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The Right to Believe: Religion and the Rise of Relativism

by Thomas F Powell

255 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-2864; ISBN 1-4120-7966-7; US$20.00, C$23.00, EUR16.43, £11.50

Most of us accept without question our right to believe as we wish; but many exercise this right to impose upon and oppress others. Here is how, and why.

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About the Book

This book is about how the United States has arrived where it is, intellectually and morally, over the past century or so. Pragmatism has provided the culture its characteristic conceptions of truth, particularly welcomed to a Fundamentalist religious perspective otherwise besieged by modern philosophy and science. The anti-intellectual current now so conspicuous has always been a powerful force in American life, and it has survived and flourished in the face of all challenges: Darwinian evolution, Marxist and other economic determinism, the discoveries of psychology, social science, and neuroscience; and breathtaking realizations in the physical and natural sciences. New perspectives on the situation of humans in the universe have unsettled traditional faiths, but hard times seem only to have hardened them into fanaticism.

Now the right to believe as we wish is taken to mean a right to reject what we dislike or disapprove, even if it is demonstrated; and to insist upon the truth of what we wish to be true, even if shown to be preposterous. From about 1900, we see a peculiar pattern, increasingly strong as it approaches the present, of claiming truth for what we wish; what pleases us, suits our interests, or, as T. S. Elliot put it, permits us to "think well of ourselves." From "I think, therefore I am," we elided into "I feel, therefore I am right." And truth relative to individual feelings can be paradoxically claimed as absolute and asserted dogmatically. Relativism enables me to be a dogmatic absolutist, be certifying the truth of what I feel.

What are the consequences of this remarkable development for ethics, values, public affairs, and decision-making in general? This essay inevitably becomes a mediation on how the "right to believe" is exercised, and what its implications are bringing about.

Reviews

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"The Right to Believe:
Religion and the Rise of Relativism"
Thomas F. Powell
Trafford Publishing
Softcover $20.00
270 pages
978-1-4120-7966-2
Four stars (out of Five)

"From 'I think, therefore I am,' we have reached 'I feel, therefore I am right," Thomas F. Powell writes.

This interdisciplinary essay traces the lineage of a hybridized Christian capitalism to its current incarnation, which embraces magical thinking and individually repackages the entitlist spirit of Manifest Destiny. Professor Powell, formerly on the history faculties of SUNY-Oswego, Syracuse University, University of Akron, and the University of Wurzburg in Germany, states that religion shapes culture in the United States. It imbues the prevailing discourse with self-congratulatory truthiness, while doctrine evolves into a feel-good, consumer-oriented version of flexible Christianity. Science cannot be trusted, because feeling and intuition are supreme to the modern pragmatists: the next wave of Romantics.

Social Darwinism melds with Protestant Arminianism to produce the message that God shows favor to the deserving faithful in the form of wealth. Those in society who fail to thrive deserve little pity, as their reduced condition itself is evidence enough that God isn't impressed with their efforts. The countless ways that economic opportunities and life chances are determined by circumstances of birth, large organizations, and public institutions are de-emphasized, and the existence of circular logic goes unmentioned. Christian denominations have couched absolutes in an embrace of Relativism, in order to oppose Science and maintain relevance in a business-dominated landscape of excess labor capacity.

The essayist shows signs of a sense of humor; exhibit A is one of the most heartfelt disclaimers out there: "I believe that any errors in this book should be blamed on others, who may be unregenerate or outright degenerate." The argument flies without a bibliography across several streams of Philosophy, bringing in major players like pragmatists William James and John Dewey, utilitarian John Stuart Mill, David Hume, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and the old brimstone man Jonathan Edwards. This material has great utility for graduate students and academics and is certainly recommended. However, some sentences seem engineered to shake off mere casual pursuers, cracking back on themselves, like: "True science turned out to be dogma only as dogmatic anti-dogmatism..." More than forty years ago Bob Dylan's generational anthem "Like A Rolling Stone" highlighted the question which Science can't counter, "How does it feel?" That question is once again gaining primacy in the minds of Americans. There is nothing a rationalist can do to convince a relativist that facts are the supreme yardstick of validity. A fervent enough wish reinforces itself and takes on enough substance to govern action. Religious belief is spilling over into secular public policy, so underlying facts or lack thereof are becoming a real concern. The Right to Believe accurately chronicles the flowering of the now-dominant irrational ideation, but does so with more erudite sophistication than might appeal to the popular masses.."

Todd Mercer

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About the Author

Thomas F. Powell, Emeritus Professor of History, offered a wide range of courses at the University of Akron, Syracuse University, the State University of New York at Oswego, and for two years, the University of Wurzburg, Germany. His books have been classified as philosophy (Josiah Royce, Washington Square Press) and sociology (The Persistence of Racism in America, Rowman and Littlefield) as well as history (Penet's Square, North Country Books) and interdisciplinary (Humanities and Social Studies, edited). Shorter pieces have appeared in diverse periodicals, from The Journal of American History and Social Education to The New York Times and Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht the journal of German historians. He has received a number of awards for excellence in teaching and research, and also served as Dean of Arts and Sciences at SUNY Oswego. He and his wife live near their children and grandchildren in Olympia, Washington.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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