Coming Back to Earth
Discussion Questions

Chapter 10 — handout

1. Do you agree that religious conflict today is not so much between religions as between religious and secular worldviews? Explain.
2. Why does Geering say that much of modern religion is in fact superstition? To what degree do you agree? Explain.
3. How does the section headed “The more they need explaining” relate to the title of this book?
4. Does the term “secular religion” strike you as an oxymoron? Why or why not?
5. Outline W. Cantwell Smith’s distinction between “religion” and “cumulative tradition.”
6. Do you agree that the world we live in is largely a product of the culture we live in? Why or why not?
7. Explain how the spread of empirical knowledge has promoted secularism.