Few figures in modern intellectual life are as polarizing — and as paradoxical — as Sam Harris. As one of the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism movement, the perpetually perplexed-looking polemicist burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s. First…

Editor’s Note: When asked why, after thousands of years and millions of words, he felt that the world needed still another book arguing the case for God’s existence, Evan Sayet said: I wanted to write a book for the lay-reader…

“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be his world, than he who aspires…

The highly regarded Pew Research Center has released its latest analysis of the religious beliefs of Americans and consequently acquired its usual major media headlines. The Washington Post version led: “nones — nonreligious Americans — increasing in U.S.” National Public…

Ryan Burge is a data analyst who synthesizes information about religion and politics in the United States. He publishes his findings and observations regularly on Substack. Last week, he wrote an article titled “How Weird Is the Religious Composition of…

The most extraordinary letter received here in 2021 (or perhaps in the last five years) was a response to an email of mine on colleges’ appointing atheist chaplains. The letter (edited to protect the writer) went as follows: The appointment…

Headlines earlier this summer pointed to gains among mainline Protestants in numbers not seen for decades. Findings released by the Public Religion Research Institute in July indicate that people who identified with the Protestant groups most notably known for theological…

Note to reader: I submitted this article to Richard Dawkins prior to publication. His response: “I read it. Hated it.” You are duly warned. ***** “Would you like some coffee?” my host asked. “If you’re having some, yes, thank you.”…

Bracketing Easter and Passover, the Washington Post headline was meant to shock: “Religious membership in U.S. falls below 50%, poll finds,” the lowest since 1937, citing a just-published Gallup poll and media release with a similar title. But Gallup also…

It turns out the New Atheists were wrong. During the mid-2000s, American middle- and upper-brow conversation experienced what I once called “the most sustained attack on monotheistic religion since Attila the Hun.” Within a single period of less than ten…