Introduction
INTRODUCTION
“The Empires of the future will be empires of the mind.” In speaking these words to a wartime audience at Harvard University in 1943, Winston Churchill attempted to express a transition he discerned within Western culture, with immense implications for the postwar era. The great powers of the new world would not be nationstates—as with the Roman or British empires—but ideologies. It was ideas, not nations, that would captivate and conquer in the future. The starting point for the conquest of the world would now be the human mind. Churchill may well have been thinking of the astonishing power of systems—above all, Nazism and Marxism—to capture the minds and loyalties of his own generation. It was ideas, not nations, that would be at war in the future.
The greatest such “empire of the modern mind” is atheism. It has been estimated that in 1960 half the population of the world was nominally atheist. At its height, this was a vast and diverse empire embracing many kingdoms, each with its distinct identity, yet united by a common rejection of any divinities, supernatural powers, or transcendent realities limiting the development and achievements of humanity. Atheism comes in various forms, its spectrum of possibilities extending from a rather mild absence of belief in God or any supernatural beings to a decidedly more strident and rigorous rejection of any religious belief as manipulative, false, and enslaving.
Atheism, in its modern sense, has come to mean the explicit denial of all spiritual powers and supernatural beings, or the demand for the elimination of the transcendent as an illusion. For some, it was felt, the mirage of religion might comfort. Christianity, after all, inculcated a soothing possibility of consolation in the face of life’s sorrows. But increasingly it was argued that this illusion imprisoned, trapped, and deceived. By any index of its capacities, Christianity, like all religions, was held to be deficient. Intellectually, its central ideas were ridiculous and untenable; socially, it was reactionary and oppressive. The time had come to break free of its clutches, once and for all.
The idea that there is no God captured human minds and imaginations, offering intellectual liberation and spiritual inspiration to generations that saw themselves as imprisoned, mentally and often (it must be said) physically, by the religious past. It is impossible to understand the development of Western culture without coming to terms with this remarkable movement. Although some such idea has always been around, it assumed a new importance in the modern era, propelling humanity toward new visions of its power and destiny.
Yet the sun has begun to set on another empire. It is far from clear what the future of atheism will be, or what will replace it. Yet its fascinating story casts light not simply on the forces that have shaped the modern world but on the deepest longings and aspirations of humanity. It is one of the most important episodes in recent cultural and intellectual history, studded with significance for all who think about the meaning of life or the future of humanity. This book sets out to tell something of the story of the rise and fall of a great empire of the mind, and what may be learned from it. What brought it into existence? What gave it such credibility and attractiveness for so long? And why does it seem to have lost so much of its potency in recent years? Why has it faltered? What is its permanent significance?
This book is an expanded form of a speech I gave at the landmark debate on atheism in February 2002 at the Oxford Union, the world’s most famous debating society. The great Debating Chamber was packed to capacity to hear four speakers argue passionately with each other—and with the huge audience—on whether it is possible to “rid the mind of God.” I am immensely grateful to my three fellow speakers—Professor Peter Atkins, Dr. Susan Blackmore, and Dr. David Cook—for their partnership in a highly stimulating exchange, and their camaraderie over a memorable dinner beforehand. Oxford University has always prized debate as a means of advancing thought. Given the many questions that are now being raised about the viability of an atheist worldview in a postmodern culture, it seemed only right to extend that debate far beyond the audience that gathered in Oxford. This book will not settle anything; but at least it can further discussion of one of the greatest issues of our time.
ALISTER MCGRATH