Secularism: The Hidden Origins of Disbelief

Spirituality is a difficult subject in the modern world. Everywhere, from popular media to the university, from the bookshelf to the dinner table, religions are derided or marginalised and public figures, such as Richard Dawkins, set upon anyone who admits to a belief in God. The secular mind has been shaped by the Enlightenment legacy of Marx, Darwin and Freud, where disbelief has arisen from the twin impact of the rise of scientific rationalism and the revulsion against religious cruelty. In "Secularism", Mike King argues that the Enlightenment thinkers who initiated these arguments intended to improve, not to eradicate religion. Instead, a hidden factor is shown as the key to the origins of Western disbelief: the rise of a non-devotional spiritual impulse, best understood in Eastern terms.Its failure to be accepted, either by mainstream religion or the secular world, encouraged the expression of atheism. An uneasy detente developed between secular culture and faith tradition, which coexisted in a 'mutual ignorance pact' until the rude awakening of 9/11. King engages with a range of thinkers, including Pythagoras, Plotinus, Spinoza, Darwin and Freud, and, most importantly, incorporates detailed studies of a variety of spiritual leaders and Eastern thinkers, providing a perspective that readers are unlikely to have encountered before. A compelling case is made that the current antagonism between religion and science has no basis: the 'God' put forward on one side is too narrow a historical conception, and the science put forward on the other side is too limited to account for the variety of spiritual impulse.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Issues in Secularism and Culture 1.1 Secularism, Atheism and Scientism 1.2 Secularism and Contemporary Culture 1.3 Philosophy and Secularism 1.4 The Role of Language 1.5 Psychology, the Brain and Secularism 1.6 The Shibboleths of Secularism 2. Articulating Spiritual Difference 2.1 The History of the Spiritual Life 2.2 Four Spiritual Polarities 2.3 The Varieties of Spiritual Impulse 2.4 Pathologies and Correctives in the Spiritual Life 2.5 The Problem of 'God' 2.6 The Bhakti / Jnani Distinction 3. Returning to the Roots 3.1 The Twentieth Century 3.2 The Enlightenment 3.3 The Spiritual Wounds of the West 4. Bhakti and Jnani in Western Development 4.1 Piety and the West 4.2 Jnani, the East, and Hellenic Influence 4.3 A Radical History of Western Development 5. The Undefended Western 'God' 5.1 The Enlightenment Reconsidered 5.2 Deism 5.3 Failure of the Western Jnani Religion Conclusions References Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Dr Mike King is Reader at London Metropolitan University. He serves as Director for the Scientific and Medical Network, a charity devoted to combating scientific materialism, and sits on the Steering Group for the Wrekin Trust Forum, which promotes spiritual learning on all levels within society.