At places such as the University of Chicago such individuals are perhaps fairly common. The secular Calvinist is the companion of the secular Jew (who doesn't believe in God, but does believe that he/she is one of God's chosen people.)
A recent edition of the University of Chicago Magazine had an essay about the remodeling of Rockefeller Chapel to accomodate those of other faiths, specifically Hindus and Muslims. This is, of course, entirely appropriate to the world in which we live today.
But perhaps, I thought in puckish fashion, another accomodation should be added to the chapel, to be shared by secularists--former Calvinists, Jews, Catholics, etc., and other secularists. It would perhaps have images of Beethoven, Newton, Gibbon, etc. However, construction of such an intellectual pantheon might prove difficult, since there could be endless debate about which famous individuals to include and which deserved the most prominent positions.
Another issue of The University of Chicago Magazine, of February 2005, page 27, had photographs of a statue of El, the Old Testament "creator diety." That statue, dating from about 1300 BC, is at the Oriental Institute. One of the interesting things about the artifact is that it is a "graven image." Graven images have had a checkered history. They were forbidden by Jews at the time of Christ. Early Western and Orthodox Christianity allowed them. Many Protestant sects disallowed them again.
EDITORIAL OPINION:
The following is a typical individualistic expression of opinion by me, a University of Chicago grad. It, of course, in no way represents the position of the University, let alone any honorable secularists associated with or employed by the University:
Continue