Religion vs Reason

In recent years there has been a significant trend towards a return to religion among conservatives. Intellectuals like Jordan Peterson, Dave Ruben, and Ben Shapiro believe the West is helpless in its demise without a return to faith. Yet, all of them also advocate enlightenment ideas of reason and science. Is religion and reason compatible?

This week we will read an essay by Sam Harris and a few short excerpts by Ayn Rand on this topic. We will discuss why they think reason and faith are incompatible, and why the return to religion is concerning.

We invite you to read this essay and participate in our personal discussion. We will talk about the content of the essay, which points we like and which we disagree with, and share our personal opinions on the subject.

Readings:

• https://www.samharris.org/blog/science-must-destroy-religion
• http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/god.html
• http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/religion.html
• http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/faith.html
• http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/atheism.html