answer.... The same must be equally true of the search for truth when it comes to the ultimate
questions. The thirst for truth is so rooted in the human heart that to be obliged to ignore it would cast
our existence into jeopardy.Pope John Paul 11 (1998)Your "astonishing fact" about the persistence of Christianity might also be revealed as an eroding
mystery. I am not sure that in the most educated countries you find religion on the rise. This would require
a good global study. In my travels to Europe, South America, Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, Mexico
and North America I have found that although religion is everywhere, it is far less dominant in the lives of
citizens whose countries place high standards on education.
In the most backwater places I have ever visited (remote baracas deep in the Amazon; dirt-road towns
in Burma; Jacksonville, Fla.) people had no education, yet religious fetishes were dominant. In the cities
where education is highly respected (Tokyo, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Sao Paolo, Sydney, etc.)
religious fetishes and churches are rarely encountered.
America, of course, is a hotbed for this kind of analysis. We have very high academic standards for a
certain class but very low achievers and low standards in other classes. It would be an important work to
map out religious belief in America along class lines. My prediction: Education indeed plays a role in
religious belief; the more educated would show a lower ranking along several variables for religious
belief.
The Harris survey reports that 79% of Americans believe in a deity, and that 66% were "absolutely
certain" this to be true. Atheists, those who "do not believe in a God,"accounted for 9% of respondents,
while 12% may fall into the category of "not sure."... Even with the high rate of god belief, though, Harris
found that only 55% of Americans attend a religious service "a few times a year, "with only 36%
attending once a month or more often. Twenty-six percent claimed to attend a house of worship every
week.... Most countries in Europe have a significantly lower rate of religious observance. Many including
Norway, Denmark, Sweden and even Russia have rates under 20%.... Education [seems] to have a modest
role in whether one [is] atheist or theist. Eighty-two percent of those with a high school education or less
reported that they believed in a god. That figure dropped with "some college" (77%), "college" (78%)
and "postgraduate (73%).
Conrad F. Goeringer, American Atheist Newsletter (2003)
As for the success of Christianity, there is an explanation of it in my Ph.D. dissertation. It is a quote by
Richard Dawkins that describes how a child's brain might be "wired" to "believe what your parents tell
you" That is a simple mechanism that not only explains why Christianity is so popular in our Christian
society, but also why atheism tends to run in the family. If a child is never exposed to concepts of God,
she still wonders about things. Science answers a lot of her questions without reference to any intelligent
designer.
What makes Christianity attractive? Well, during the Middle Ages there were very strong motives for
loving Christianity. The symbolism of burning a human being alive on a stake in the center of town passes
down through the generations to create a powerful reminder of what might happen if you are seen as a
"heretic" I worry, even today, about persecution for my beliefs. It would perhaps be easier for me to
conform to an active Christian lifestyle. I am privileged to live in this time in history and in a supportive