Resources

Our Experts highly recommend critically acclaimed resources from across the internet and around the globe. Their perspectives stress science, reason, and intellectual advancement in areas that touch on secularism in society.

Papers

A Cross-National Test of the Uncertainty Hypothesis of Religious Belief

Barber, N. (2011). Cross-Cultural Research 45: 318–333 “According to the uncertainty hypothesis, religion helps people cope psychologically with dangerous or unpredictable situations… The author predicts that religious belief would decline in economically...

The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions

Paul, G. (2009). Evolutionary Psychology, 7(3): 398-441 “Better understanding the nature, origin and popularity of varying levels of popular religion versus secularism, and their impact upon socioeconomic conditions and vice versa, requires a...

Preachers Who are not Believers

LaScolla, L. & Dennett, D. (2010). Evolutionary Psychology 8: 122-150 “There are systemic features of contemporary Christianity that create an almost invisible class of non-believing clergy, ensnared in their ministries by a web...

Atheists as “Other”: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society

Edgell, P., Gertels, J., & Hartmann, D. (2006). American Sociological Review 71, 211–234 “…atheists are less likely to be accepted, publicly and privately, than any others from a long list of...

Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust is Central to Anti-Atheist Prejudice

Gervais, W., Shariff, A., & Norenzayan, A. (2011). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101: 1189-1206. “…A broad sample of American adults revealed that distrust characterized anti-atheist prejudice but not anti-gay prejudice. In...

Mental Well-Being in the Religious and Nonreligious: Evidence for a Curvilinear Relationship

Galen, L., & Kloet, J. (2011). Mental Health, Religion and Culture 14: 673–689. “…The present study examined mental well-being, utilising the full range of certainty of belief or non-belief in God...

The Reversal of Fortunes: Trends in County Mortality and Cross-Country Mortality Disparities in the United States

Ezzati, M., Friedman , A. B., Kulkarni, S. C., & Murray, C. J. L. (2008). PLoS Medicine 5: e66. “…This study aimed to investigate trends in county mortality and cross-county mortality disparities...

Women, Work, and the Economy

Elborgh-Woytek, K. et al. (2013). IMF Staff Discussion Note “This Staff Discussion Note examines the specific macro-critical features of women’s participation in the labor market, the constraints preventing women from developing their...

Religious Affiliation, Education and Internet Use

Downey, A. (2014). Cornell University. “Using data from the General Social Survey, we measure the effect of education and Internet use on religious affiliation. We find that Internet use is associated...

On the Receiving End: Discrimination Toward the Non-Religious in the United States

Cragun, R. et al. (2012). Journal of Contemporary Religion 27: 105-127. “The present study examines perceived discrimination faced by religious ‘nones’. After distinguishing between atheists, agnostics, and ‘nones’ who are deists or theists...

When God Sanctions Killing: Effect of Scriptural Violence on Aggression

Bushman, B., Ridge, R., Das, E., Key, C., & Busath, G. (2007). Psychological Science 18: 204–207 “Violent people often claim that God sanctions their actions. In two studies, participants read a violent passage...

Theodicy’s Problem: A Statistical Look at the Holocaust of the Children and the Implications of Natural Evil for the Free Will and Best of all Possible Worlds Hypotheses

Paul, G. (2009). Philosophy and Theology, 19: 125–149 “The primary purpose for his analysis is to inform those interested in the theodicy problem about the demographic statistics that detail the full...

Science, Religion, and Society: the Problem of Evolution in America

Coyne, J. (2012). Evolution 66-8, 2654-2663 “American resistance to accepting evolution is uniquely high among First World countries. This is due largely to the extreme religiosity of the United States, which is...

Is Personal Insecurity a Cause of Cross-National Differences in the Intensity of Religious Belief?

Rees, T. (2009). Journal of Religion and Society, 11 “Previous research has shown an apparent relationship between “societal health” and religiosity, with nations that exhibit higher mean personal religiosity also tending to provide worse...

Cannibals and Crusaders

Rubenstein, J. (2008). French Historical Studies 31: 525-552 “During the First Crusade (1095–99) the Franks cannibalized the Muslim dead at the city of Ma`arra. More than a dozen narrative sources describe this...

Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions

Zuckerman, P. (2009). Sociology Compass 3: 949–971 “What do we currently know about atheists and secular people? In what ways are atheism and secularity correlated with positive societal outcomes? This article offers...

Perceptions of Science and American Secularism

Baker, J. (2012). East Tennessee State University ...This study analyzes data from a random, national survey of adults to examine the empirical connections between perceptions of science and secular identities in the...

Secularism or Catholicism? The Religious Composition of the United States to 2043

Skirbekk, V., Goujon, A., and Kaufmann, E. (2008). Vienna Institute of Demography We project the religious composition of the United States to 2043, considering fertility differences, migration, intergenerational religious transmission and...

