now a raft of books, some bestsellers, argue again that humans must get beyond religion to move forward. That fundamentalism and doctrine breed conflict and darkness.

But could it be that, despite the pullback of the religious right in recent U.S. elections, it is still science and reason that are in deep retreat?

This hour On Point: Enlightenment values, religion, and who owns the future.

Guests:

Rick Shweder, Professor of Comparative Human Development at University of Chicago and co-editor of “Engaging Cultural Differences”

George Kateb, Professor Emeritus of Politics at Princeton University and author of “Patriotism and Other Mistakes”

Sam Harris, author of “Letter to a Christian Nation” and “The End of Faith”

 
 

Comments are closed.

On Point Today
Hour 2
Robots Among Us
Thursday, July 9, 2009 image

Robots among us. iRobot CEO Colin Angle on the business and science of robotics now.

Comments [36]
 
Hour 1
Stimulus, Part Two?
Thursday, July 9, 2009 image

Debate mounts over a “Stimulus II.” But with talk of a “fiscal train wreck,” can America afford to spend more on stimulus? Top Obama advisor Christina Romer weighs in.

Comments [41]

Recent Shows
U.S. Nuns and the Vatican
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 image

The Catholic Church in Rome moves to scrutinize — maybe rein in — American nuns. We’ll talk with sisters on the front lines.

Comments [43]
 
Trouble in Honduras
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 image

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya comes to Washington for help. We’ll ask what the coup against him means for Honduras, and for democracy in Latin America.

Comments [44]
On Point Blog
Christina Romer on the Stimulus

Christina Romer, chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, joined us in our first hour today to talk about the economy and the debate over whether a second round of stimulus is needed. Asked about Vice President Biden’s recent remarks, that the administration had “misread how bad the economy was,” she replied:  “It’s important to realize [...]

More »
 
Ten Minutes with Brzezinski

Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski joined Tom from Washington, D.C. this morning and shared his impressions of President Obama’s first face-to-face meetings with Russia’s leaders.  Brzezinski called it a “sober and realistic summit, one which didn’t create undue expectations, but one which also marked some real progress…. There was, in a sense, an unstated agreement to disagree, and that’s [...]

More » | Comments [1]
 
India, China and the Climate

The passage of the House climate bill – discussed in our first hour today – has been greeted with enthusiasm in many quarters. But in some ways, the real question is whether a global framework can be established in Copenhagen in December, when countries will negotiate a new international treaty to curb greenhouse gases. After all, America emits only [...]

More » | Comments [1]