Der Spiegel auf English has a post (not surprisingly) on religion from a secular-atheist POV.
At the dawn of the 21st century...the triumph of modernity was supposed to be accompanied by the inexorable demise of religion around the world.
That was flat wrong. Indeed, on the continents of Africa and Asia,
where religion is gaining in influence, it was never the case.
...
"The notion that religion would die out has proved an illusion. Religion, as a response to the transcendental origins of human existence, is a core feature of every culture," wrote academics in the German Lutheran Church in a recent white paper.
I could fisk this article myself, but I don't care to write a lengthy post on this. Instead I will leave it to you to read critically and note instances where the phrasing of the reporting may seem correct from their perspective, but is misleading, whether unintentionally or on purpose, due to certain assumptions that secular-atheist-humanists take for granted. For instance, to speak of the "spread of religion" makes it sound as though religion was relatively uncommon until recently, when it began to spread, whereas the truth is that largely-atheist societies are a relatively modern aberration.
Keep in mind that although to you, Bush may appear (publically, at least) only slightly more religious than Thomas Jefferson, from the Spiegel folks' perspective he looks about as un-religion-y as the pope.
"The day is no longer far off," prophesied Klaus Harpprecht in Germany's Die Zeit newspaper, "when the religious foundations of our civilizations will be as alien to most Germans as those of ancient Egypt and the Aztecs."
Yet...
On this increasingly God-fearing globe, only Western Europe looks like
the last bastion of secularism - or [asks the reporter] are the faithful here too returning
to the fold?
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