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Article: How to counter religion's toxic effects.
- Article from:
- The Humanist
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 American Humanist Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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EDWARD O. WILSON AND DANIEL DENNETT advocate new ways to think about religion that can have a profound impact on how we as humanists define our ideology and how we strengthen our public influence. In short, these honored humanist philosophers believe that we need to ground our thought and action not on a complete rejection of religion, but on a scientific understanding of it.
In Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Dennett specifically challenges his readers to find ways to use science to combat what he calls "toxic religion." In addition to past holy wars, inquisitions, persecutions, "and all the wretched abuses of superstition and theocracy," ...