"There’s a New Power in America – Atheism"
Andy Dayton, Associate Web Producer
Andrew Sullivan, citing the just-released 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, discusses the rise of atheism in the U.S. in his Times column. He traces the rise of the non-religious in America as it relates to the rise of religious conservatism in recent years.
Sullivan’s outlook for religious America isn’t particularly optimistic, and he laments what he considers a shortage of intelligent religious voices in the U.S.:
The days when America’s leading intellectuals contained a strong cadre of serious Christians are over. There is no Thomas Merton in our day; no Reinhold Niebuhr, Walker Percy or Flannery O’Connor. In the arguments spawned by the new atheist wave, the Christian respondents have been underwhelming.
In the past we’ve considered Sullivan as a potential guest for Speaking of Faith, perhaps in response to California’s Proposition 8 ruling on gay marriage; he’s a Roman Catholic and openly gay, giving him a unique perspective on the subject.
Source: timesonline.co.uk
