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Clever Move — Cosmos Pushes Pantheism

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The new Cosmos season, “Possible Worlds,” with host Neil deGrasse Tyson is a lot cleverer than harsh, in-your-face New Atheists of the Jerry Coyne/Richard Dawkins variety. In this it follows in the path of the original Cosmos and the 2014 re-boot. Rather than openly mock religion in some oafish or venomous way, Cosmos advances a winsome case for pantheism, an attitude of awe before nature, anthropomorphizing it, and invites us to do the same. At times this is expressed in Biblical cadences. Think of Carl Sagan on the cosmos as “all that is or ever was or ever will be.”

As philosopher Jay Richards and science historian Michael Keas discuss on a new episode of ID the Future, that is a much easier sell. Easier for slipping it into the public schools! It won’t alarm the parents nearly as much as an all-out siege on theism. Very clever, Dr. Tyson.

Download the podcast or listen to it here. Richards and Keas reflect on the program’s treatment of arch-heretic Giordano Bruno, pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and more. Dr. Richards is co-author of The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery, now out in paperback with a new Foreword. Dr. Keas’s recent book is Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion. The Cosmos season concluded last night with an episode on the “Seven Wonders of the New World.” We will have more to say. See below for previous coverage of the season from Evolution News:

Image: Baruch Spinoza, shown about 1665, by an unknown artist / Public domain via Wikimedia.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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Baruch SpinozaBiblecadencesCosmos 3.0Evolution NewsGiordano BrunoID the FutureJerry CoyneMichael KeasNeil deGrasse TysonNew Atheistspantheismpublic schoolsRichard DawkinsThe Privileged PlanetUnbelievable