I am headed down to London tomorrow to go to the School of Life www.schooloflife.com. I have wanted to visit this little place ever since hearing about it from my friend Barry Taylor. Alain de Botton will be preaching about his new book Religion for Atheists. Atheists like de Botton are taking a spiritual turn towards religion and actually engaging with religion in ways that are textured and critical. There is an approach in the 2.0 version of atheism of the need to understand and learn from the dynamics of religion. Within this engagement is the acknowledgment that individuals and society are facing problems and religion can be a helpful dialogue partner. Alternatively folks like Jack Caputo, Richard Kearney and Pete Rollins are introducing western constructs of religion to continental philosophy's notion of the absence of God, the concealment of God and the unnameability of God. This is the religious turn towards atheism and doubt as central to the christian faith. I think there is much to be gained in holding these two dialogues in tension.
Here is de Botton at TED - my guess is that his talk on Sunday will be cut from the same cloth. It is well worth the 20 min:
