In Norway, the New York Times recently reported, there is a growing fascination with, and belief in, ghosts and the occult. Walter Russell Mead comments:
People who think themselves too rational for religious belief end up believing in “astral forces,” ghosts, and other phenomena. Sometimes these superstitions take the deadly form of political ideologies that fanatical believers take up with religious fervor—Communist atheists murdered tens of millions of people in the 20th century in the irrational grip of an ugly ideology. They scoffed at the credulity of religious believers even as they worshipped the infallible insights of Stalin. Similarly, the Nazis presented their faith as an alternative to the “outgrown superstitions” of historic Christianity.
It’s something very much worth remembering: a world without faith in God wouldn’t be a more rational or more humane place.
Read more on American Interest: http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/10/25/when-god-goes-away-superstition-takes-his-place/