Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief

In Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief, Huston Smith argues the human heart seeks answers to questions left unexplained by the Modern worldview.Raised by missionary parents in China and a professor at M.I.T., Syracuse University and U.C. Berkeley, among others, and his World's Religions serves as the standard introductory textbook for college religion courses Smith is in a unique position to pass judgment. Human beings, he posits, have allowed themselves to become so obsessed with the answer to life's fundamental questions that they have written science a blank check for what constitutes knowledge and justified belief. As a result the world is experiencing a spiritual crisis. The culprit is not science. We have constructed a worldview tunneled by scientism, higher education, the media and law. As Smith looks to the future, he sees "the light at the end of the tunnel" - a time when science and religion peacefully co-exist. While acknowledging the science's importance, human beings ultimately flourish, he argues, when they seek the answers to life's ultimate questions -- What is the meaning of life? Why do pain and death exist? What is reality? Religion recognizes the gulf between these questions and their answers. Humans being never waiver in their conviction that these questions have answers, religion motivates them to continually seek the answers.I liked the book. The author states his case in a simple, direct manner. Style questions, such as whether Smith quotes from other authors are too long or not, are not important to me. Smith makes his case in a witty, personable and, in my opinion, persuasive manner.

I loved this book. I totally agree with Smith's statement that "Built into the human makeup is a longing for 'more' and I agree that religion does matter; however, I also understand why we live in an age of disbelief. So many antiquated religion concepts are difficult for modern men and women to accept. I recently came across a book An Encounter With A Prophet which seems to solve this problem and I would highly recommend it to those seeking the something more but unable to blindly accept religious dogma.

"What is the meaning of existence? Why are there pain and death? Why, in the end, is life worth living? What does reality consist of and what is its object" (p. 224)? In his book, Huston Smith explores life's big questions while examining the subject of why religion matters. Recognizing "the greatest problem the human spirit faces in our time is having to live in the procrustean, scientistic worldview that dominates our culture" (p. 202), he shows us "the importance of the religious dimension of human life--in individuals, in societies, and in organizations" (p. xix). "The culprit," Smith notes, "is not science itself, but our misconstrual of it" (p. 5).It is evident to Smith that the human soul longs for God, "by whatsoever name," because God exists. He writes, "the finitude of mundane existence cannot satisfy the human heart completely. Built into the human makeup is a longing for 'more' that the world of everyday experience cannot requite. This outreach strongly suggests the existence of the something that life reaches for in the way that the wings of birds point to the reality of air. Sunflowers bend in the direction of light because light exists, and people seek food because food exists" (pp. 3, 28).I arrived at this book by way of Ken Wilber's writings, which contain references to Smith. In fact, there are moments in this book when Smith even sounds like Wilber. For instance, when Smith writes "we should enter our new millennium by running a strainer through our past to sift from each of its three periods the gold it contains and let the dross sink back into the sands of history" (pp. 22, 213), and "modernity's good--i.e., science--is certain to figure importantly in the third millennium, and postmodernity's focus on justice likewise stands a good chance of continuing" (p. 22), his ideas sound a lot like the "integral vision" of THE MARRIAGE OF SENSE AND SOUL (1998), in which Wilber integrates spirit and science. This is not a criticism, but merely an observation of the similarities between Smith and Wilber, and there are others.Smith sees light at the end of his tunnel metaphor: "from God we derive, and to God we eventually return" (p. 261). His writing is conversational in tone, anecdotal, and witty. Approach this book with an open mind, and it will enrich your view of life. And if you like this book, then read Ken Wilber's MARRIAGE OF SENSE AND SOUL.G. Merritt

Smith's "Why Religion Matters" is the best book I have ever read on the importance of religion in our societies, and its conflict with our current world-views such as post-modernism and scientism. With no apologies, Smith addresses such notables as Chomsky and Gould, attacking the assumptions of the standard "science is about this, religion is about that" arguments. Particularly, Smith challenges the implicit assumption that only science deals with facts.Smith also addresses how scientism (not science, which is the study of the physical world, but 'scientism', which is an unflagging faith in science) has invaded our political and educational structures to such a degree that it is hardly even questioned.This is an excellent work on the conflict of science and religion, and does a wonderful job of backing up its title. I have been thinking about this book almost non-stop since I finished it several days ago. It was that important and that good. Sometimes, the book appears to be a bit rushed and meandering, but the message remains lucid and direct. My highest recommendations.

Huston Smith is a treasure, and "Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief" should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand what's going on below the glassy, glitzy surface of America in the year 2001. It doesn't matter whether or not you've read any of Smith's other books (which I have); it doesn't matter if you never saw his 5-part special with Bill Moyers (or watched it four times, as I have); it doesn't matter if you go to church every Sunday or avoid it religiously (as I do); what matters is that you get this book, for there are glittering gems on almost every page no matter what your churchly or secular orientation may be. "Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief" is highly recommended for all who seek to know more tomorrow than they do today. And if Huston Smith should read these words, I would say, "You have no idea how important and appreciated you are by tens of thousands of anonymous readers."