The Secular Case for Religion

By Phil Dove

In his book “The Reason for God: Belief in An Age of Skepticism”, Timothy Keller discusses questions from skeptics, atheists and agnostics on some fundamental and straightforward issues about religious belief in modern society. In a related, condensed fashion, “A Secular Case for Religion” discusses basic questions about the value of religion in society, especially to individuals or a broader society that are not necessarily religious.

Born out of discussions on the appropriate role of charities, and even if churches should be considered charities, “A Secular Case for Religion” examines those foundational questions in a conversational and relatable way.

Challenging skeptics to think in different ways and implicitly challenging people of faith to examine if their lives reflect their professed beliefs. “A Secular Case for Religion” addresses age old questions concerning the relation of government and religion that still resonate today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664232969

Phil Dove

Phil Dove grew up in a small Midwestern town in a deeply religious family. A former naval officer, he has undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science, economics and European history. With a curious mind, Phil enjoys meeting people with unique perspectives that provoke discussion and thought even when, or maybe especially when, ideas are noticeably different than his own. He appreciates being forced to reflect and examine his own thinking. His upbringing, education and interactions with people of different viewpoints have challenged him to re-examine his ideas and beliefs. It is the intersection of each of these that has developed his interest in the role of government and private charity and how each play a part in the day to day lives of the diverse range of people that live within our communities and the world around us.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-3295-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3296-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021908766

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/10/2021

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1    Introduction

Chapter 2    Charitable Giving

Chapter 3    Medical Care

Chapter 4    Children’s Homes And Shelters

Chapter 5    Homeless Shelters

Chapter 6    Sex Trafficking

Chapter 7    Human Trafficking And Slavery

Chapter 8    Serving Special Needs

Chapter 9    Education And Learning

Chapter 10    And Yet More

Chapter 11    Summary

Epilogue

Preface

I owe the idea for this book to friends with whom I often disagree when we discuss things such as politics, religion or our respective world views. Some of these friends are among my closest and dearest, in part because our bond is strong enough that we can disagree but do so constructively and without it being personal-it’s about ideas and not about personal distaste for one another.

I like to think that I have a reason for the things that I believe and the principles that I hold. Having people who hold different views and challenge me on my own views, forces me to think. They push me to re-examine the reason for my own views and either confirm that there are good reasons for what I believe or cause me to change my mind through their reasoning.

In one of those conversations, a friend and I were talking about government social programs and the perception among some, that those who oppose more money for ‘safety net programs’ such as welfare, food stamps and public housing are just greedy and uncaring. The conversation went to a discussion about the role and effectiveness of government and the role of personal giving to charity. During that discussion, we couldn’t help but reference a famous and comprehensive study done some years ago by Pew Research on charitable giving patterns in the United States. The findings, which I’ll touch on more later, were sometimes counterintuitive and had several things that were thought provoking. Among them, when combined with what we know about political sentiment in areas of the country, showed that charitable giving was almost uniformly higher in places where governmental social programs were not as popular. In other words, if we make a very general assumption that charities serve those less fortunate, it appeared that there was a strong sentiment not on whether to help others but whether that should be done by the government or by individuals making individual choices. I must admit that my bias leaned in that latter direction, as well, even though some friends found it difficult to understand that thinking.

My friend pointed out that the high levels of charitable giving were also in areas that were traditionally very religious. He argued, probably correctly, that much of that charitable giving went to churches or other religious organizations. He didn’t say it directly, but implicit in what he said was that giving to religious organizations was somewhat less valid, less giving or less compassionate. Not being very religious himself, he seemed to imply, or at least I read into the response, that you should take out religious giving as a ‘charity’ because money given there went to promote that religion. Hence, if you backed out the giving to religious causes that the picture would be