Secularism and the Ongoing Culture Wars

Peter Beinart writes at The Atlantic about "Breaking Faith: The culture war over religious morality has faded; in its place is something much worse."  The hunch that reduced attendance of organized religious services would lead toward a truce in the culture wars was naive.  Religiously unaffiliated Americans to the right and the left are not paving the way toward a tolerant, inclusive, and harmonious society.

In conclusion Beinart muses, "Maybe it’s the values of hierarchy, authority, and tradition that churches instill. Maybe religion builds habits and networks that help people better weather national traumas, and thus retain their faith that the system works. For whatever reason, secularization isn’t easing political conflict. It’s making American politics even more convulsive and zero-sum."