Religion After Atheism

Abstract

The recent history of Russia and China show that eradicating religion from the face of the earth is no easy task. In both cases the regimes were effective only as long as they carried out repressive measures, and this success was limited to public displays of religion, not private belief. As soon as forced secularization ceased, desecularization began almost immediately. Religious belief did not simply return previous levels, but rather has in some cases, most notably China, begun to spread like never before. These facts should force us to reconsider the mechanisms of secularization and whether or not a secular world is not just likely, but even possible.