The New Age of Reason

Reason magazine's Ronald Bailey has an interesting blog post today about the death of the political maneuverings of the Christian Right and the rise of what might be a new age of reason in the U.S. Quoting Chris Stirewalt, Bailey raises the interesting point that the recent inclusion of gay and lesbian parents on the White House Easter egg hunt list, the legalization of gay marriage in Iowa and Vermont, and the new support for embryonic stem cell research haven't met with nearly the outcry they would have even just a decade ago. He goes on to argue that America's Fourth Great Awakening, a religious revival begun in the early '70s, is coming to an end. Recent survey data showing a decline in religious identification seems to support this claim. While my fellow skeptics might (rightly) welcome this turn of the tide, I can't say I'm too enthusiastic. I'm afraid becoming a majority might rob us of our ever-important cool factor. Who wants to stand up for science and reason when everyone else is doing it? I might have to start an evangelical blog for the same reason I refused to wear flannel or Doc Martins between the years of 1989 and 2005. Read all of Bailey's post here.