"My thesis has to do with the influence of organized religion on the character of what are usually considered the secular parts of society: commerce and industry." - Well, I think what your expressing, to put in in my own terms, is the proposition that when pre-rational, a-rational, or "presuppositionalist" explanations are forcibly imposed on commerce and industry, to displace scientific explanations, the results tend to be dismal in economic terms .  The same could be said for medical and all scientific research, or any rationalized sphere of human endeavor.

We use science and logic - as tools - so widely because they tend to be most effective, compared to - say - magic, at  getting the job done, sure.

I had to object to your title because this site walks a fine line between atheism and agnosticism and religion - respecting all camps and favoring none. Your title seemed to imply that all organized religion might be problematic for economic success when your actual point was to suggest that the forcible imposition - on the part of some organized religions of religious explanations, to displace scientific ones, in business ( and education, commerce, science... ) might hurt American economic competitiveness.

People on this site hold a wide variety of faiths and beliefs - and many belong to organized religions and would be your logical allies, for they believe in strong church / state separation and in equality for religious belief ( or the lack of that ).

Broad brushed attacks on something so amorphous as "organized religion" will put you in a very small camp indeed - and quite unecessarily. My point is on selecting your foes with precision. Many Christians ( and people of other faiths ) in the US are as strongly against forcily imposing religious dogma on industrial and educational policy, or on science and business, as you are.

by Bruce Wilson on Tue Feb 07, 2006 at 06:29:32 PM EST
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