Secularism, Equality, and Political Legitimacy

Mahoney, J. (2010). Journal of Value Inquiry, March 2010 In recent years, most discussion on the topic of secularism and political legitimacy has centered on the United States. Some relevant examples that have...

Child Fatalities From Religion-motivated Medical Neglect

Asser, S. and Swan, R. (1998). Pediatrics v101-4, 625-629 Results. One hundred forty fatalities were from conditions for which survival rates with medical care would have exceeded 90%. Eighteen more had expected...

Politicking From The Pulpit: An Analysis Of The IRS’s Current Section 501(c)(3) Enforcement Efforts And How It Is Costing America

Bruch, Stephanie A (2009). 53 St. Louis L.J. 1253 Religious statements made by political candidates may seem inappropriate, especially to those individuals who believe religion and politics should never overlap. However...

Michael Behe and the “Limits” of Evolution

From Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard, here is a paper breaking down Michael Behe's appearance at the 2005 Dover Intelligent Design trial and how he tried to lay out the limits of evolution...

Taking "Teach the Controversy" Critical Analysis Seriously

Here is a paper from Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard entitled, "Taking “Teach the Controversy” Critical Analysis seriously: What does Intelligent Design have to say about the Reptile-Mammal Transition?" An investigation (with illustrations)...

Three Macroevolutionary Episodes

In his paper "Three Macroevolutionary Episodes: Deep Time and the Creation/Evolution Controversy," Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard discusses fossil records, including illustrations and several chronology charts. It also contains a critique of Jonathan...

NOMA Revisited

In this paper (full text available below), Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard tackles non-overlapping magisteria, or NOMA. His summary follows: Make no mistake about it, this non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) issue is one...

Birth Cohort Changes in the Association Between College Education and Religious Non-Affiliation

This article, published in the Social Forces journal, examines the changing association between higher education and reporting no religious affiliation in the United States. Using more than three and a half decades...

Why Religion May Not be Hard-Wired

Begley, S. (2009). Newsweek 3/13/2010 "At last check, intimations of mortality had not been banished from the human mind—the Grim Reaper still stalks our thoughts. Nor have our brain circuits shaken...

The Intelligent Design Controversy

Below is the full transcript of a class lecture given by Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard. In his own words: I first met Pete Boghossian when he was called in at the...

A Global Secular Bill of Rights

After seeing the US State Department's recent report on International Religious Freedom, Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard created a Global Secular Bill of Rights as a call to arms and details on the scale...

An Ill Wind in Tortuca

Below is the full text of Secular Global Institute Communicator Jim Downard's's 2009 Kennewick Freethought Society lecture on how people come to believe things that aren't true. Downard summarizes: "The take home point...

Evolution

Downard, James, Secular Global Institute Communicator 7/31/2014 The scientific concept that all life on earth is related by common descent, and has come to be the way it is through natural processes...

Oh Lord, can't we keep religion out of politics?

By Teresa Wiltz, (2013). The Guardian America's founders insisted on church-state separation. Yet now we have senators and justices prattling about the devil. Save us. read more

Unelectable Atheists: U.S. States that Prohibit Godless Americans from Holding Public Office

by Matthew Bulger, (2013). Humanist Network News With election season upon us, and a near constant stream of public jabs and rebuttals between incumbents and their challengers, we should focus on...

A Secular Boom in America and Jews of “No Religion”

Pini Herman. (2011). Jewish Journal, 10/31/2011 “The US Jewish population is comprised of over a third of ‘Jews, No Religion,’ a strange term that may describe a lot of our friends...

Science, Religion Debated as Evangelical Takes Top NIH Post

Vergano, D. (2009). USA Today 9/14/2009 “Can we all get along? Maybe not when it comes to science and religion. Just ask scientist Francis Collins, installed last month as head of the National Institutes of...

Fading Faith: The Rise of the Secular Age

James A. Haught. (2011). Patheos. “Since World War II, worship has dwindled starkly in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other advanced democracies… But quietly, under the radar, much of America slowly...

Science is Not the Enemy

Pinker, S. (2013). The New Republic 8/6/2013 “The great thinkers of the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment were scientists. Not only did many of them contribute to mathematics, physics, and...

What’s really hurting Christianity in America

Paul, G. (2010). Los Angeles Times, 10/27/2010 “In their new book, ‘American Grace,’ Robert D. Putman and David E. Campbell make two assertions about the decline of religious affiliation in the United...

Home-Schooling Demographics Change, Expand

Alesha Williams Boyd and Sergio Bichao, (2011). USA Today, 2/15/2012 “…The New Jersey co-op is among hundreds of secular and inclusive home-schooling groups in the USA aimed at providing opportunities for...

