Ohio State’s Diversity of Thought Speaker Series examines religion in civic life

Ohio State's Diversity of Thought Speaker Series examines religion in civic life

New series to focus on hard questions to enhance learning

From artificial intelligence's impact on humanity to the role of organized religion in the fabric of a community, big ideas were up for debate in the inaugural Diversity of Thought Speaker Series discussion.

Hosted at The Ohio State University on the Columbus campus last month, the discussion was part of a new series that seeks to foster meaningful dialogue on pressing public issues by bringing together students, faculty and the broader community to engage with experts from diverse perspectives.

"This evening, ultimately, is about that, our fearless exploration of complexity, of nuance and the seeking of truth by questioning, debating, encountering beliefs that we may or may not be familiar with," said Ravi V. Bellamkonda, executive vice president and provost. "That is at the heart of the rationale for this Diversity of Thought Speaker Series. Can we have a forum where we're unafraid to ask hard questions and do so in a way that enhances our learning?"

The topic for the first speaker series delved into religion and the role of faith in civic life and culture. New York Times columnist and author Ross Douthat and science historian and Skeptic magazine founder Michael Shermer served as featured speakers in a conversation moderated by Trevor Brown, dean of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and senior vice provost for academic affairs.

Brown began with a question to frame the evening: If science and reason have had such a profound impact on moral progress, why not on social connectedness and our shared humanity?

Shermer stated that they have had that impact.

"My general argument is that even if you can establish that much of the United States or some of the values of the Western civilization over the centuries has founding in the Judeo-Christian worldview, in fact, what really drove the major moral revolutions was not religion, per se. It was secular-based arguments in rights, natural rights, civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, and so on," he said.

Douthat was cautious about placing too much blame on a single factor for a decline in social connectedness. He also pointed to technology and the rise of a more individualistic culture as some of the reasons, in addition to the decline of religious life.

"I think that pretty clearly there is a dynamic feedback loop in American culture over the last couple of generations, where religion and the decline of religion is one of the forces implicated in the erosion of social capital, the erosion of community, the erosion of common bonds," he said.

They also debated about the limits of religion in American society. Shermer asserted that the clear direction of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from favoring one religion over another, was sufficient and important.

"I think historically, the United States has had a political system that has a framework of liberal neutrality that is hostile to the formal establishment of religion, but it has also relied upon a soft religious consensus as a ground on which different kinds of moral and political debates have been fought," Douthat said.

Both speakers discussed the role of advancing technology and its potential impact on religion and social interaction. Shermer said advanced AI may mimic reality and relationships, but he remained skeptical.

"At some point, I'm being told that the AI will be able to do all of this. It still feels to me, maybe because I'm a boomer, I don't know, that there's still an uncanny valley to be leaped across that AI is not able to do," he said. "But I'm being told it's coming. … I just think it's not the same."

Douthat said religion could serve as an anchor at a time when some humans feel technology is driving them to obsolescence.

"If so many aspects of our humanity are replaceable by machines, what is left? What is the reason for our existence?" he said. "That is where I think religion and religious arguments enter in, that it is having a sense of your place in the cosmos, a sense that, again, your existence was intended and that you are loved even if there is not another human being around you who is giving you love."

The Diversity of Thought Speaker Series is sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Moritz College of Law, and the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. It is designed to promote intellectual curiosity, civil discourse, and critical thinking by exploring complex challenges through differences of opinion.

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