20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America

De: Ryan P. Burge

Narrado por: William Sarris

The way most people think about religion and politics is only loosely linked to empirical reality, argues Ryan P. Burge in 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America. Instead, our thinking is based on anecdotes, a quick scan of news headlines, or worse, flat-out lies told by voices trying to push a religious or political agenda on a distracted public.

Burge sees this fundamentally flawed understanding of the world around us and our misperceptions about where we fit into the larger fabric of society as caustic for the future of American politics and religion. Without an accurate picture of our society, when we subscribe to only caricatures of what our country looks like, we never really address the problems facing us.

Striving to be an impartial referee, Burge describes with accessible and engaging prose what the data says. Step by step, he debunks twenty myths, using rigorous data analysis and straightforward explanations. He gives listeners the resources to adopt an empirical view of the world that can help all of us, religious and nonreligious alike, get past at least some of the unsupported beliefs that divide us.

©2022 Fortress Press, an imprint of 1517 Media (P)2022 eChristian

Walking Through an Important Topic

This was a good audio covering important topics, but the fact that the pdf charts and graphs were not included is an extreme disappointment given the book is promised on charts and graphs. Buyer beware.

Overly narrow readings of statistics result in muddled and confused conclusions

The cited statistics are interesting, but usually interpreted without regards to the bigger picture (a 13% deconversion rate may sound small, but when until very recently allmost everybody was Christian and stayed Christian, this is just the thin end of the wedge) and often contradict the spelled out conclusions (if fewer people are religious and religiosity is declining even among the religious, then this hardly supports the claim that religion isn't in decline).

PDF Missing

I don’t suggest listening to this without the PDF. I complained to audible and got a time wasting bot. It’s not very good without the PDF. I finished the book before they could do anything. My reading is based on reading without the pdf.