tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7532871.post9013656178152808387..comments2024-03-13T13:29:33.800-05:00Comments on SocraticGadfly: Frank Bruni, secularly cluelessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7532871.post-64605734886837798312011-08-07T13:51:27.332-05:002011-08-07T13:51:27.332-05:00It's funny because, depending on who you'r...It's funny because, depending on who you're talking to, "secularism" could mean very different things. In history or religious studies we looking into the supposed secularization of culture, and there we really are talking about an amorphous kind of cultural movement that's difficult to define.<br /><br />But if you talk about secularism with a secular humanist, you can often hear the capital S. It's not uncommon for this to feed peoples' ability to talk past one another.Christopher Michael Lunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16330484072879158329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7532871.post-46567196806789799722011-08-07T12:08:24.521-05:002011-08-07T12:08:24.521-05:00Christopher, agreed with that. That, in turn, gets...Christopher, agreed with that. That, in turn, gets back to the problems with Bruni's column. He first seems to be implying secularism as a unified cultural force, ie, secular humanism, rather than an amorphous mass, but then, after that, he never defines it further.<br /><br />Otherwise, yes ... IMO, it's why the term "village idiot athiest" is still valid today.Gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075757287807731373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7532871.post-77752890209564328292011-08-07T09:11:52.904-05:002011-08-07T09:11:52.904-05:00While I appreciate the desire to break down ridicu...While I appreciate the desire to break down ridiculous oversimplifications of social movements, I'm not convinced that secularists are less gullible than other kinds of people.<br /><br />So much of rationalism proceeds from some pretty basic, often cultural, assumptions about the way the world works. Secularism isn't divorced from that, and I'm (lol) skeptical of whether an ideology such a secularism could really work substantially against human gullibility.Christopher Michael Lunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16330484072879158329noreply@blogger.com