Christian Apologist Josh McDowell: 3 Cultural Changes That Create the “Perfect Storm” Against the Church

Martinez, J. (2013). Christian Post “Josh McDowell, an apologist and evangelist, spoke at Southern Evangelical Seminary’s Christian Apologetics conference on three culture changes that create a “perfect storm” that challenges and poses...

Where are the people?

Hinch, J. (2014). The American Scholar, winter; 18-29 “Just 10 years ago, evangelical Christianity appeared to be America’s dominant religious movement. Evangelicals, more theologically diverse and open to the secular world...

Some Mormons Search the Web and Find Doubt

Goodstein, L. (2013). The New York Times; 7/21/2013 “In the small but cohesive Mormon community where he grew up, Hans Mattsson was a solid believer and a pillar of the church...

The Price of Purity

Feldman, K. (2014). The New Republic, 2/7/2014 “The security guards were bored. It was the first weekend of May 2010—a time when students at other universities were partying before finals. This...

A False Equation: Faith Equals Morality

Dyer, G. (2011). The Spectator 12/20/2011 “In the United States, where it is almost impossible to get elected unless you profess a strong religious faith, it would have passed completely unnoticed...

Why Belief in God is Not Innate

Paul, G. (2010). The Wall Street Journal, 4/10/2010 “It has become fashionable to assert that, far from being dead, belief in God is so deeply ingrained in the human psyche that...

What’s really hurting Christianity in America

Paul, G. (2010). Los Angeles Times, 10/27/2010 “…Americans, especially the youngest generations, are rapidly losing a lot of their faith. The nonreligious are far and away the fastest-growing group, with nonbelievers...

Why Atheists Align with Democrats

Brown, A. (2012). Atheism Resource “…I will look at the political views of active atheists and non-religious people in America and show that there is a preponderance to be towards the...

Does Religion Make You Nice? Does Atheism Make You Mean?

Bloom, P. (2008). Slate 11/7/2008 "Many Americans doubt the morality of atheists. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans say that they would not vote for an otherwise qualified...

Why Religion May Not be Hard-Wired

Why Do Americans Still Dislike Atheists?

Paul, G. and Zuckerman, P. (2011). Washington Post, 4/29/2011 Long after blacks and Jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is still a...

Countries with Less Religious Diversity Have More Faith-Based Violence

Green, E. (2014). The Atlantic, 4/4/2014 “Chalk up a win today for pluralism. On Friday, the Pew Research Center released a report on the countries with the most and least religious diversity, and the...

Atheism and the Decline of Religion in the U.S.

There is some evidence that certain indicators of religiosity appear to be going through a slight decline in the United States. That is the good news. The bad news is that the...

Prospect Magazine's World Thinkers 2013

After more than 10,000 votes from over 100 countries, the results of Prospect’s world thinkers 2013 poll came in. Online polls often generate curious results, but this top 10 offers...

In U.S., 42% Believe Creationist View of…

by Gallup, June 2014 ( read survey ) More than four in 10 Americans continue to believe that God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago, a view that has...

Half of American Fans See Supernatural F…

by Public Religion Research Institute, January 2014 ( read article ) Just ahead of the 2014 Super Bowl, half of sports fans see some aspect of the supernatural at play in sports...

“I Know What You Did Last Sunday” Finds …

by the Public Religion Research Institute, May 2014 ( read article ) A new PRRI study, “I Know What You Did Last Sunday: Measuring Social Desirability Bias in Self-Reported Religious Behavior, Belief...

Among Wealthy Nations, U.S. Stands Alone…

Pew Research Center, (2002) ( see report ) "Religion is much more important to Americans than to people living in other wealthy nations. Six-in-ten (59%) people in the U.S. say religion...

Worldwide, Many See Belief in God as Ess…

Pew Research Center, March 2014. ( see report ) Many people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person, according to surveys in...

For 2016 Hopefuls, Washington Experience…

Pew Research Center, May 2014 ( see report ) As the 2016 presidential campaign begins to take shape... While 70% of Republicans say they would be less likely to support a candidate...

Irreligion in the United States

Wikipedia, 2014. (see report) “Encompassing at least agnosticism, atheism, secular humanism, and general secularism,nonreligious Americans have been counted in the tens of millions by various polls. Many Americans, especially in the American West, have historically rejected both organized religion and nonreligion...

Demographics of Atheism

Wikipedia, 2014. (see report) “Atheists comprised an estimated 2.01%, and non-religious a further 9.66% of the world population, according to The World Factbook in 2010. In East Asia, atheists and the irreligious are the majority. Outside of East Asia and...

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Copyright © 2014 - Secular Global Institute - 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 640, Washington, DC 20004 Main (202) 430-1888 / Fax (202) 888-0196.

Copyright © 2014 - Secular Global Institute - 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 640, Washington, DC 20004
Main (202) 430-1888 / Fax (202) 888-0196.