“Religion versus Secular Humanism: What the Psychological and Social Sciences Can Tell Us” by Tim Church

“Religion versus Secular Humanism: What the Psychological and Social Sciences Can Tell Us” will be presented by Tim Church at the Sunday, April 20, 2025, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting. A. Timothy Church, Professor Emeritus, Washington State university, will be on the big screen attending and taking questions by Zoom with members and guests in-person and on Zoom. All are welcome to attend.

In today’s contentious climate—in which a seemingly unbridgeable divide persists between religious and secular worldviews— Tim will address the relative merits and viability of religion versus secular humanism from the perspective of the psychological and social sciences. Among the questions asked: Are there plausible naturalistic (i.e., nonreligious) explanations of the origins, evolution, and functions of religion? What are the beneficial and harmful effects of religion, and can the benefits be adequately achieved via secular means? As much of the world secularizes, is religion likely to persist? Some proposals to reduce the religious-secular gap are also offered.

Timothy Church, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at Washington State University. He has published extensively in prominent scientific journals in the areas of culture and personality and his research in these areas was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Mental Health. He is a member of the American Humanist Association and a contributor to Free Inquiry magazine. His most recent book is Religion versus Secular Humanism: What the Psychological and Social Sciences Can Tell Us (Hypatia Press, 2024).