The four conditions of secularization
Reading from the article, the host lays out the model's finding: people tend to secularize when four factors are all present — existential security (enough money and food), personal freedom to choose belief, pluralism (a welcoming attitude to diversity), and education in the sciences and humanities. The model predicted 1998–2008 belief trends across 22 countries up to three times more accurately than linear regression.
More on Atheism
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Simeon's question: 'what made God?' and the case against scientism
- What made God? How can a being have no beginning?
Guest Simeon Clawson names his recurring faith question: what made God, and how can a mind process a being with no beginning?
From No. 556 · A Christian Mid-Life Crisis
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Why people ditch God
- Why do people ditch God?
Reading a Christian Post article by Robin P. Shoemaker, the hosts work through three reasons people leave faith: bad events that wreck a life, bad representatives of the faith, and bad morals that collide with sexual freedom.
From No. 505 · Because of Fussy and Fuzzy
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Dear LFTP: the significant other who hijacks every religious discussion
- How do I get my significant other to stop hijacking religious discussions with hostility?
A woman writes in that her significant other, nice in every other respect, injects sarcasm and hostility into any religion or spirituality discussion and always ends with 'show me proof.'
From No. 454 · Read, Protect, and Complain About Your Husband
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News: Kentucky man's 'I'M GOD' license plate lawsuit
- Should my dating daughter choose the nearby college and move in with her boyfriend, or take the scholarship school three hours away?
A Frankfort, Kentucky man — atheist Ben Benny Hart, who had the plate in Ohio for over a decade — is suing Kentucky (backed by the ACLU and the Freedom From Religious Foundation) after being told the 'I'M GOD' plate is inappropriate; a judge let the case proceed.
From No. 345 · Grammys and Cheeseburgers